Wine Australia certifies Chinese language educators

Wine Australia has certified two more Chinese language educators who will be based in Adelaide and Melbourne and who have already held their first classes.

Ruyi Li (above, left) and Jackie Qi (below, right) held their first A+ Wine School Level One classes over the weekend (20-21 September). They join the ranks of 17 other wine educators accredited by Wine Australia who are based across mainland China.

Li is based in Adelaide and has 10 years of experience in the industry who also holds a bachelor of Bio-engineering (Viticulture and Oenology) and a masters in Viticulture and Oenology from Northwest University in Washington and a Ph.D in Wine Science and Business from the University of Adelaide.

Qi, based in Melbourne, spent two years working as an assistant winemaker at Sandhurst Ridge in Victoria and has a bachelor of Horticulture from China Agricultural University and a masters in Viticulture from the University of Adelaide.

Willa Yang, Wine Australia’s regional manager for China, said, “Education is a core pillar of Wine Australia’s global market development strategy. Through our A+ Wine School programme and Chinese language classes, we have the opportunity to cultivate a love and appreciation of Australian wine among Chinese trade and consumers.

“It’s our hope that students of the A+ Wine School classes will share their knowledge and experience with others and will be more likely to buy Australian wine in the future.”

The number of accredited Chinese educators and Chinese-language programmes is rising. The WSET recently announced it was the launching the second phase of its programme in China to include its level 3 course.