Neil Hadley is the current Chair of the Council of IMW. As of July 6th 2020, he will have been a Master of Wine for more than half his lifetime, having passed the exam at the tender age of 26 and at that moment being the youngest Member of the IMW on the planet (although not the youngest ever). Neil joined the UK wine trade in retailing with Lay & Wheeler in 1984. He departed the UK to travel and work the vineyards of Australia for 1 year in 1987, then returned to the UK to take a position in education at Grants of St James's School of Wine. In 1993, Neil migrated permanently to Australia, passing the MW in that year and taking a position as Marketing Manager for winemaker Rosemount Estate, leading ultimately to several years as Brand Director for Penfolds wines and the Group Product Development Director within the Southcorp Global Marketing team. After a stint at Villa Maria Estate, in 2007 Neil returned to Australia, joining family-owned Taylors Wines as GM Export, where he remains to this day.

Much as he loves wine, he loves family, friends, travel, music and dreaming in equal or greater measures.

Current employer: Taylors / Wakefield Wines

Primary area(s) of work: Trade, Strategy, Communication

Industry sector(s): Marketing, Sales, Educator

Wine styles: Still white, Still red, Still rosé

Wine region expertise: Australia, New South Wales, South Australia

Market expertise: Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Asia, North America, United Kingdom, China, Scandinavia, Canada, South East Asia

Specialisms: Marketing wine, Supplier/customer relationships, Identifying and meeting consumer demand, Routes to market, Supermarket and multiple retail, Wine labels, Branding, Wine judging