Warren F Porter, President

Warren opened Iron Gate Cellarage in 2003 strictly as an off site wine storage facility. After a 20 year career in technology and telecommunications Warren decided that it was time to pursue a career in one of his two passions; wine or golf. After objectively analyzing his golf swing it was determined that fine wine was the path to choose. He could always learn more about wine but the golf swing was unlikely to change.

At the beginning Iron Gate was focused purely on storing private collector wines in a high security, environmentally controlled vault in Toronto. As time passed it became evident that our collector clients were in need of a number of other services that we were in a unique position to provide. We actively sought out to develop or distribute the best unique wine products and services for our growing client base. As such, in 2008 Iron Gate removed the term “Cellarage” from its brand and added “Private Wine Management” to reflect the fact that storage was now one of many quality products being offered.

Warren lives in Toronto with the lovely Remilee Niza who often assists on major cellar projects in Toronto and other cities. He has two wonderful boys aged 13 and 15 who wonder what all the fuss is about for “grape juice”.

Lorie O’Sullivan, Sommelier

Based in Toronto, Canada, Lorie is the Assistant Sommelier at Toka in Toronto’s Ritz Carlton hotel and is the in-house sommelier at Sommelier Service.

Lorie received her Sommelier diploma through the Canandian Association of  Professional Sommeliers in 2006, where she attended classes at both Niagara and George Brown Colleges. She has also completed Wine Fundamentals I & II though the International Sommelier Guild and has earned the Wine and Spirit Education Trust Intermediate and Advanced diplomas. Lorie passed the Court of Master Sommeliers certified exam in Columbus, Ohio in June, 2008 and is now studying for her Advanced level diploma. Prior to becoming a Sommelier, Lorie has worked at a number of top Toronto restaurants such as Rain, Luce and Didier.

Born and raised in the heart of Niagara wine country, Lorie is a big fan of Ontario, Burgundy, New Zealand, Argentina and South Africa wines and looks forward to interesting wines coming out of Prince Edward County. Lorie’s favourite food and wine paring is Gevrey-Chambertin and Duck Confit. “This medium plus red wine paired with the richness of the duck is an absolute match made in heaven.”

Lorie’s primary responsibility is managing the Sommelier Service business unit with Jamie Drummond.

Anik Pelletier, Wine Club Operations

Anik joined Iron Gate in 2011 and has taken on the responsibility for wine club operations including Sommelier Service and Vin de Garde.

Originally from Quebec City, Anik received her Bachelor’s degree in Consumer Behavior and Marketing from Laval University in Quebec City.

She has lived in Toronto for over 12+ years working at various marketing communications and advertising agencies, helping some of the biggest brands in Canada (Weston Bakeries, Cadbury Fair Trade Dairy Milk, OLG, Rogers, ING Direct amongst others) successfully launch new products and marketing campaigns.  With a keen focus on the interactive arena, Anik has developed specialized skills in digital marketing, project management, and tactical execution related to delivering initiatives on time, on budget. She makes a deeply personal commitment to her projects and manages them with an extremely high level of vigilance and integrity.

Anik also worked client-side for 3 years in the hospitality industry as the National E-business and Marketing Manager at Westmont Hospitality Group / InnVest REIT – one of the largest hotel management companies in Canada. While there, she lead the re-branding of their consumer brand Invest REIT Hotels – encompassing online presences, communications, gift card program as well as customer and investor print collateral.

In her new role, Anik brings a wealth of experience and looks forward to adding her own personal style of finesse to Iron Gate’s day-to-day wine club operations. Anik will be responsible for ongoing development of strategies to ensure that Iron Gate continues to deliver the smoothest and most efficient processes possible – all with particular emphasis on YOU the client.

John Szabo MS, Private Client Consulting

In 2004, John became Canada’s first Master Sommelier, now one of only 3 in the country. He has been working in the hospitality business at home and abroad for over 15 years, gaining experience in all aspects of the wine business including positions as varied as cook, sommelier, wine importer, restaurant & winery consultant, educator and wine writer. Today John specializes in restaurant beverage program design and management, custom cellar design, personal cellar management, and writing about wine. His text Sommelier Management is used by the Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers, and he also teaches for the Court of Master Sommeliers and develops and delivers professional trade seminars for dozens of trade organizations.

John is responsible for Private Client Consulting.  For a small, select group of clients, John manages all purchasing for their private home cellars through an in depth analysis and structured buying program.  Learn more about our Private Client Consulting service.

Geoff Whittington, Technology Development

Geoff began working with Iron Gate from day one to help develop an inventory control system uniquely designed for our client’s wine within the vault. This system has been continuously improved by Geoff over the years and is now a robust commercial inventory management platform that is now available to other commercial wine storage operations. This proprietary technology also supports SommelierService.com by advising which wines to ship our members each month.

Geoff was also responsible for analyzing the variety of home cellar management software and web based packages available and making recommendations on which systems were most suitable to our clients.

Geoff is also owner of Fireball Technology Group, a software development company located in Toronto, Canada.