Edward co-founded Dragon Phoenix Wine Consulting in Beijing with his wife and partner Fongyee Walker MW in 2007. Having read English at Oxford University, Edward began blind-tasting at Cambridge whilst writing an M.Phil. and later Ph.D. dissertation on American poet and Burgundy tippler Wallace Stevens (1879-1955). A former Captain and Coach of the Cambridge Blind-Tasting team, Edward co-wrote (with Fongyee) and revises regularly 'The Cambridge University Guide to Blind-Tasting' (2004-present). He has also published widely in international wine magazines, literary journals and has authored three collections of poetry. In 2010 Edward published 'Wallace Stevens and the Aesthetics of Abstraction' (Cambridge University Press, 2010), which partly analysed Stevens' relationship with wine. Formerly a Professor at Tsinghua University (2007-2017), Edward completed his WSET Diploma in 2012 and began his MW studies in 2015. He became a Master of Wine in 2019 and was awarded the Robert Mondavi Award for the best performance across the MW Theory papers and the Quinta do Noval Award for the best MW research paper (2019 examination). Together with Fongyee, he is the other authorised tutor of the WSET Diploma in mainland China. Edward is brother to Michael Ragg, formerly of Berry Bros. & Rudd, who runs domaine and micro-negociant Mischief & Mayhem in Aloxe-Corton with his wife Fiona. Edward also has judging experience, having served as guest international judge for the McLaren Vale Wine Show (2012) and Perth Royal Wine Show (2019), as well as judging in Chinese competitions. In 2019 he became the reviewer of Chinese wines for The Wine Advocate. Edward is keen to expand his international judging experience and also to make wine in future.

Primary area(s) of work: Communication

Industry sector(s): Business owner, Journalism, Author, Educator, Consultant, Wine judge

Wine region expertise: Australia, China

Market expertise: China

Specialisms: Wine judging