What does a wine career look like when your body can't do the hours anymore?

Merrin McHugh ran the floor and the wine pairings at Actinolite for seven years. Then a stroke in 2023 took her off the floor. Today she is the Wine Director for restaurants Sara and Rasa, the founder of Wine by Merrin, and does sales at Boires.

We talk about the 10-hour days and the 400-name handwritten wait list that burned her out, the three days she was alone after the stroke, and how she now runs two wine programs without being on the floor — a $60 pairing at Sara included. Plus: can fine dining and a life outside it coexist at all? "No. Maybe."

We also get into the kitchen that used fermented white-currant juice instead of lemon, and "no news is news" — her advice to every wine rep and every buyer.

If you work in restaurants, hire sommeliers, or just want to know what the hours really cost, this episode is a must-listen.

Is Fine Dining Burning Out Its Best People? — Merrin McHugh

Timestamps:
00:00 Would she do it again at 40?
00:35 Joining Actinolite the week the Globe review hit
02:36 Cooking the Canadian landscape: no lemon, foraged dishes, the health inspector
04:29 From Yours Truly to running Actinolite's wine list
07:14 Building pairings for vegetable-led menus: orange wine, a sparkling red, the egg dish
11:30 A day in the life of a 26-seat restaurant
12:42 Burning out: bonfire dinners and the 400-name wait list
14:47 Leaving for a fishing lodge in BC
16:07 The stroke
18:14 Rehab, her voice, and learning to walk and speak again
20:42 Wine by Merrin: consulting for Sara and Rasa from home
23:48 What a working week looks like now
25:17 Is this sustainable? Partner, parents and rest
27:40 Can a tasting menu afford a full-time sommelier?
30:17 One thing she'd change about the industry
31:32 Advice for the next generation
33:43 Life as a wine rep, and what reps and buyers get wrong
36:27 Ontario producers worth finding
39:20 Her favourite Toronto wine lists
42:11 Where to find Merrin, and Sara's $60 pairing

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Links:
Wine by Merrin — @winebymerrin
Merrin McHugh — @merrinlee
Sara — @sararestaurantto
Rasa — @rasarestaurantto
Tasting Notes Toronto — @tastingnotestoronto
https://www.youtube.com/@TheTastingNotesPodcast

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Hosted and produced by Alex Abbott Boyd · Recorded in Toronto · © 2026 Tasting Notes Toronto.