Vintner
Cultivating Taste Buds
Born, 1955, in the northern
Greek village of Panteleimon, a town in the region of Florina near Thessalonika,
Tom Noitsis barely remembers the time when his father, in 1958, said goodbye
to Aphroditi, his wife, and his son and daughter, before leaving Greece
for Canada. Settling in the southwestern Ontario town of Galt, for three
years he worked hard in the restaurant business, the time it took him to
save enough money to send for his family. Arriving, 1961, Tom quickly learned
English and aspired to be an investment banker from a young age, so much
so that he left Ryerson Polytechnical Institute before graduating to take
a job with Dominion Securities. After five years, Tom’s thirst for new
opportunities took him from a series of jobs where his natural communication
skills developed at such places as Famous Players, CN Real Estate, Beckers,
and Tridel before he found his niche in the wine business. Establishing
a company, 1993, called Eurovintage International Inc., Tom has taken giant
steps over the last seven years to introduce the latest and newest wines
and spirits to the Ontario market. He has also demonstrated leadership
in being at the top of his business as a celebrated wine agent in one of
the most competitive markets in North America. In this view, Tom Noitsis,
centre, along with Zen Kucharski, Hamilton representative, stands and pours
a glass of wine in his Eurovintage booth at Hamilton’s Royal Botanical
Gardens, 1999, during an evening of charitable fundraising. [Photo, courtesy
Tom Noitsis]