Presenters

Anthea Loucas Bosha
CEO, Food + Drink Victoria

As CEO of Food + Drink Victoria, Anthea Loucas Bosha is responsible for the globally renowned Melbourne Food & Wine Festival, Global Table and other related events. Previously Editor-In-Chief of Australian Gourmet Traveller magazine, Loucas Bosha has worked in the food, wine and travel space for over two decades. She thrives on telling the stories of Victoria’s producers, chefs, farmers and entrepreneurs or as she puts it “the best food and drink in the world”.

Peter Dillon
Winemaker, Handpicked Wines

Peter Dillon knows his job is one of a kind. In his role at Handpicked Wines, he manages vineyards and makes wine from Tasmania, the Barossa Valley, Margaret River, Yarra Valley and of course the Mornington Peninsula. From travelling across Australia and beyond, keeping abreast of local and international wine news while overseeing all elements of Handpicked Wine’s operations, this devoted winemaker wanders where many would love to follow. From his origins in Western Australia working with a number of wine brands including Larry Cherubino, Peter arrived in Victoria in 2014 to work across the vineyards, winery, warehouses and bottling line at Handpicked Wines. His deep practical knowledge and hands-on experience growing and making impressive wines from numerous regions and sites, will be highly valuable to our exploration of pinot noir at the Pinot Noir Celebration.

Mac Forbes
Winemaker & Vigneron, Mac Forbes Wine

Mac has an insatiable need to delve deeper into the sites and heritage of the Yarra Valley to uncover the full unbridled story. Mac is driven by curiosity and a desire to create wines with a strong connection to site. He produces pinot noir wines from all corners and elevations of the Yarra Valley to express the nuances of place. Mac and his team have also developed personal connections with the local indigenous people, who have shared their deep history of the Wurundjeri. Custodianship and connection will continue to shape Mac Forbes Wines. Mac's commitment to making distinctly Yarra Valley pinot noir tells its own story, without reflecting or attempting to reinvent the wines of other places.

Michael Dhillon
Winemaker & Vigneron, Bindi Wines

The 2022 Halliday Wine Companion Winemaker of the Year, Michael Dhillon has built a reputation for being a pinot noir obsessive. Born and bred in Gisborne, Michael and his family established Bindi Wines in 1988. His father, Bill pursued his dream of creating a sustainable vineyard, in harmony with its environment. Michael has carried on this mantle and creates wines with a gentle hand in the vineyard and in the winery. His attention to detail and delicate winemaking, has been informed by his father's vision and dedication to learning from the best. Michael has worked multiple vintages in Italy and France, and returns to the domains of Burgundy again and again to refine his own practice and palate.

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Rollo Crittenden
Winemaker & Vigneron, Crittenden

Second generation winemaker, Rollo Crittenden studied winemaking & completed vintages in California, Oregon, Italy & the Hunter Valley before becoming head winemaker at Dromana Estate on the Mornington Peninsula. At the age of 30, he moved a little closer to home to become the winemaker at the family business, Crittenden Estate. It's a business he knows intimately, having planted the vineyard as a child with his parents, sister Zoe, family and friends in the early 80s. This intimate knowledge of the site propelled Rollo to transform the vineyard and adopt regenerative agriculture and sustainability practices. It's an effort that was recognised by the BRIT-FIVS International Sustainable Winegrowing Platinum Award in 2020. Rollo continues to support and lead the change from conventional to sustainable wine growing on the Mornington Peninsula as President of Mornington Peninsula Wine.
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Anne Krebiehl MW
Wine Writer & Educator

German-born but London-based, Anne is an editor and a widely published freelance wine writer and lecturer. Until October 2022, until its merger with another title, she edited Falstaff Magazine. Her contributions to wine writing and education are long and impressive.  Before Falstaff, Anne was a contributing editor for Austria, Alsace, Burgundy and England for US Wine Enthusiast Magazine. She has also written for trade and consumer publications like The World of Fine Wine, Decanter and TheBuyer.net. She lectures, particularly on German wine, judges international wine competitions and is a panel chair at the International Wine Challenge. Anne completed her WSET Diploma in 2010 and was admitted to the Institute of Masters of Wine in September 2014. She loves high-acid wines and her work often focuses on Pinot Noir, Riesling and traditional method sparkling wines. She has harvested and helped to make wine in New Zealand, Germany and Italy. Her first book, The Wines of Germany, published in Infinite Ideas’ Classic Wine Library, appeared in September 2019 and won the Domaine Faiveley International Wine Book Of The Year 2020 award at the Louis Roederer International Wine Writers’ Awards.

