Background 

Jean has comprehensive commercial experience in the wine industry where her forte is the management of specialised wine events.  She began her wine career in 1991 with the Wine Development Board where she was instrumental in the development of a countrywide wine education programme.  Since 1999 she has been working in a freelance capacity offering a unique consultancy service to the wine trade.   Graduating with the Wine & Spirit Educational Trust Diploma in 1999, prompted Jean to set up her own consultancy service.   Since then, on behalf of her many clients, she has organised a number of successful trade and consumer promotions which include wine fairs, wine and food dinners, wine trips, tasting tutorials, in-store promotions, training courses and wine club tastings. 

Clients  :   Her client list includes  many  promotional bodies,  as well as a number of Irish importing companies who specialise in specific wine regions/countries as well as  a number of clients from within the drinks industry in Ireland and abroad.  Her company  has worked with or consulted for, on a freelance basis,  with a number of wine producing countries and regions, including :-

Acorex (Moldova); AOC Corbiere & Minervois;  A.P.E.T. (Economic Promotion Agency of Tuscany); Central Otago (NZ);  C.I.V.B. (Counseil Inter-professionnel du Vin de Bordeaux); Cotes du Bourg;  Cru Classes de Graves;  EXCAL (Exportaciones de Castilla y Leon, SA);  Family of 12 (New Zealand);  Le Sud (Wineries from the South of France); I.C.E.X. (Spain); Italian Trade Commission;  Instituto de Formento Region of Murcia (I.N.T.O.);  Provins Valais (Swiss Wines);  New Zealand Wines;  Rioja Alavesa & Txakoli; SOPEXA - Food & Wine from France;  Wines of Argentina; Wines of Chile, Wines of Luxembourg;  Wines of South Africa,  Embassy of Slovenia; Syndicate de Cru Bourgeois du Medoc;  Wines of Uruguay;  Vinedos de Madrid  and Viniportugal.

Wine Judging  :   Since 2006 Jean has been one of the wine judges at Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, one of  Europe's best known international blind tasting competitions.  The next Concours Mondial will take place in  Bratislava in Slovakia  from 10th-12th  May, 2013.   For more information about Concours Mondial their website is http://www.concoursmondial.eu/ 

Jean is part of the judging panel for Germany's  Mundus Vini  and was a judge at the  final of the 2012 The Best of Riesling Challenge in Neustadt in May 2012.  www.best-of-riesling.com       www.mundusvini.de    

Jean was a wine judge at  the Michelangelo International Wine Awards in South Africa in  August, 2012 www.michelangeloawards.com

Wine Journalism :   Jean is a member of the international Circle of Wine Writers and writes a monthly column for Retail News,  one of Ireland's retail trade magazines.  She presents a regular wine slot with the national news station, Newstalk as part of the Sean Moncrieff Show, which broadcasts a  nationwide "Movies and Booze" feature on a Friday afternoons from 3:30 - 4:30 p.m..   She also writes  a regular wine column for Prudence a bi-monthly magazine which prides itself on being the definitive Irish guide to savvy living.  Since May 2012 Jean has been writing a wine column for the Sunday World Ireland's most widely circulated  Sunday newspapers with a readership of over 1 million readers . TV: Jean also  presented wines for Four  Live, 4 RTE's afternoon TV show. 

For more information about Prudence or to sign up for their ezine www.prudence.ie  

From January 2013 Jean will be writing wine articles for Chef Magazine a UK publication  www.chefmagazine.co.uk

Website:  Jean's website features the wine diary for the Republic of Ireland  which highlights forthcoming trade and consumer events.  This site provides a key planning role for all wine events taking place in Ireland.   

IWSC Wine Communicator of the Year 2013 
www.iwsc.net/communicator_of_the_year

Jean was one of six finalists in the IWSC’s ‘Communicator of the Year’, a title which recognises an exceptional contribution to increasing awareness of wine and spirits. She was awarded the runner up prize at a reception in Palazzo Verita Poeta in Verona on April 6th.

Previous winners include Jancis Robinson, Olly Smith, Susy Atkins, Oz Clarke and Tim Atkin.

This year’s finalists included Eric Asimov, the influential wine critic on The New York Times, the Finnish writer, presenter and director, Arto Koskelo, the Swedish lecturer and broadcaster, Jan Petersen and Whyte & Mackay partner, Richard Paterson.

Glaswegian-born spirits expert Dave Broom won the title after one judge called him ‘one of the most universally accessible communicators’ and praised ‘his ability to reach live audiences around the world in both consumer and trade’.

Wine Qualifications  W.S.E.T Diploma ; W.S.E.T  Advanced Certificate (with distinction) ; W.S.E.T  Intermediate Certificate  

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