Our Team

Leo Austin.jpg

  • Leo has worked in wine and spirits in Asia for twenty five years. He returned to the UK with his family in 2018 and has focused since then on supporting European exporters and non-profit ventures in the UK. Leo was Principal Project Consultant on Moet Hennessy’s Ao Yun and Chandon projects in China. He is a trustee of the Sir Edward Heath Charitable Foundation and is Senior Advisor to the US business think-tank, The Conference Board. 

Sarah Abbott MW.jpg

  • Sarah is the director of marketing agency Swirl Wine Group, and has worked in the wine industry for 25 years. Her interest in ancient varieties and the origins of wine is long-standing. She works with generic and national wine bodies, advising them on how to communicate their shared identity and increase their collective brand value. In recent years, Sarah has spent a lot of time in the cradle of wine by visiting the vineyards of Georgia, Armenia, Turkey and Lebanon. Her experience in expanding new markets for emerging wine regions convinced her that Old Vine Wines must be marketed as a form of collective category in order for their value to be realised and for great old vines to become commercially sustainable.

  • Alun has more than 40 years experience in the wine trade. He was the wine buyer for Fortnum & Mason and then for Harrods before becoming Wine Director at Berry Bros and Rudd for sixteen years, covering the UK, Singapore, Tokyo and Hong Kong. In 2013, he became International Director of the Vats Group in China with a mission to help inspire the young generation of internationalized Chinese wine lovers with a passion for fine wine and sustainable winemaking. Alun retired from international business in April 2020 and now consults from his UK base.  

  • Based in the UK, Belinda has more than twenty years of experience as a wine marketer. She started her career organising wine tasting masterclasses at Christie’s for the likes of Michael Broadbent & Steven Spurrier. She holds the WSET Diploma and is one of very few Chartered Marketers in the wine trade. She has had the pleasure of marketing some of the world’s leading wine brands and UK importers.

  • Cynthia is a Vinitaly Intl Academy certified Italian Wine Ambassador, a professional sommelier with Fondazione Italiana Sommelier and the Worldwide Sommelier Association, a member of Le Donne del Vino, and a Professor of Italian Wine and Culture. She is a podcast host and runs her own consulting business, Cynthia Chaplin Wine.

    Our articles of association can be viewed at companies house:

    https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/13229618/filing-history

Objectives

  • old vines of qualitative, cultural and ecological value, by connecting and inspiring the global wine industry through conferences, research and education.

  • the wine industry, throughout the supply chain from viticulture to marketing, to share skills, competencies and business synergies to achieve the sustained commercial viability of old vines;

  • the value and significance of old vines among industry, media and consumers through education, visits, highlighting the work of those supporting old vines, and identifying valuable old vines endangered by commercial exigency.

  • based in the UK but will not be restricted by geography. The company may undertake any activities which contribute towards these objectives. The company will be managed on a non-profit basis. The company will operate globally.

The Old Vine Conference Limited is a non-profit company limited by guarantee and registered in the United Kingdom. The founders are committed wine professionals with decades of experience that take in all aspects of the global wine trade.