Martin Spedding
Vigneron, Ten Minutes By Tractor

Quality is not just a word or abstract concept at Ten Minutes By Tractor, it is the driver behind everything Martin and the team strive for. From the health of the vines, to the expression of the fruit, the style of wine and the way in which we enjoy it - the highest quality indicators are the most important at Ten Minutes By Tractor. And the proof of this is there for everyone to see. The Ten Minutes By Tractor has won numerous awards including Two Chef Hats, Worlds Best Wine Lists, Top Restaurant Lists and Wine List of the Year multiple times. The pinot noir wines are also among the highest pointed wines in the country, frequently achieving 96 to 97 points or beyond.

Martin's commitment to make wines which are true to their place of origin is a focus he brings to the Pinot Noir Celebration. As Chair of Pinot Noir Celebration Australia, Martin has helped shaped the program's connection to place and led the celebration of the quality of pinot noir produced from Australia's most outstanding cool-climate regions.
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Kate McIntyre MW
Vigneron, Moorooduc Estate

Moorooduc Estate is an institution on the Mornington Peninsula, started by Kate's parents Richard and Jill in the early 1980s. But the winery was not for Kate, well not initially. Instead she studied language and theatre and tried to get as far away from the vineyard as she could. At university, she got a job in a wine retailer and unbeknownst to her, she was on her journey back to Moorooduc.

Today, she is a Master of Wine in high demand and works around the world writing, educating and talking about wine. Kate is also the marketing and business development manager for Moorooduc Estate which she has been since 2004, and readily admits her love for the Mornington Peninsula and being actively involved in the family business.

Nick Dry
Viticulturist, Foundation Viticulture

Recently awarded the Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology Viticulturist of the Year, Nick has worked in the grape and wine industry for the last 25 years. Between 2008-2019 Nick managed Yalumba Nursery, during which time he developed an extensive knowledge of variety, clone and rootstock performance, grapevine trunk disease, grapevine virus, germplasm management and nursery practices.

In 2019 he formed his consulting business ‘Foundation Viticulture’ and most recently has been engaged by Wine Australia as the National Grapevine Collection coordinator.

Katie Spain
Wine Writer, Journalist & Author

Named Best Rural Journalist in SA/NT for 2022, Winner of Best New Wine Book 2022, Best Wine Column in 2021 and Wine Communicator of the Year 2021. Katie Spain continues to impress with her passion, dedication and optimism. Kate writes for Good Food (The Age & Sydney Morning Herald), Wine Business Monthly, Gourmet Traveller, and Sweden's Livets Goda. The daughter of a South Australian dairy farmer, Katie found her writing and wine groove in London, before she did a stint working in commercial radio in Sydney, before returning home to contribute to South Australia's best wine and food journals such as The Advertiser, Broadsheet Adelaide and SA Weekend Magazine.

Peter Caldwell
Winemaker, Dalrymple Vineyards
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A Tasmanian sheep farmer by birth, the mystery that turns grapes into wine hooked Peter early. With a keen interest in science he pursued a science degree, after a season in a Pipers River vineyard he soon changed direction to study winemaking and viticulture at Roseworthy College in South Australia. He intended to return to Tasmania after completing his studies, but peers pointed him abroad. He spent almost two decades in Burgundy, Bordeaux, California and New Zealand. It was meeting his wife in France, followed by two children, which pointed him back south to Pipers River where he settled at Dalrymple Vineyards. Pinot Noir has always been Pete’s passion – the most difficult grape to grow, the most difficult wine to make well; the most satisfying of victories. In his 10+ years at Dalrymple Vineyards, Pete has not only expanded vineyard plantings by fifty per cent, he has also rejuvenated Dalrymple’s winemaking operations and established the property’s own insectarium.

Philip Rich
Educator, Wine Buyer, Wine Writer & Wine Show Judge.
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Melbourne born and bred, Philip has more than 25 years’ experience in the wine trade. In 1996, Philip joined the The Prince of Wales and Stokehouse team in Melbourne, where he was responsible for all the wine buying, wine lists and sommelier training.  He also became a co-founder and a partner in arguably Melbourne's best wine retailer, the Prince Wine Store (1996 to 2015). From 1999 to 2016, Phillip wrote the monthly wine column for The Australian Financial Review Magazine. Over his career, Philip has chaired a number of wine shows including the James Halliday Chardonnay Challenge and Yarra Valley Wine Show, Margaret River Wine Show, Mornington Peninsula Wine Show and The Australian Pinot Noir Challenge. 

In recent years, Phillip has worked as a consultant, wine. manager and wine buyer for some of Melbourne's best restaurants such as Chin Chin and France Soir. He also conducts tours to Burgundy and covers the Geelong and Yarra Valley wine regions for the James Halliday Wine Companion.

