Steve has over thirty years experience working in the retail, merchant, education and production sectors of the wine industry. He passed the Master of Wine Examination in 1994 and has educated wine professionals and consumers in NZ, Australia, the UK and Europe. Past roles include National Wine Manager for what was at the time New Zealand's largest wine retail group and was the first Education Officer for the Institute of Masters of Wine. For the past 21 years he has owned Mucho Gusto Wine Co (formerly Bennett and Deller) in Auckland, NZ, a company specializing in importing Spanish, Italian, French and other international wine. He is also a founder of NZWinerater.com evaluating New Zealand wines.

Current employer: Mucho Gusto Wine Co & NZWinerater.com

Primary area(s) of work: Trade, Communication

Industry sector(s): Agency/Importer, Business owner, Buying, Distribution, Events, Import/Export, Off trade, On trade, Wine judge

Wine region expertise: New Zealand, Spain

Market expertise: New Zealand

Specialisms: Distribution, Food and wine pairing, Importation, Independent retail, Wine judging