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Throughout her career, Aleesha has been drawn to stories of people and places. This interest led her to study the NCTJ Diploma, going on to work as a multimedia journalist, before producing TV documentaries. It was a natural progression when she fell into the wine trade, after many a year as an engaged consumer, and quickly became fascinated by the anthropology of wine and the role it plays in ...

William F. O’Connor, Ed.D, is a longtime resident of Japan, where he served on the faculty of Asia University for more than three decades and currently holds the title “Professor Emeritus.” He is the author of numerous publications on topics ranging from English-language education to political propaganda and is the co-author of the book Drinking Japan: It’s Not Just Sake. His blog drinkingjapan.o...

“Too often Bordeaux has been portrayed as a gated community of overpriced wines,” says Jane Anson, noted author and expert on the wines of the region, “but the Bordeaux of today is one of the most exciting wine regions of the world, not only making wines with precision and ambition but increasingly at the forefront of the green movement, and reclaiming its role as centre of the global wine trade.”...

Simon Field, an Oxford languages graduate, was lucky to escape from the world of Chartered Accountancy, having qualified with KMPG in 1991, and then spent a couple of misguided years working for an American Bank in such cosseted dens as Monaco, Guernsey and Gibraltar. In 1995 he joined Oddbins, scaling the heights of a managerial position in the Belgravia branch, an up-market broom cupboard as it...

Pam Strayer specializes in organic and biodynamic wines and writes for Wines & Vines, Wine Business, Civil Eats and Daily Seven Fifty. She is senior editor of Slow Wine Guide USA, a guide to eco-friendly, boutique wineries in the U.S. Pam was the conference program director for Demeter USA’s 2018 International Biodynamic Wine Conference in San Francisco and is the author of five apps on org...

Based in Farnham in England, Richard obtained the WSET Diploma earlier this year. He teaches part-time at WSET London School. After 20 years working in medical publishing (he still freelances for The Lancet), Richard decided to move into the wine industry after spending a year in south-west France. Richard lost his sight 30 years ago from an inherited eye condition; he can only recall the a...

Shantell Martin, the renowned London-born, New York-based artist known for her large scale black-and-white drawings, has designed the artwork for The Golden Vines Awards Trophy.  Shantell Martin is one of the most groundbreaking young artists working today and is known for her exploration into the vast potential of the drawn line. Using an ink marker, she creates small personal sketches, large-sc...

Wine writer and Circle member Timo Jokinen's restaurant in Tampere, Winebridge, has become the third restaurant in Finland to have won a Wine Spectator Award of Excellency. Winebridge joins the two other Finnish restaurants recognised by the awards, Restaurant Pastis and Restaurant Muru, in the esteemed list which evaluates restaurants not only based on their cuisine and service but pays signif...