The 14 participants who will be attending the Landmark Australia Tutorial in the Yarra Valley next week are:

Ms Sarah Ahmed, freelance wine writer and educator, United Kingdom
Sarah runs her own website The Wine Detective as well as contributing to a number of publications including The World of Fine Wine, Decanter, Wine & Spirit, The Drinks Business, Harpers Wine & Spirit Weekly, Imbibe/Square Meal, Off Licence News, and The Wine Society Newsletter. Sarah has extensive experience in wine tastings, courses and presentations as well as international wine judging experience.

Ms Kim Bickley, sommelier, Hilton Hotel, Australia
Kim Bickley is a Certified Sommelier with over 15 years’ experience in fine dining and the hospitality industry. She is currently Head Sommelier of Hilton Sydney and Luke Mangan’s Glass Brasserie and has judged at several wine shows in Australia.

Mr Tony Love, wine writer, News Ltd. metropolitan newspapers, Australia
Tony writes for News Ltd’s metropolitan newspapers’ weekly food and wine publication, Taste, which appears in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide and associated websites. He also edits and writes an annual Top 100 Australian Wine Guide and has broad wine judging experience.

Ms Karen MacNeil, chairman, Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies at the Culinary Institute of America, United States
Karen is the author of the US best-selling wine book, The Wine Bible, which is used in the US by the Guild of Master Sommeliers as their primary teaching text. Karen hosted and wrote for the Emmy-award winning Wine, Food & Friends with Karen MacNeil, a 13-part series which ran on US national television from 2005 to 2008. She has been published in more than 50 US magazines and newspapers, including The New York Times, Food & Wine, Saveur, and Town & Country. Karen has received many prestigious industry awards, the most recent being the IWSC’s 2008 Trophy for Communicator of the Year.

Mr Kenichi Ohashi, president, Yamajin Co. Ltd., Utsunomiya, Japan
Kenichi is a director and chief consultant about wine and sake education in premium product development consulting company, SomerSault Co. Ltd. He is also a wine columnist for Yomiuri Online, a certified sommelier with the Japan Sommelier Association and has published a book called “Natural Wine” featuring sustainable, organic and biodynamic wines. He is a Senior Judge at the IWC and is an experienced lecturer on wine, providing education and commercial advice to wine buyers at other wine wholesale firms across Japan.

Ms Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Asian wine correspondent and reviewer, eRobertParker.com and The Wine Advocate, Singapore
Singapore’s only MW, Lisa has been working in the wine trade for more than 17 years. She currently writes for Robert Parker’s website, as the Asian wine correspondent and reviewer for The Wine Advocate covering the wines of Australia. She is also the Contributing Wine editor for Cuisine & Wine Asia Magazine. Lisa’s extensive career in the wine trade has spanned three countries (UK, Japan, and Singapore) in sales, marketing, purchasing and wine education. As one of the world’s leading experts on Fine Wines and Asian Wine Markets, she frequently lectures upon these topics at conferences around the world.

Ms Diwen Qiu, managing editor, “Wine in China” magazine, Singapore
Diwen is a Singapore-based wine writer with extensive work ties to mainland China. She is currently the Managing Editor for “Wine in China” magazine, and a wine columnist and wine consultant with Xibao Trading Company. Diwen is also the guest host and editor of “Enjoying wine” series on the Shanghai educational television station. She has published more than 100 articles over the last four years in wine and food related magazines in China, such as Vino Vogue, Wine in China and Food Report. Diwen’s “Handbook of Wine”, written in Chinese, will be published this year and she has judged at the Hong Kong Wine and Spirits Competition and Tower Club American Express wine competition in Singapore.

Dr Edward Ragg, wine writer, educator and consultant, Dragon Phoenix Fine Wine Consulting, China
Edward is a wine writer, educator and columnist for The World of Fine Wine Magazine and recently Decanter magazine, as well as, within China, for The Financial Times’ Rui, Drink Magazine (Shanghai), The Robb Report China and Caijing Ribao, among others. He has also served as the ‘China Correspondent’ for wine sites Catavino and Enobytes and has international wine judging experience.

Mr Thomas Rydberg, wine writer, Ekstra Bladet, Denmark
Thomas is a wine educator and wine writer for Ekstra Bladet which is among the largest print newspapers and the largest online news site in Denmark. Thomas is also editor and CEO of AltomSpanskVin Aps. He teaches at a private wine school in Copenhagen, has international and domestic wine judging experience, and plans to begin his MW this year.

Mr Joerg Sievers, editor, Weinwirtschaft, Meininger Publications, Germany
Joerg is a wine editor at Meininger Publications and has written articles for Weinwelt, Sommelier Magazine and Weinwirtschaft. In 2008 Joerg published a 64 page buyer’s guide for Shiraz Wines from Australia, the first of its kind in Germany, which was circulated into Meininger’s wine publications.

Mr Jon Troutman, senior editor, Cork’d, USA
Jon Troutman is the senior editor for Cork’d. Born and raised on Cape Cod, MA, he was introduced to food and wine from a young age while working in his family’s restaurant. Prior to joining Cork’d, Jon attended the University of Vermont where he received his B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing. After graduating, he returned home to his family’s restaurant, Scargo Café, as the general manager. In less than a year he took the wine program from a modest 40 bottle selection to a multiple award winning program. In the summer of 2009 he became certified with the Court of Master Sommeliers.

Mr Simon Tam, wine journalist, educator and consultant, Independent Wine Centre, Hong Kong
Simon is the founding director of Independent Wine Centre in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Macao as well as Hong Kong IWSC, the Hong Kong partner of the prestigious UK-based IWSC. Simon has more than 20 years’ experience in the wine industry, has judged at more than 70 international wine competitions around the world, and in 2007 was voted “The Best Wine Consultant” in the UK’s Wine Business International magazine. He is a contributing editor to 23 publications and websites including The South China Morning Post, Prestige, Macau Closer and Wine in China, among many more. Simon is the chairman elect of Greater China Wine Critics Association, whose role is to promote and nurture knowledge exchange between wine producers and association members in Hong Kong, Macao, Shanghai, Beijing and Taipei.

Ms Fongyee Walker, wine writer, educator and consultant, Dragon Phoenix Fine Wine Consulting, China
Fongyee is a WSET recommended tutor and assesor and is a second year candidate of the MW Program. Fongyee is also wine writer for Hong Kong Tatler, Financial Times Rui Magazine, Caijing Ribao (China’s top financial newspaper), Fine Wine & Liquor (China), Wine in China, and co-writer of Dragon Phoenix Wine blog. Her extensive judging experience includes regular participation on tasting panels of Wine in China, Savour, and Food and Wine China, the Hong Kong IWC and team captain, member and coach of the Cambridge University Varsity Wine-Tasting Team.

Mr Thomas Woolrych, buying manager, Direct Wines, United Kingdom
Thomas is the buying manager for Direct Wines – the world’s largest direct to customer independent and family-owned wine business with approximately one million regular customers. They operate in the UK, US, Germany, Switzerland, Australia and Hong Kong and trading names include Laithwaites and The Sunday Times Wine Club in the UK. Thomas has worked for Direct Wines since 1997 and is responsible for purchasing from Australia. He is a Senior Judge at the IWC.