Meet the Friend

Su-Lin Ong is an independent wines and spirits consultant specialising in research and development, marketing and PR. For over 25 years she has worked with both long-established brands and helped launch new entrepreneurial brands, working also on cocktails, beers and tea infusions! Amanda Barnes interviews her about her parents' cocktail trolley, fast cars and slow wine, and why she'll be looking ...

Emma Baumann is the PR and Communications Manager at Wine Australia, where she looks after communications, keeps stakeholders informed about Wine Australia and their activities, and finds ways to promote Australian wine and share producers’ stories. Amanda Barnes interviews her to get to know a bit more about why she enjoys working with the Australian wine industry, how she got her first wine brea...

Emma Roberts is director of Eviva Communications working with clients that range from Picpoul de Pinet to Japanese spirits. Amanda Barnes interviews her to find out more about how she got into the wine world and how lockdown has changed the industry from her perspective, including the positive side of helping the planet, riding a bicycle and working in your pyjamas.   How did you get into...

Magnus Reuterdahl is a leading wine blogger and writer in Sweden. Amanda Barnes interviews him to find out more about how he transitioned from being a real-life Indiana Jones to a bonafide #winelover  How did you first discover a passion for wine?  My interest in wine started in the 90s but it was in the early 2000s it really took off with the rise of wine blogging. I started my first wine b...

Jo Wehring is best known as the UK market manager for Wines of South Africa, where she has witnessed an incredible change in the South African wine scene as Amanda Barnes finds out in their interview. How did you first get into wine? While at university, I worked part-time in Victoria Wines and I began to get interested in the world of wine. Once I graduated, with a degree in Art History & P...

Angela Muir MW has been working in the wine trade since 1970, right from her first job on leaving Bristol University. Ten years later she became a Master of Wine, in fact one of the first female MWs, and has been a respected consultant to wine producers and companies ever since, establishing her own consultancy company, Cellarworld, in 1993. Amanda Barnes interviews her about her experience in the...

Nicky Forrest's love for wine has brought her not only into the world of wine PR but into the vineyard as a grower too, as Amanda Barnes learns in this interview. As MD of Phipps, Nicky has worked on several landmark campaigns for wine brands and producers and she shares some of her experiences in the drinks business. What are your earliest memories in wine?  My first memories are from the late ...