Erika Staffanson – Certified Sommelier
Born and raised in Nanaimo, BC, Erika graduated from Malaspina University College in 2001 with a Diploma in Hospitality Management. Over the next two years she worked her way through various front of house supervisory and assistant management positions at the Hotel Grand Pacific in Victoria. Erika then joined the opening management team at the Victoria Marriott Inner Harbour. Throughout the next four years she would work her way up the ladder, starting as an In-Room Dining Supervisor and completing her employment as the Food & Beverage Manager.
While in Victoria Erika pursued her new found passion for wine. In 2006 she was certified as a Sommelier though the International Sommelier Guild and treated herself with a graduation trip to Napa and Sonoma. It was then that she realized if you want to work with wine, why not live in wine country.
This epiphany led to several opportunities in the Okanagan Valley, first being a stint as a cellar hand at Tinhorn Creek Winery for the 2007 Crush before moving onto the Sonora Room at Burrowing Owl. Here she spent two years as the restaurant sommelier, developing the wine program and training the team. In her most recent move, Erika has joined the team at Manteo Resort and is very excited to be living and working in the heart of British Columbia’s Wine Country.
