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Dr Paul Petrie, President
Paul has been a National Viticulturist for Foster’s Group Ltd for the last 5 years, based at Magill in Adelaide. He is responsible for overseeing a range of technical programs including crop forecasting, clone and root stock selection, and assessing the potential impact of climate change and how it can be mitigated.
Paul grew up helping his parents establish a vineyard in Canterbury, New Zealand. Before moving to Australia he completed a B.Hort.Sc. and a PhD on Canopy Management at Lincoln University; in addition to a vintage at Seresin Estate in Marlborough. Prior to starting his current role he worked at the CSIRO Merbein laboratory, helping to refine systems for crop forecasting and yield regulation.
Paul was co-chair of the recent 8th International Symposium on Grapevine Physiology and Biotechnology, which was held under the auspices of the ASVO. All members of the society will receive the proceedings of this symposium as a special issue of the AJGWR.
Paul is committed to adding value to the ASVO membership and ensuring the society maintains its position as the pre-eminent facilitator of information for the Australian Wine Industry.
Alan Hoey, Vice President
Qualifications
Roseworthy Diploma of Oenology RDO 1968
Fellowship Diploma Business Administration SAIT 1972
Graduate of Australian Institute of Company Directors Course Adelaide 1998 MAICD
Career Summary
Winemaker Glenloth / Seaview Wines 1968 – 1973
Senior Winemaker Mitchelton Vintners 1973-1974
Senior Winemaker Tollana Wines 1974 – 1980
The above positions involved winemaking, viticultural and winery management responsibilities in the wine regions of Mclaren Vale, Coonawarra, The Goulbourn Valley and the Barossa Valley.
1980 joined The Yalumba Wine Company as senior white winemaker with specialty white wine skills.
1987 responsibility for New Zealand (Nautilus) winemaking & viticulture was added to the Yalumba winemaking duties.
1995 appointed Director of Rapaura Vintners P/L which was 25% owned by Negociants NZ who were a fully owned subsidiary of Samuel Smith and Sons.
1996 appointed as Senior Winemaker International with responsibility for winemaking & viticulture in New Zealand (Nautilus brands), France and USA (Voss brands).
1997 directed the building of the Nautilus cellar door and purpose built Pinot Noir cellar.
In 1999 appointed as Chief Winemaker for TheYalumba Wine Company and Director responsible for New Zealand winemaking and viticulture.
2004 /2005 involved as a key member of the design team for the Oxford Landing Winery building project (35,000 tonnes), which is still Australia’s most technologically advanced large format winery.
2005 Resigned as a director of Rapaura Vintners as Negociants NZ sold their ownership in this partnership.
2007 appointed as Manager Wineries & Operations for the Yalumba wine company which included Dalrymple Estate in Tasmania, and contract wine making operations in Tasmania, Margaret River and North East Victoria.
Retained Directorship of Negociants New Zealand until March 2010 when the board was restructured.
1995-2010 AWBC wine inspector
2010 Independent Wine Consultant
2011 Directed/planned the building of the Marlborough (NZ) Nautilus (1,000 tonnes) white wine cellar.
Other Interests
Director /Consultant for two family owned and managed premium Adelaide Hills vineyards. Total area under vineyard is 65 acres.
Mr Mark Gishen, Treasurer
Mark Gishen has over 20 years wine industry experience spanning from winery production to applied research, and currently operates Gishen Consulting – a specialist technical consulting service. Throughout his career, he has maintained interaction with the industry Australia-wide having spent 12 years with the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) in the Industry Development and Support group where he initiated the key innovative project in infrared spectroscopy. He established Gishen Consulting in 2006, with a current portfolio including a project management contract at the South Australian Wine Industry Association (mainly environmental and climate change response projects), and a range of private client projects including management systems development (HACCP, ISO17025), technology evaluation and commercialization, new product development, and analytical and process systems troubleshooting. He has a Master’s degree in chemical engineering (biotechnology) and has attended the AWRI’s Advanced Wine Assessment Short Course. He is a Technical Assessor for NATA in chemical testing, and a reviewer for the International Journal of Food Science and Technology. He has convened workshops at Australian Wine Industry Technical Conferences since 2001 (Eleventh), coauthored more than 35 refereed and 70 other technical papers, and presented more than 30 conference papers in Australia and internationally.