Dr Dylan Grigg
Viticulturist, Meristem Viticulture

From a winter pruner to a PhD, Dylan Grigg's curiosity has led him from the vineyards of Barossa to New Zealand and Spain, from the field to the laboratory and from a vineyard hand to a leading viticulture consultant.

Dylan has keenly investigated the relationship between vine age and grape quality through studies and in practice. He has worked in cool and warm climate vineyards and had experience with numerous clones and varieties. Today, he works across numerous Australian regions and continues to consult in Spain.

Guy Woodward
Wine Writer & Editor

Guy Woodward started his journalistic career at AB Europe, a now defunct magazine for the casino industry. He then progressed to the sports section of The Guardian, from where he went on to a 10-year stint at consumer wine title Decanter, half of which he served as its editor. After editing the independently published Food and Travel Magazine, he moved to Harrods Publishing to edit across its customer magazines, before, in 2020, moving back into wine (and spirits) as content director of the IWSC and Club Oenologique.

A former chair of the British Society of Magazine Editors, he has made regular appearances on TV, radio and in the national press commentating on wine, travel and media. Today he is a freelance marketing and content strategist working in the wine and spirits industry, as well as continuing to write and edit on a freelance basis for various wine publications. 

Andrew Caillard MW
Wine Writer, Wine Judge, Author, Consultant & Producer
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A graduate of South Australia’s Roseworthy Agricultural College, Andrew went on to become a Master of Wine in 1993, and won the Madam Lily Bollinger Medal for Excellence in Wine Tasting.

After 19 years at Langton's Fine Wine and 14 years with Woolworths/Pinnacle Drinks, he now works with Endeavour Group as well as the direct-to-consumer technology business WithWine. A prolific author, Andrew has produced numerous student referemce book and accounts of Australian wine history such as, Penfold’s The Rewards of Patience, Imagining Coonawarra – The Story of Wynns Coonawarra Estate John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon and The Essence of Dreams  – The Story of Mornington Peninsula Wine. A three-volume history of Australian wine entitled The Australian Ark, A History of Wine will also be published in late 2023. Furthermore, he writes The Vintage Journal with Angus Hughson and was the associate producer of the AACTA award-winning feature documentary Red Obsession, and the recent cinema release Blind Ambition. Both films have received wide acclaim. In 2011 Andrew Caillard received the “Australian Wine Communicator of the Year Award” and was inducted as a 'Baron of the Barossa. In 2022 he was awarded New South Wales’s The Legend of the Vine in recognition to his contribution to the Australian Wine Industry.

Dr Mardi Longbottom
Sustainability and Viticulture Manager, AWRI

Mardi began her career in the wine industry in the early 1990s, helping to establish her family’s vineyards in Padthaway, South Australia. After completing her qualifications in viticulture, Mardi came to hold numerous technical and vineyard management positions spanning numerous Australian wine regions. Mardi returned to university to complete a Masters and PhD inViticulture and, for the past fourteen years, she has focussed on research and the extension of wine industry sustainability projects. These projects include regional climate risk analyses, benchmarking greenhouse gas emissions from vineyards, the management of corporate water assets, and in her role at the Australian Wine and Research Institue (AWRI), she manages the wine industry’s sustainability program, ‘Sustainable Winegrowing Australia’. She is a graduate of the SA Governor’s Leadership Foundation Program, a former director of Australian Grape and Wine Inc and a former president and director of the Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology.

Dr Simon Nordestgaard
Principal Engineer, AWRI

Simon Nordestgaard has worked in wine industry research and development for around 15 years. He studied chemical engineering and economics at university and went on to study a PhD focused on grape pressing and projects on heat stabilisation, refrigeration efficiency, lees management, wine transport, ferment and level sensors, autonomous tractors, and surveying industry practices and technology adoption. He enjoys both implementing new technologies and understanding how technologies and practices have evolved. Simon takes an active role in designing the technologies of the future, as well as understanding the evolution and history of the industry to mitigate any challenges that may emerge in the years ahead.

Dave Gerner
Program Manager, Regional Innovation - Wine Australia

With a background in environmental management and spatial information science Dave has a passion for innovative solutions that create sustainable futures for agriculture. He seeks out positive outcomes for both people and the planet. An accomplished professional with experience in change management and the practical applications of new and emerging technologies, David believes strongly in delivering 'change that adds value'.

Dave recognises the increasing rate of change challenges the way Australian growers manage their everyday business. He works with growers and technologists to co-develop solutions and meaningful outcomes that are profitable and scalable. The AgTech Program delivered by Wine Australia helps facilitate these outcomes. Managing the AgTech Program and working directly with growers, drives Dave's ambition to implement emerging technologies that deliver real solutions and are accountable to industry.

