2022 Scholarship Recipients

The ASVO scholarship program is an important component of our membership offering to support professional development.
Our scholarship program is one way members can gain valuable experience from across Australia that helps them to build skills and knowledge relevant for their career paths

2022 Advanced Wine Assessment Course (AWAC)

Leah Mottin

Leah has successfully completed a Bachelor of Agricultural Technologies and a Masters in Viticulture and Oenology, Charles Sturt University. In 2021, she was the recipient of a Mentorship Scholarship orchestrated by the Australian Woman in Wine Awards; a project introduced to promote career development in the industry.  Leah has contributed to the industry through her involvement with the Perricoota Grape Growers Association as a committee member, and the Frankston Winemakers Guild as the Newsletter Editor. 
She has developed a diverse skillset and knowledge through her international winemaking experience in California and England, and domestically working in the Alpine Valley, Perricoota region, Mornington Peninsula and Yarra Valley. 

"I aspire to develop personally as my career develops with the ambition of progressing within my current role and being a valuable member of the wine industry. The scholarship will allow me to use my skills to teach others and join the ranks of the great"

2022 Advanced Viticulture Course (AVC)

Rhys Fitzgerald

After growing up in the small town of Cummins on the Lower Eyre Peninsula, as with many others I entered our industry via chance. My formative vintage was in the cellar with Coriole Vineyards in 2016. From that point I completed the Bachelor of Viticulture & Oenology at the University of Adelaide, and after initially desiring to be a winemaker began gravitating towards magic of the vineyard during the course of the degree. 
Pernod Ricard Winemakers awarded me with the Jacob’s Creek Scholarship for Viticulture in 2019, where I was placed in the Riverland. I worked with DJ’s Growers in McLaren Vale over the growing season for 2020, before jumping into the cellar again with Tapanappa in the Adelaide Hills.
I was then presented with an opportunity to join Nutrien Ag Solutions as Viticulturist following this, based out of Strathalbyn, SA. We work with private and corporate clients around Australia, offering a range of goods and services - not limited to inputs, technical advice and training.
It has been a great privilege to have worked with and learnt from some excellent mentors and colleagues – of whom are now too numerous to highlight. 
 

“It is exciting and humbling to be awarded the AVC scholarship from the ASVO scholarship selection panel and board. I hope to be able to repay their faith in me by communicating the knowledge gained from attending to all levels of industry whom I interact with – be they students, peers or clients in order to promote best practice and innovative management strategies. I would like to thank the many mentors who have shared their knowledge with me, and will endeavour to do the same to those I can. Lastly, thank you to the ASVO  for the facilitation of this scholarship opportunity and for their leadership in the wider industry.”