Nick is an independent consultant, providing winemaking assistance with wine quality assessment, valuation, blending and advice on the industry and wine market matters. He also runs bench-marking seminars with regional winemaking associations. Nick is frequently engaged as expert witness in legal cases involving wine quality and value. For 13 years Nick taught wine evaluation as a Visiting Associate Professor at Charles Sturt University. He also writes for technical wine industry journals and consumers and has edited and part-written Australian Winemaking, a textbook and reference published by Trivinum Press, Adelaide. Nick previously spent eight years in the Marketing Department of Southcorp Wines. He has judged at most Australian wine shows and has chaired a committee of the Australian Society for Viticulture and Oenology which is seeking a national approach to improving wine shows. In 2004 he was made a life member of the Wine Press Club of New South Wales and was previously President of the Club. Nick is also a Director and shareholder of Brokenwood Wines Pty Ltd. He lives in Canberra, traveling to the chilly, occasionally snow-bound, Southern Tablelands of New South Wales where he manages his own 1 hectare vineyard of Pinot noir and Chardonnay.

In 2020 he was inducted as a Fellow of the Australian Society for Viticulture and Oenology for services to the industry and the Society.

Primary area(s) of work: Wine production

Industry sector(s): Business owner, Consultant, Educator, Journalism, QA/QC, Viticulture, Wine judge, Winemaking

Wine styles: Fine and rare wines, Fortified wines, Sparkling wine, Still red, Still rosé, Still white

Wine region expertise: Australia, France, New Zealand

Market expertise: Australia

Specialisms: Commercial advice on vinyard establishment, Cultivation of the vine, Establishment of vineyards, Factors affecting grape growing, Life cycle of the vine, Wine varieties, Fermentation, Legal compliance with authorised oenological practices, Maturation and blending, Stabilisation and clarification, Processing of grapes, Production of fortified wines, Whole cluster fermentation, Wine styling, Blending, Elevage / maturation, Legal compliance on authorised packaging and labelling, Preparation of finished wine for bottling, Quality assurance and control, Sensory evaluation , Broadcasting, Education, History of wine, Marketing wine, PR, Wine laws and regulations, Wine judging