Tyson Lewis
Viticulturist, Peninsula Vine Care

Tyson’s love of vineyard work began in the summer of 1988-’89 while travelling. Completing an Applied Science degree in Viticulture at Charles Sturt University, Tyson has developed his viticultural experience working as far away as McLaren Vale, the Hunter Valley, Margaret River, and two vintages in France. .Working at Red Hill Estate, then as Chief Viticulturist at Cheviot Bridge while bringing up his family in Red Hill, Tyson joined forces with Hugh Robinson and Matt Frewer to form Peninsula Vine Care in 2014. Thrilled by seasonal challenges, he is continually inspired to produce the best possible fruit from vintage to vintage. An active member of the Mornington Peninsula wine community, Tyson is chair of the Technical Sub-Committee and has been a strong advocate for many regional improvement projects such as Water Watch, achieving Phylloxera Exclusion Zone status for the region and he has been a driving force behind the ‘Pinot Noir Rootstock Trial’.

Dr Wes Pearson
Winemaker & Research Scientist, AWRI

Dr Wes Pearson is a research scientist at the Australian Wine Research Institute in Adelaide. He holds a Bachelor in Science, majoring in Wine Biochemistry from the University of British Columbia, a diploma in Applied Sensory and Consumer Science from the University of California Davis, and a PhD from Charles Sturt University. He has worked in the sensory group at the AWRI since 2010 and has completed hundreds of sensory studies and authored over 25 papers in that time. He is an alumnus of the Len Evans Tutorial and of Wine Australia’s Future Leaders program. He is also an accomplished winemaker, having made wine in Canada and Bordeaux, and currently makes wine under his Juxtaposed label in McLaren Vale, South Australia.  

Dr Michele Allan
Chair, Wine Australia

Dr Michele Allan is an experienced non-executive director and has a strong understanding of agribusiness, public policy and regulation within food and agriculture industries, R&D portfolio structure and management, enterprise risk management and science and innovation Michele currently chairs Apple and Pear Australia Limited, Defence CRC Trusted Autonomous Systems, the Food and Agribusiness Growth Centre and is Chancellor of Charles Sturt University.

She is also a director of CSIRO, Smart Sat CRC, Dairy Food Safety Victoria, MJ Chicken and CRC Food Agility.She has previously held chair positions with Meat & Livestock Australia and the Wheat Industry Advisory Taskforce and was a director of Wine Australia and the Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation. Other prior board roles include Tasmanian Irrigation, Innovation and Science Australia, Forest and Wood Products Australia, William Angliss Institute, Callaghan Innovation (NZ) and Food Standards Australia and New Zealand. Michele held executive roles with Amcor Limited, Kraft Foods, Bonlac Foods Limited, ICI, Tasmanian Bioinformatics Centre of Excellence Tasmania, Johnson and Johnson and Nestle. Michele has a Bachelor of Applied Science from University of Technology Sydney, Master of Management of Technology from Melbourne University, Master Commercial Law Deakin University and Doctorate from RMIT. She is a fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Fellow of Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering.

Rebecca Hull MW
Wine Buyer, Waitrose UK

Rebecca first pursued studies in French and Russian Languages at Birmingham University, and secured an amazing three month placement at the University of Moscow. 
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With a keen interest in wine, she first worked at Oddbins, and moved to Sainsbury's Wine Department in 1992. At Sainsbury’s, Rebecca worked in wine marketing, and as a wine buyer, specialising in New World areas before becoming Wine Category Manager, responsible for buying and wine promotional strategies. In 1994, she completed the WSET Diploma, winning the Rouyer Guillet cup, and proceeded on to tackle and complete a Master of Wine by 1997, picking up the Tim Derouet award. 

Rebecca now manages all wine buying of rosé wines and wines from Australia and New Zealand for Waitrose across the UK.

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David LeMire MW
Wine Judge, Wine Writer & Co-CEO, Shaw + Smith

Retail, distribution and brand management is David's expertise. A Master of Wine since 2007, his love of wine has taken him from London in the 1990s, to a role with Negociants Australia in the 2000s, and since 2010 has worked with the team at Shaw + Smith. It was his role with Negociants that ignited David's love for pinot noir, with access to some of the world's best and most expensive pinot noirs from the great domaines of Burgundy, to the top pinot noir wines of Australia and the new world. David has been an active wine judge in many national and South Australian wine shows, and regularly writes for Wine Business Magazine. He is also co-founder of Adelaide wine bar, Mother Vine.

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