USA

Flex Aleo

Flex is a South African wine professional living in Toronto, Canada, and the Founder of Marvonnay Inc., a “Sophistication Club” whose name was inspired by the song lyric: “This was all inspired by a little Marvin Gaye and Chardonnay”. Flex got into wine in 2014, and after falling in love with it decided that it would be his “vessel to enter cultural enlightenment”. Flex is a highly driven student of wine, gaining a Merit in his Level 3 WSET and having recently completed D1 with Merit of his DipWSET. He has had to face persistent gatekeeping, which has often prevented him from progressing further within the industry, and thus has been one of the factors which led him to found Marvonnay, creating his own space within the sector. As he explains: “I recently decided to stop knocking on the gates that won’t open and start knocking on those that will, even if I have to build them myself.” Flex’s eventual ambition is to craft Marvonnay into an educational platform that will present its courses “through an authentic BIPOC lens… where being BIPOC is celebrated for all the right reasons”.

“The scholarship means I can continue to develop my wine knowledge in spite of financial constraints. At the time of this recording there are no black MW's. Representation matters”