Gerard Basset: A tribute to the ‘world’s favourite sommelier’

Gerard Basset sadly lost his battle to cancer of the oesophagus on 16th February. A member of the Circle, Gerard was a well-known and well-loved figure in the world of wine holding prestigious titles including Master of Wine, Master Sommelier and the World's Best Sommelier. Beyond his titles, Gerard was a kind, humble and generous man. He was a mentor to many aspiring sommeliers and inspired a ge...
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Australia Wine Discovered brings ‘Australia to you’

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Fredrik Schelin’s book on Champagne wins Swedish edition of Gourmand cookbook awards

Fredrik Schelin has won the Swedish edition of Gourmand Cookbook Awards for the best book on French wine with his new book Champagne, 49 million bubbles in every bottle. Released in 2018, Champagne, 49 million bubbles in every bottle tells the story of Champagne and other sparkling wines. Schelin's book now goes on as a Finalist into the international awards. Winners of which will be announced ...
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New Member: Adam Sebag Montefiore

Adam Sebag Montefiore was born in London, worked in the UK wine trade and studied at the WSET. He was a Founder and Honorary Member of The Academy of Wine Service. Moving to Israel in 1989, he worked for Israeli wineries for many years and played a significant role in the development of Israeli wines. He founded Handcrafted Wines of Israel. Adam Montefiore has been the wine writer for the Jerusa...
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New Member: Alistair Morrell

Strategic marketer, commentator and journalist, Alistair has been involved in most sides of the trade for over 30 years, starting with vintages in Alsace, Australia and New Zealand.  As a buyer for major supermarkets, Alistair launched Yellow Tail in the UK, accelerated the profile and sales of Domaines Paul Mas and Wakefield, alongside many others (including the internet-marketed Stormhoek).  ...
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New Member: Leona De Pasquale

Leona De Pasquale is a London-based Taiwanese freelance wine writer, translator and WSET Certified Educator. She writes for Wine & Spirits Digest, the most influential wine and spirits magazine in Taiwan and is the wine correspondent for The Vintage Magazine in the UK. She has written and translated articles for Decanter and Le Pan, and her translation works include some of the most authori...
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New Member: Janet Z Wang

Janet Z Wang is the author of The Chinese Wine Renaissance and contributor to Decanter China. She has also consulted on wine-related start-up ideas. Janet spent her formative years in China before immigrating to the UK as a teenager. From her education in Chinese history and classics since an early age, she noted that wine's social effects on humanity were profound and continuous. After graduatin...
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New Member: Davide Bortone

Davide Bortone
Based in Milan, but not at all: Davide is, first of all, a wine traveller. He loves to feel the 'glass' right in the place it is born, touching the vineyards and knowing the producers in their own ambience. A former newspaper journalist, Davide converted to wine writing in 2015, after experience as a professional taster. Davide started to write on a local newspaper when he was 16, then he start...
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Wine Australia launches new education programme

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New Member: Sherwin Lao

Sherwin Lao was introduced to the world of wine when he was hired by a huge Californian winery in the mid-1990s to take charge of the on-premise marketing of the winery- at first in Southeast Asia, and eventually for the much larger Asia-Pacific region. After leaving the Californian winery in the tail-end of the 1990s, Sherwin continued to do regional wine related work, mostly with Spanish winerie...
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