Richard Best – who is frugal in all things, including wine – has had a varied career. As a musician, he worked extensively around Southern Ontario, playing and recording with some top names, mainly in the country & western genre. Richard entered the computer field for a number of years as a programmer/analyst. His early specialty was database design, which led to a teaching opportunity at Humber College.

Richard then concentrated on end-user support and education for one of Canada's largest data processing firms. He abandoned it all in 1992 when his daughter was born, and has been mainly a stay-at-home dad ever since.

Current wine related activities

Richard now bills himself as a freelance writer and editor. Richard began writing on food and wine in 2001 with regular articles in Oakville Today. He is now host of www.frugalwine.com, and also publishes a more-or-less monthly educational wine newsletter and a Wine of the Week bulletin, both by email subscription. His newsletter article "The Nose Knows" was nominated for a James Beard award in 2004.

Richard is a lively and entertaining presenter who has a unique ability to put wine into everyday terms. He conducts regular wine tastings for the Oakville Oenophile Society, as well as for businesses, organizations and private clients. He is frequently called upon to conduct conference seminars and wine judging. His best-selling book The Frugal Oenophile's Lexicon of Wine Tasting Terms – a collection of more than 650 definitions – has become a best seller through wineries and bookstores in both Canada and the US.

Richard joined the Wine Writers' Circle in 2003 and is currently the group's webmaster. He is also a member of the Amateur Winemakers of Ontario

Services offered

• Private wine tastings for home, business & service clubs
• Wine seminars
• Wine judging
• Niagara wine tours
• Wine business and newsletter writing