Aussie wine tour attracts international interest

An educational tour of Australia’s leading wine regions will be “the most international by far” according to organiser Tim Wildman MW.

With travellers from China and Canada, as well as the UK and Scandinavia, this year’s James Busby travel trip has attracted a broad range of influential trade figures, including Masters of Wine, Master Sommeliers, buyers and press.

James Busby Travel was established in 2010 by Wildman “to help foster positive attitudinal change towards Australian wine over the long-term.”

This year’s tour will be third since the concept was founded and will cover 14 wine regions in Victoria and South Australia over two weeks, from 13-24 October.

According to Wildman, the trips are “educational and provide a detailed insight into the dynamic modern Australian wine scene.”

The James Busby Travel group for this year is:

Charlie Young, Owner, Vinoteca wine bars, London, UK
Junior Vianna MW, Buying Director, Coe Vintners, London, UK
Joao Pires MS, Head Sommelier, Dinner by Heston, London, UK
Katie Exton, Head Sommelier, Chez Bruce, London, UK
Richard Kershaw MW, Owner, Rikipedia, UK
Jennifer Docherty, Buyer, Liberty Wines, UK
Pedro Ballesteros MW, Educator, Weinakademiker Austria
Harley Carbery, Wine Director, Joel Ruberchon, Las Vegas
Richard Harvey, Owner, Metrovino, Calgary, Canada
Terry Threlfall, Wine Director, Hawksworth, Vancouver, Canada
Terje Meling, Buyer, Vinmonopolet, Norwegian Monopoly
Arne Ronald MW, Journalist, Vinforum, Norway
Aina Mee Myhre, Buyer, Moestre Grape Solutions, Norway
Daniel Turpeinen, Product Manager, Prime Wines, Sweden
Zachary Yu, Head Sommelier, Langham Place Hotel, Hong Kong
Chris So, Founder, winelist.hk
Kent Tsang, Executive Editor, wine-magazine.cn, Guangzhou, China
Marcus Ford, Director, Pudao Wine, Shanghai, China
plus we have two additional guests from Japan for the Victoria leg
Yoshiko Takahashi, Buyer, Cellar Door, Tokyo, Japan
Minoru Numata, Managing Director, Taste & Fun, Tokyo, Japan

The itinerary, which can be viewed here, emphasises long visits to individual wineries to ensure the visitors really understand their hosts’ approach, while this year Wildman has added a series of Masterclasses to focus on regional styles.

Last year’s group included:

James Busby Travel group 2011

UK Richard Hemming, MW student and journalist for JancisRobinson.com
Senthil Kulandhaisamy, Head Sommelier, OXO Tower Restaurant, London
Emily O’Hare, Head Sommelier, The River Cafe, London.
Alistair Cooper, Owner and buyer, LaCava Wines, Bicester, Oxfordshire
Matthew Hemming, Buyer, buyer Averys of Bristol and MW student
Jacqui Oram, Guy Anderson Wines, Somerset
US Chris Bagetta, Head Sommelier, Eleven Madison Avenue Restaurant, New York
Jerusha Frost, Wine Director, The Lion restaurant, New York
Ireland Colm Douglas, owner The Corkscrew, Dublin
Sweden Jan Petersen, journalist, Livitsgoda magazine
Latvia  Aigars Nords, MW student and Director of Nords Porter Novelli
India Sonal Holland, MW student and consultant, buyer and journalist in India