My journey into the wine trade started at university when some friends and I ran the wine society there. A growing interest in wine, a love of travel and an English degree, led me to think that a career as a wine writer could be a lot of fun and so on graduating I joined Majestic Wine Warehouse to learn more about wine. This set me on the academic path as you were automatically enrolled onto the WSET programme and from there I moved to John Armit Wines where I completed the Diploma. A short stint at madaboutwine.com followed before I moved to Wine Magazine as their Tastings Co-ordinator. This job played a fundamental part in my decision to embark on the MW programme as I was tasting with MWs regularly and was keen to improve my tasting further and raise my game. I was also very aware that I was fortunate enough to have arguably the best job in the country for passing the practical paper as I had access to such a wide range of wines and experience. So, I signed up for the programme and sat the exams, moving from Wine Magazine to a buyer at Direct Wines and then onto Constellation Europe as Wine Development Manager. In 2011 I took the plunge and left corporate life and set up a wine tasting, consultancy, private and corporate events company; The Mistress of Wine. It was also the year I became a Master of Wine and I was delighted and honoured to be awarded The Madame Bollinger Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Practical Paper. I am also a wine judge, primarily as a Panel Chair at the International Wine Challenge.

Industry sector(s): Journalism, Educator, Consultant, Wine judge

Wine styles: Sparkling wine, Champagne, English sparkling wines, Still wines

Wine region expertise: Australia

Market expertise: United Kingdom

Specialisms: Food and wine pairing