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International Words

Internationally published wine, spirits, food, spas, golf and travel writer Margaret Swaine has authored well over 2,000 articles for numerous magazines, newspapers and online sites.

Current Outlets

She is the bi-weekly culinary travel columnist (Global Gourmet) for Travel Industry Today travelindustrytoday.com, the spirit columnist for WineAlign www.winealign.com/articles/tag/margaret-swaine, the Global Getaway columnist for Kawarthas Magazine covering travel, golf and food destinations https://www.atasteofthekawarthas.com/magazine and a feature writer for Travel Life Magazine https://travellife.ca.

Awards

Her bi-weekly column under the banner “Global Gourmet” in won first prize in the 2018 Travel Media Association of Canada (TMAC) awards for best travel column/blog. 

Other awards include “Best Article or Broadcast Emphasizing a Hotel or Resort” at an earlier TMAC competition, Bronze Prize for “Travel Series – Magazine” for her City Snap Guide columns in Travel Life Magazine at the NATJA Awards Competition, the 2003 Achievement Award from the Ontario Imported Wine-Spirit-Beer Association and Honourable Mentions from the Canadian National Magazine Awards.

Her bi-weekly column under the banner “Global Gourmet” won first prize in the 2018 Travel Media Association of Canada (TMAC) awards for best travel column/blog.

Past Experience writing columns and features

Margaret spent 16 years writing feature articles as well as wine critiques and culinary travel columns under the titles “Wine Picks” and “Forks & the Road” for the National Post newspaper, she wrote the spirit and cocktail columns for Zoomer magazine and for six years was the spa columnist for Best Health (Paradise Home & Away).

Margaret was the wine and drink columnist for both Toronto Life torontolife.com and Chatelaine https://www.chatelaine.com for over two decades. She has been a restaurant columnist for Toronto Life, and the Toronto restaurant critic for Gault Millau’s website www.gayot.com. She has covered golf for ScoreGolf and Fairways and the ski scene for SkiPress.

She has also contributed feature articles to USA Today, LA Times, ScoreGolf, Foodservice Hospitality, Travelweek Bulletin, Expressions, Arrival, Nuvo, Wine Access, Elle Canada, Hello! Canada, Fairways, ClubLink NewsLink, WestJet Up! magazine, Toronto Star newspaper, Globe & Mail newspaper, Baltic Air magazine, EnRoute magazine, Ski Press magazine, Chic magazine, national newspaper groups such as CanWest and many other publications.

Margaret has written on food for Gusto, Foodservice Hospitality, The Globe and Mail, Canadian House and Home, Influence and Menz among others. Her articles on golf, skiing and other sports have appeared in ScoreGolf, Ski Press, World of Women’s Golf, the Globe and Mail, Travelweek Bulletin and more. She has written on laser eye surgery for Toronto Fashion Magazine, on Kosher products for Food and Drink, on beer for Menz and on balsamic vinegar for the Weekend Post.

 

Guides & Book Writing

  • the first three annual Toronto Life Wine, Beer and Spirits Guides reviewing all products carried by the Liquor Control Board of Ontario
  • an online guide to the Dominican Republic for WestJet
  • a guide to the city of Toronto for gayot.com
  • a booklet “The Romance of Wine and Food” for Chatelaine Magazine
  • a book “101 Big Ideas for Promoting a Business on a Small Budget”
  • The $25 Gourmet Guide

A graduate of Carleton University with an Honours Journalism degree, she speaks conversational French along with some German and Demotic Greek.

Associations and Titles

  • Margaret is a founder and first president of the Wine Writers Circle of Canada, a founder and past executive of the Travel Media Association of Canada and a member of the Society of American Travel Writers.
  • She has been honoured with the titles of Dame de la Jurade de Saint Emilion, Chevalier de L’Association Internationale des Mâitres Conseils en Gastronomie Française, Dame de Floc de Gascogne and Commandeur d’Honneur de Commanderie du Bontemps de Médoc et des Graves.

Teaching, Speaking and Judging

  • Margaret has served as an expert witness in several wine disputes involving Champagne, Entre-Deux-Mers and other trademark usages and participated as a wine judge in global competitions in Canada (National Wine Awards, All Canadian Wine Championships), Italy (Vinitaly, Banco d’Assaggio), New Zealand (Air New Zealand Wine Awards), France, Austria, Australia (Royal Adelaide Wine Show) and on.
  • She assisted with the creation of The Sommelier Guild of Canada and ran wine fairs including the visit of Vignobles & Signatures, The Pacific Northwest Wine Fairs, and The Premiere Bordeaux Barrel Tasting.
  • She was founder and for many years host of The Toronto Life Wine & Dine Experience dinners. She has appeared on many radio and television programs and constantly travels the world in search of the next great story or experience.
  • A graduate of Carleton University with an Honours Journalism degree, she speaks conversational French along with some German and Demotic Greek.
  • Margaret got her debut in the wine field, as a winner of blind tasting competitions. Back in 1978, when Margaret entered her first Toronto competition, she captured both the first prize and the “women’s prize”.

Instagram: margaret.swaine
Twitter handle: @globaltaster
Facebook: margaretswaine
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/margaret-swaine-84444a14