Alison is a Sydney based Master of Wine working primarily in wine education roles with WSET in Sydney and Hong Kong and the Institute of Masters of Wine. Her background has been in viticulture and winemaking in NSW and now has a small vineyard in Huon Valley Tasmania. Alison has been a wine judge for over 25 years in Australia and UK, is an Australian wine show auditor and currently training to be a wine fraud investigator and authenticator. Alison began her career in the wine industry working as an Agriculture educator and while undertaking an Oenology Degree through Charles Sturt University, Australia. Her earlier qualifications include a Degree in Biochemistry and Microbiology and Graduate Diploma in Education. In 2013 Alison qualified as a Master of Wine. Early wine industry roles included winery cellar hand, vineyard operations, wine retail and lecturing. The largest project for a period of over 10 years was establishing and managing a 110ha vineyard in Central New South Wales and later producing wines in their boutique winery for 6 years. After relocating to Sydney Alison continued wine making, vineyard consulting, wine lecturing and judging throughout Australia the US and UK International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC) and as a Panel Chair for the past 12 years at the International Wine Challenge (IWC). Alison has travelled extensively through the worlds key wine regions and judged wines from most styles and countries. Alison is an Australian Wine Show Auditor. For the past 13 years she has been a lecturer at the Sydney Wine Academy, presenting primarily the UK Wine and Spirit Education trust (WSET) courses at all levels, developing course materials and corporate training. Also over the past five years she has been lecturing for Asia Wine Service and Education Centre (AWSEC) Hong Kong and China. Currently Alison is also working with Wine InTuition a specialist wine education centre for training and corporate events. Alison has been involved with the Institute of Masters of Wine education programme, course days and assessment. More recently, Alison recently completed the WSET L3 in Sake and the WSG Italian Wine Scholar. Alison has a small Pinot Noir vineyard and guesthouse in Tasmania.

Primary area(s) of work: Wine production

Industry sector(s): Viticulture, Winemaking, Educator, Consultant, Wine judge

Wine styles: Sparkling wine, Champagne, Sweet wines, Fortified wines, Still white, Still red

Wine region expertise: Australia, Central Otago, Hawke's Bay, Marlborough, New South Wales, New Zealand, South Australia, Victoria, Italy, Tasmania

Market expertise: Australia

Specialisms: Sustainability, Wine species, Wine varieties, Clones, Development of new vine varieties, Vine propagation, Rootstocks and grafting, Life cycle of the vine, Establishment of vineyards, Acquisition of vineyards, Factors affecting grape growing, Cultivation of the vine, Maladies of the vine and their control, Structure and composition of grapes, Harvesting of grapes, Biodynamics, Organic viticulture, Commercial advice on vinyard establishment, Processing of grapes, Fermentation, Maturation and blending, Stabilisation and clarification, Production of sparkling wines, Production of fortified wines, Economics of wine production, Elevage / maturation, Blending, Preparation of finished wine for bottling, Quality assurance and control, Food and wine pairing, Wine judging