PETER GODDEN
Research Manager and Winemaker
As group manager – industry applications with The Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI), Peter leads a team focused on encouraging the use of innovative research-based technologies in the grape and wine industries.
After completing a degree in oenology at the University of Adelaide, Peter developed his skills as a winemaker at wineries in Australia and Europe and also worked extensively as a wine educator.
He joined the AWRI in 1997 and led the Institute’s extension activities including its Roadshow seminars, the Advanced Wine Assessment Course, and workshops at wine industry technical conferences.
Peter also managed the AWRI’s wine bottle closure trial, which helped drive the use of alternative closures in Australia, and the Brettanomyces project, which led to a dramatic reduction in wine spoilage by that yeast in Australian red wine.
Peter maintains his winemaking skills as the owner of a small winery producing high-quality wines from the Nebbiolo variety.
STEFANO DE PIERI
BA, Politics, Melbourne University
Stefano is a Mildura based cook with a passion for regionalism. His restaurant has won many accolades in the past and continues to remain an important point of reference 20 years into its life.
Stefano begun his career in politics and went on to cook at the Mildura Grand Hotel. He developed, beside the restaurant, a bakery, a steak house, and a brewery.
His interest in regionalism is expressed also by his involvement in the development of La Trobe University in Mildura and the various arts festivals in the town.
He, together with Bruce Chalmers and the late Rod Bonfiglioli, established the Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show, which is still going strong. In 2010, Pinot Gris/Grigio were excluded from the Show as it is felt that the variety has become mainstream.
Stefano is a also a failed Oenology student in his old country (more interested in politics than chemistry at that time, he says) but in spite of that he has created his own successful range of wines under the Cellarmasters banner.
MARK ROBERTSON
Winemaker
Mark is general manager and chief winemaker for Cellarmaster Wines, based at the Dorrien Estate winery in the Barossa Valley, South Australia.
A New Zealander by birth, Mark completed a science degree at the University of Otago and a diploma in winemaking at Roseworthy College in South Australia, followed by two vintages working in France and time in the UK wine trade.
Returning home for the 1987 vintage, Mark joined Matua Valley Wines, quickly rising to chief winemaker and partner. He won numerous national and international awards and in 1999 was named Winemaker of the Year.
In 2001, Mark moved to Australia to provide winemaking and management support for the boutique wineries in the Foster’s Group, which included Dorrien Estate.
Since Foster’s sold Cellarmaster Wines in 2007, Mark has continued working with the Dorrien team and ‘getting the basics done well’ – the secret to the quality of his wines.
DANIEL COZZOLINO
Research scientist
Daniel is a senior research scientist at The Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI). He leads a team investigating the application of spectroscopic techniques for the rapid analysis and quality control of grapes and wines, in collaboration with several industry companies.
Daniel graduated as an agricultural engineer from the University of the Republic in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1989. A few years later, at the National Agricultural Research Institute in Uruguay, Daniel began applying near infrared (NIR) spectroscopic techniques for the analysis of a wide range of agricultural products. He obtained his PhD from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1998 and joined the AWRI in 2002.
Daniel has published more than 100 papers on the application of NIR spectroscopy to a diverse range of agricultural materials and commodities. Since joining the AWRI, he has focused his research on applications of spectroscopy and chemometrics in the Australian grape and wine industry.
KEVIN MCCARTHY
Winemaker
Chief winemaker with T’Gallant winery at Red Hill on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, Kevin is recognised as a pioneer of cool-climate Australian Pinot Grigio and Pinot Gris.
Kevin was born into a family of food and wine lovers and from an early age was passionate about the sensory excursion offered by good food and wine. These foundations lay dormant until a chance meeting with winemaker Reg Egan in the 1970s. Pinot Gris in particular attracted Kevin’s attention.
Inspired by the viticultural world of flavours, aromas and colours, Kevin went off to Roseworthy Agricultural College in Adelaide to study oenology. After completing his studies, he headed to the Barossa Valley and honed his skills in various wineries. Time was also spent in the Granite Belt of Queensland.
In the late 1980s, Kevin returned to the Mornington Peninsula, where T’Gallant was born with a focus on Pinot Gris, Pinot Grigio and Pinot Noir.
