A panel talk exploring the varied roles involved in production and product development in the UK wine and spirits industry. Magnavai Janjo DipWSET hosts three expert speakers from the worlds of winemaking, distillation and product development.
Event details
Career panel talk
In the second panel talk of our online Career Talk series, we’re looking at roles in drinks production in the UK with a particular focus on winemaking, distilling and product development. We’ll be discussing the different roles involved in producing the wines and spirits we all enjoy and how to forge a career in this all-important area of the drinks industry.
Hosted by WSET School London educator Magnavai Janjo DipWSET, our panel of speakers will discuss their own positions, other roles they work closely alongside, and how they got to where they are today. They’ll also explore the attributes and training needed to be successful and how to get started if you are new to this area of the industry.
If you missed the first event - ‘An introduction to the UK drinks industry’ - you can view the recording here.
Who is it for?
- People starting out on their career journeys interested in what opportunities the drinks industry offers
- Professionals from other industries considering a career change
- Individuals already in the industry seeking inspiration to advance their careers
Please note that, as our speakers are UK-based, this talk will focus primarily on the UK wine and spirits trade. However we hope that the content will still be of interest to an international audience.
Hosted by
Magnavai Janjo DipWSET
Wine Educator and Importer, Founder of BAME Wine Professionals
Magnavai has spent his entire working life in the wine industry. He began as a Wine Specialist at his local Waitrose and subsequently spent the following couple of years selling wine to both the on- and off-trade, including a stint at Majestic Wine's Commercial arm.
His passion for wine goes beyond the academic, as he has worked through a few vintages in several countries, the highlight of which was making a private label wine. He specialises in the commercial aspect of wine and has created wine brands for some leading UK supermarkets. As well as being one of our regular wine educators at WSET School London, Magnavai is currently an MW student and also runs MJ Wine Cellars, a UK importer. In 2020 he established BAME Wine Professionals, an organisation aimed at shining a spotlight on wine talent in the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities.
The panellists
Dr Anne Brock
Master Distiller, Bombay Sapphire
Educated at Oxford University, Anne achieved a PhD in Organic Chemistry from St. Catherine’s College before embarking on a career as a gin distiller.
During her four years at Bermondsey Gin Ltd she managed the distillery build in London and took over production of their two gins from a contract distiller. She was solely responsible for gin production as well as overseeing the day to day running of the business. In 2017 Anne became part of a team in Goa that set up India’s first craft gin distillery, leading the recipe development of two gins – Greater Than and Hapusa.
Joining Bombay Sapphire as Master Distiller in September 2017 she now works alongside her team of 17 distillers to produce Bombay Sapphire, Bombay Dry, Star of Bombay and Oxley. As part of an innovation team, with Bombay’s Master of Botanicals, Ivano Tonutti, she is working to build a pipeline of Limited Editions for Bombay, the first of which was launched in 2019 - Bombay Sapphire English Estate.
Anne has been on the board of Directors at the Gin Guild since 2015 and is Grand Rectifier of the Guild, an honorary position held for two years. Recently she was named on the IWSC and WSET’s Future 50 list.
Julia Duckworth
Innovation R&D, Diageo
Julia Duckworth’s passion for wine and spirits began while completing her graduate studies in Food Science & Nutrition in the US. After completing her graduate degrees, Julia pursued her passion for wine and studied at the University of Udine in Italy where she completed research on off flavour defects in Aglianico wine.
Julia has worked in various Technical and Product Development roles in the food and beverage industry across the US, Italy and the UK. She currently heads up the Europe Innovation R&D team at Diageo where she integrates her technical and creative expertise to develop exciting new products across the Diageo brand portfolio.
Simon Roberts
Head Winemaker, Ridgeview
Simon Roberts has been involved with his family company Ridgeview Wine Estate, specialising in English sparkling wine in Sussex, from its onset in 1995. Simon’s original career path began by studying Marine Engineering stemming from his love of sailing. After his parents established Ridgeview, spotting Southern England as excellent potential for sparkling wine production, Simon took a keen interest.
Originally Simon specialised in viticulture, then with a naturally skilled palate moved on to study winemaking at Plumpton College and gain experience in Australia. Originally Simon shared the winemaking with his father Mike Roberts. Since his Dad’s passing in 2014, Simon has headed up the winemaking team, now producing over a quarter of a million bottles annually. Simon is a natural winemaker and prefers to let the grapes speak for themselves with quality overriding all decisions. In 2018 Ridgeview received the ultimate accolade by being named global ‘International Winemaker of the Year’ in the prestigious International Wine & Spirit Competition.
Feel free to join with a glass of your choice! Let us know what you're tasting on Instagram:
@WSET_school_london #WSETSchool
If you enjoy the webinar, we would love to welcome you onto one of our WSET courses, all of which can be studied online from home.