Niagara College’s School of Wine, Beer and Spirits is proving once again that its faculty is truly top shelf.
Andrea Fujarczuk, Program Coordinator and Artisan Distilling Professor, has clinched the highly competitive 2026 Les Dames d’Escoffier International (LDEI) Legacy Award for the Kentucky chapter.
Out of professional applicants from across North America and Europe, the Julia Child Foundation-supported program selected Fujarczuk, who is also a NC alumna, as the sole global recipient for the “Kentucky Spirits from Grain to Glass” experience, recognizing her unique drive to elevate the identity of Niagara spirits.
The international honour gives Fujarczuk a week-long experience working alongside accomplished LDEI members in the heart of bourbon country.
“I was genuinely surprised and excited when I found out,” she said. “It’s a huge honour but for me the real meaning is what comes next it is validation that the research I am doing has real world applications and it has given me a platform to start doing the work I have been aiming to do for a long time.”
For Fujarczuk, who is from St. Catharines, the win advances an initiative she has been championing on campus: to cultivate the untapped potential of local spirits in the Niagara region, which is globally celebrated for its world-class wine culture.
In January, she led Artisan Distilling students in hosting a dedicated event to shine the spotlight on whisky in the region, by hosting a Celebrating Niagara Whisky tasting event at Benchmark restaurant to cap off Canadian Whisky Week. The initiative paired students with local distillers like Forty Creek, Dillon’s, and Wayne Gretzky Estates to showcase Niagara’s rich distilling history and what makes Niagara whisky distinct, like its “wine country finish.”
At the time, she emphasized the event was about reclaiming the national spirit’s narrative, supporting local artisans and building a community-driven force like Niagara’s wine sector.
Now, Fujarczuk is excited to take that advocacy to the global stage.
“I applied for this award with a very specific intent: to use the experience as a bridge to advance the spirits industry here in Niagara,” she said. “While our region is world renowned for wine, we have yet to cultivate that same formal reputation for whisky even though we are home to some truly incredible distilleries I wanted to look at the Kentucky model and how they have successfully managed their regional identity and then see how those learnings could be adapted to help us start building a more defined recognized identity for Niagara whisky.”
Fujarczuk’s expertise is a testament to the power of an NC education. She is a proud alumna of the College’s Winery and Viticulture Technician program (Class of 2012). She has since expanded her academic and professional journey far beyond the region. Currently a Doctoral candidate at Heriot-Watt University, she is immersed in advanced research exploring the geography of value in spirits.
Fujarczuk’s career has taken her around the world, with experience at Moet Hennessy and Thames Distillers Ltd as well as notoriety as a 2026 DISCUS (Distilled Spirits Council of the United States) Academy Leadership member, a Bourbon Women SIP scholar, and a Business Link Niagara 40 Under 40 recipient.
In addition to her work as an educator for the past seven years at NC, Fujarczuk is the Canada East Chair for Canadian Whisky Week and founder of Niagara Whisky. She is also a regular contributor to American Whiskey and Artisan Spirit magazines.
“If you had told me in 2012 that this is where I would end up, I would not have believed you,” she said. “My path has been organic rather than meticulously planned … I have always had the drive to create change and give back to my community and that drive is really what has led me to this stage of my career. It was not a straight line, but it has been the right one for me.”
Fujarczuk credited her NC education with providing the foundational tools that launched her international career.
“My time at Niagara College provided the essential foundation for everything I do,” she said. “It gave me the literacy of the industry which is the ability to speak the language of the producers and understand the craft firsthand.
“That foundation became even more powerful when I started my doctoral work.”
Currently on sabbatical, Fujarczuk is completing her doctorate through Heriot-Watt University, exploring the economics of regionality and the geography of value in spirits.
“Studying the economics of regionality and the true value of geography has allowed me to marry that practical experience academic rigour,” she said. “Connecting those two worlds the hands-on distilling side and the research side is exactly what I am passionate about.”
After accepting an award at an international conference this spring, Fujarczuk’s eyes are in the future in Niagara. She noted that her students will be the direct beneficiaries of her global insights.
“Right now, my primary goal is to soak up every insight I can about regional reputation so I can bring it back to the classroom,” she said. “I will be returning to teach full time in the winter of 2027 where I am genuinely looking forward to helping guide the next generation of Canadian distillers and finding new ways to support the Niagara College and Canadian distilling communities.”
In early August, Fujarczuk will travel to Kentucky where the Kentucky chapter has an association with the Bourbon Women association. She has been asked to mentor one of this year’s Bourbon Women SIP scholars. In addition, Fujarzuk will present findings from her doctoral dissertation at this year’s Bourbon Women annual SIPosium conference, and as well as at the Tales of the Cocktail conference in New Orleans – the world’s premier beverage and spirits industry gathering – alongside Dave Mitton, Global Whisky Ambassador for Hiram Walker.
Visit Legacy Awards – Les Dames d’Escoffier International for more information.
Related:
A perfect blend: Students and local distillers uncork Niagara’s whisky heritage
