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 several collections of poetry (www.edwardragg.com): poetry being his principal focus as a writer. In 2010 Edward published 'Wallace Stevens and the Aesthetics of Abstraction' (Cambridge University Press, 2010), which partly analysed Stevens' relationship with wine and remains a classic in the field. 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 won 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 Robert Parker Wine Advocate. Since 2020 Edward has also been co-coordinator of the IMW's Australasian programme working with Andrea Pritzker MW and, more recently, Annette Lacey MW to facilitate the residential seminar in Adelaide for both Stage 1 and Stage 2 MW students. Edward is keen to expand his international judging experience and has in recent years developed his Mandarin Chinese to deliver wine classes and wine presentations which he does regularly across the Chinese mainland.

Primary area(s) of work: Communication

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

Wine region expertise: Australia, China

Market expertise: China

Specialisms: Education, Events, Wine marketing research, Wine judging