Dr Bob Dambergs, Secretary
Bob has an Honours degree in Microbiology from the University of Adelaide and a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Queensland. Bob worked in the wine industry for 16 years as Technical Services Manager for BRL Hardy and was responsible for gaining NATA and ISO9001 accreditation for their largest winery. Bob joined AWRI in 2001 as a Senior Research Scientist and in 2008 Bob became the manager of the first external research node of AWRI, based at the Tasmanian Institute of Agricultural Research. Bob is also an Honorary Associate of The University of Tasmania and supervises many post-graduate students, working on viticulture and oenology research projects. In addition to industry and research experience, Bob has managed a commercial vineyard since 1985 and has witnessed the rise of the Australian Wine Industry. Bob has been actively involved in research, development and extension of knowledge to industry and his experience before joining AWRI also provides a sound understanding of all wine production sectors.
Sam Connew, Board Member
Samantha Connew is currently the Winemaker/Manager of boutique Hunter Valley winery, Tower Estate. Prior to this she worked in McLaren Vale for ten years as the Senior Winemaker at Wirra Wirra Vineyards. She is a member of the Hunter Valley Wine Industry Association executive committee, and chairs the Association’s newly formed Environmental Subcommittee. She is also a member of the HVWIA winemaking subcommittee.
Sam completed the Advanced Wine Assessment Course at the Australian Wine Research Institute in 2000 and was a scholar at the prestigious Lens Evans Tutorial in 2002. Following this training, she has become a regular and respected senior wine show judge and panel chair throughout Australia, and was an export inspector for the AWBC for four years.
She has been a member of the ASVO since 1999, and with her passion for the Australian wine show system is enthusiastic about being involved in the ASVO Wine Show Project and continuing the work it has done to strengthen the integrity of the system, and helping wine shows to better serve the needs of the industry.
Mr Geoff McCorkelle, Board Member
Dr Gregory Dunn, Board Member
Associate Professor Gregory Dunn is Deputy Director of the National Grape and Wine Industry Centre, Wagga Wagga. He completed his PhD in 1991 (Melbourne University) after which he took up a post-doctoral fellowship researching tree water use and forest hydrology. From 1993 until 1997 Greg was based at the Queensland Forest Research Institute where he was responsible for the State’s native forest and plantation forest silviculture research programs. In 1997 he returned to Victoria to work on various yield forecasting and yield regulation projects in Viticulture for DPI Victoria. From 2005 until 2010 Greg was Associate Professor (Viticulture) and CR Roper Fellow in Agricultural Science at The University of Melbourne. He has spent the last 14 years involved in viticultural research, extension, training and post-graduate and undergraduate teaching, first for DPI Victoria and then for The University of Melbourne. Greg is also Deputy Editor for The Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research.
Greg has been an ASVO member since 1997 and is passionate about the society role in facilitating the extension of high quality viticulture and oenology technical information, particularly through its seminars and publications. Greg is also committed to maximising benefits that the society offers its members through professional development opportunities and events.
Dr Mark Krstic, Board Member
Mark is currently the employed by the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) as the Victorian Node Manager, based in Melbourne, servicing the broader Victorian wine sector in terms of research, development and extension needs in partnership with the Victorian Department of Primary Industries (DPIV), Wine Victoria and the Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation.
Mark also worked with the Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation (GWRDC) as a Program / Innovation Manager (2007-2012). Mark’s responsibilities in this role include managing the Smart Science – Practical Solutions program (Program 5 – 2007-2012 5 year plan), re-developing GWRDC’s website, the initiation of GWRDC’s Innovators Network industry technical transfer program, establishment of the GWRDC Regional Grassroots solutions extension/funding program.
Mark’s previous experience includes nine years with the Victorian Department of Primary Industries (DPI), based out of both Mildura and Knoxfield, where he was responsible for leading the research group and managing a number of viticultural research programs, predominantly in the area of wine grapes, but also with extensive experience in the table grape, dried grape and pistachio industries. Prior to working with DPI Mark was employed for three years as a Post-Doctoral Research Scientist at CSIRO Plant Industry, Merbein. His work here focussed on developing systems that aided in yield prediction in the wine industry, but included detailed research into factors controlling crop development, in the varieties Chardonnay, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Professor Vladimir Jiranek, Editor, Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research
Vladimir Jiranek has a PhD from the University of Adelaide for work undertaken in the Department of Plant Biochemistry and at the Australian Wine Research Institute. These studies on the nitrogen and sulfur metabolism of wine yeasts lead to a postdoctoral position in the yeast phospholipid lab of Susan Henry at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. In 1995 Vladimir was appointed a Lecturer in Fermentation Technology/Microbial Physiology at the University of Auckland, where he undertook research with the local the wine, food and biotechnologies industries, before returning to Adelaide in 1997. He currently heads a research group focussed on the functional genomics of wine microbes and their optimisation by classical and recombinant means, and more recently using adaptive evolution. Other topics of interest include the influence of temperature on wine yeast performance, the application of high power ultrasound to winemaking, and the modelling of wine fermentations. The group's findings have been reported through some 110 journal and technical papers, book chapters and conference presentations.