Education Program Overview

Who Should Apply?

• If you are energetic, enthusiastic, dedicated and wine-passionate;
• If you are currently in a role, or aspire to be, where you are “working with wine”, in particular in the retail or on-premise sectors;
• If you would like to improve your level of international wine knowledge;
• If you believe you have the potential to become an Australian ambassador for wine;
• If you would like to hone your writing and sensory entrance skills;
• If you are not a qualified winemaker and do not have a half or full MW pass.
• And must be available to attend all stages of the examination process

Register to Participate

As places to attend the Seminars in the Working with Wine Fellowship Education Program are limited, all applicants will be required to complete an entrance examination. Each applicant must book an entrance examination place by completing the on-line application form via the Working with Wine website before 5.00pm Tuesday 31st January 2012.

Entrance Examination

Taking place on Tuesday 21st February 2012 in Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Hobart, Launceston, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney, you will be required to sit an hour long written exam and tasting assessment. Theoretical knowledge will be tested in areas of viticulture, viniculture, laws and regulations and global awareness of regions and producers. The tasting assessment will consist of two wines served blind, and we will be looking for detail as to the identity of the wine; variety, country, region, vintage and producer.

The results of this examination will determine the allocation of places in each State. The successful participants of the Working with Wine Fellowship Education Program will be chosen by an independent selection panel, and notified of their success by Friday 30th March 2012. The panel’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

Seminars

The participants must attend two seminars during the year, with attendance at both seminars being compulsory. Each seminar will be held over a day and will include a further written/tasting examination covering the Seminar subject. The results of these two additional seminar examinations, together with the results of the entrance examination and the written assignment module (see below), will determine the finalists in each State.

Written Assignment

An additional component of the Working with Wine Fellowship Education Program is dedicated to writing about wine. A written assignment, which is a compulsory element of the Education Program, will be issued to all participants at Seminar One, to be completed in their own time and submitted no later than Friday 31st August 2012. The participant with the most successful submission, as determined by Peter Forrestal of The Wine Magazine, will be awarded a wine reference library to the value of $1,000 and will also have their article published in the Gourmet Traveller WINE magazine.

Finals

The best performing participant from each State will move on to the final round, and may be required to travel interstate (at Negociants Australia’s cost). This round, held on Tuesday 20th November 2012, focuses on an interview with and presentation to the Working with Wine Fellowship Selection Panel. The panel will be chaired by James Halliday and includes Sally Evans (Winepros), Peter Forrestal (The Wine Magazine), Adam O’Neill (Negociants Australia) and Tim Evans (Negociants Australia).

Winner

The best performing participant in the State finals will be announced as the winner of the Working with Wine Fellowship 2012, at a presentation dinner held the same evening (of the finals).