The Leadership Group

Mr Brian Walsh (Chairman)
Director, Strategy & Business Development, Yalumba Wine Company

Brian joined the wine industry in 1968 and after 20 years working in winemaking and management positions in McLaren Vale, took up the position of Chief Winemaker at Yalumba in 1988.

In 1998 his role was expanded to encompass all aspects of production, from viticulture to bottling for Yalumba and the Hill Smith Family Estates when he was appointed to the Board as Director of Winemaking.

Brian took up his current role in April 2010, freeing up some of his time to explore future opportunities for Yalumba.

Brian has a long history of wine industry service, having been President of the South Australian Wine Industry Association, Chair of the South Australian Wine Tourism Advisory Board and Chair of the Barossa Winemakers Committee. A senior wine judge in Australia over the last 30 years, Brian is currently Chairman of Judges at the Royal Adelaide Wine Show, where he has also served as Chair of the Wine Committee.

In May 2011, Brian was appointed to the Board of Wine Australia Corporation.

Professor Isak (Sakkie) Pretorius, BSc Agric (Hons) PhD
Managing Director, The Australian Wine Research Institute
Professor Extraordinary in Oenology, University of Stellenbosch
Affiliate Professor in Oenology, The University of Adelaide

Previously, Professor Pretorius was the founding Director of the Institute for Wine Biotechnology at the University of Stellenbosh in South Africa. He obtained his PhD in Microbiology under the supervision of Prof Julius Marmur from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York in 1986. The main focus of his research has been on Wine Microbiology and Biotechnology and has extensively published in that area. His viewpoint is that grape and wine research should be directed toward increasing fundamental understanding in a context responsive to the applied needs of producers and consumers at levels of both problem selection and experimental design. Therefore, he believes that grape and wine research inspired by both the quest for understanding the fundamentals and by considerations of future use, promises to deliver the most effective outcomes for the Australian wine sector. Such outcomes support the cost-effective production of wine with minimised resource inputs, improved product quality, increased health and societal benefits and low environmental impact.

For further information, visit the AWRI website.

Dr Jeremy Burdon, BSc PhD
Chief, CSIRO Plant Industry

Dr Burdon is an evolutionary biologist with particular interest in plant-microbe interactions. His active research interests include problems involving pathogens of agricultural crops, using fungi as biological control agents for controlling invasive weeds and understanding the complexities of the interplay of parasitic and symbiotic interactions in natural systems.

Dr Burdon's work has been internationally recognised through the award of the Gottschalk Medal by the Australian Academy of Science (1987), an honorary Doctorate by Umeå University, Sweden (1996), election to the Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Science (1996), the American Phytopathological Society (2003), the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (2004) and the EC Stakman Award from the University of Minnesota (2003).

For further information, visit the CSIRO website.

Dr Pauline Mooney
Executive Director, SA Research and Development Institute (SARDI)

Pauline has a BSc (Honours) and MSc in the disciplines of botany, genetics, microbiology, plant pathology and phycology from the University of Natal, in South Africa, and completed her PhD majoring in molecular biology at Sydney University.  Prior to joining SARDI, Pauline spent 17 years working for HortResearch in New Zealand, where amongst other things she helped set up the NZ Citrus Budwood Improvement Scheme and the CTV mild strain cross protection programme.

As Executive Director of SARDI, the South Australian Government's principal primary industries research agency, Pauline oversees highly skilled scientists, technicians and postgraduate students, located at 14 state-of-the-art research facilities throughout the State.  SARDI’s focus is innovative, cost-effective technologies to enhance the food, marine, bioscience and ecosystem industries in South Australia.

For further information, visit the SARDI website.

Professor Eileen Scott, BSc PhD
Acting Head, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, The University of Adelaide

Eileen Scott is a plant pathologist who specialises in fungal and bacterial diseases of woody plants, pulses and oilseeds. She completed her BSc in Biological Sciences at the University of Edinburgh and her PhD in Plant Pathology at the University of Cambridge.

Eileen's research at the University of Adelaide has included biology and control of grapevine powdery and downy mildew, bunch rots, eutypa dieback and phomopsis blight, fungal contaminants and wine quality, and diagnosis and management of trunk diseases. This research has been conducted in close collaboration with industry and the findings presented at numerous conferences and workshops. She convened invited workshops on powdery mildew at the Australian Wine Industry Technical conferences in 2004 and 2007, and was a keynote speaker in 1998. She also presented a master class on powdery mildew and trunk diseases to the UK wine industry in 2010 as part of the WineSkills program.

Eileen has co-authored almost 100 refereed scientific publications, 40 of these on grapevine pathogens and diseases. She teaches general microbiology and plant pathology to undergraduate and postgraduate students at the University of Adelaide and has supervised 20 PhD students to successful completion.

Eileen was awarded a Fellowship of the Australasian Plant Pathology Society in 2011.

For further information, visit the University of Adelaide website.

Rebekah Richardson, B Ag Sc (Oenology) MBA
Group White and Sparkling Winemaker, Orlando Wines

Rebekah oversees the complete white, sparkling and rose portfolio for Orlando Wines, part of the Pernod-Ricard Pacific company. She is also closely involved with the global profile of the key brands and is a keen ambassador for Australian wines around the world. 

Since commencing her career Rebekah has worked all around Australia including McLaren Vale, Yarra Valley, Griffith, Great Western, Mildura, the Hunter Valley and now in the Barossa Valley. She also spent seven years in California, four with E&J Gallo and three with Korbel Winery.

During her time in the US, she held key senior roles with the Californian Enological Research Association. Upon her return to Australia she took up the position of Senior Sparkling Winemaker for Southcorp where she was part of the team tasked with moving the sparkling facility from Great Western to Mildura.

In 2010 Rebekah completed the Future Leaders program for the wine industry. She also holds a degree in Oenology, a Masters in Business Administration and is presently working on a Masters in Marketing.