About Melbourne Wine
School
Melbourne Wine School was founded with a clear mission in mind: to create a world in which wine, spirits and sake is accessible to everyone by empowering people to be confident in their choices.
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A small, Melbourne-based wine and sake education and consulting business, Melbourne Wine School offers a selection of WSET certified courses and tastings that aim to help both novices and industry veterans expand their knowledge of wine and sake.
Our courses are based on a solid understanding of the wine industry, gained from years of experience working in both wine retail and sales. We are also passionate about our product, and make sure that the wines you have are no different to those we would drink ourselves.
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Our WSET Credentials
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Melbourne Wine School is an Approved Programme Provider (APP) for the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET).
Our mix of wine educators hold the WSET Level 3, and WSET level 4 Diploma in Wines and Spirits, and our Sake educator holds the WSET Level 3 in Sake. All our educators are a WSET Certified.
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Our tutors are able to teach the following WSET courses:
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WSET Level 1 Award in Wine
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WSET Level 2 Award in Wine
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WSET Level 3 Award in Wine
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WSET Level 1 Award in Spirits
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WSET Level 2 Award in Spirits
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WSET Level 1 Award in Sake
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WSET Level 2 Award in Sake
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WSET Level 3 Award in Sake
In time, Melbourne Wine School also hopes to offer the WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wines and Spirits.
To view our current WSET courses, please click here.
Who are we?
Andrew McIntyre DipWSET
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Andy has over ten years' experience working in the wine industry.
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His passion for wine really ignited when working for Corney & Barrow in London, after attending an in-house wine course. From there he moved to one of the longest standing wine companies on the high street - Oddbins - and completed WSET Levels 2 and 3.
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After many years at Oddbins he found a home at a small fine wine merchant called Philglas & Swiggot. It was there he worked with fellow Australian & Master of Wine - Justin Knock MW, and gained the highly valued WSET Diploma.
Now back in Melbourne, Andy is currently a student on the Master of Wine program, and continues to work in the wine trade sharing his passion and love of wine with those keen to learn more.
Melissa Mills’s sake journey began with a fascination for Japanese culture, language and cuisine but it was one snowy winter’s day in Gifu prefecture’s sleepy Mizunami village when passion turned to dedication.
Standing in the aromatic warmth of a cedar clad Koji room, in the eaves of 300-year-old Nakashima Sake Brewery, she was offered a handful of rice, covered in silky tendrils of white mold, and invited to eat. Struck with a sudden thirst for deeper understanding Melissa continued exploring Japan and sake whilst intensively studying the language. In 2016 she formalised her relationship with sake by completing WSET level 3 sake qualifications.
After winning The International Wine Challenge Award in Sake in 2017 Melissa attended London’s WSET Global Graduation and Awards Ceremony receiving the prize of participating on the judging team at the 2018 International Wine Challenge Sake Competition held in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan.
Joanne grew up in the Yarra Valley, where family connections established some of Australia’s revered wineries, and she became aware of the magic of wine at an early age.
A journalist by training, she worked in print and broadcast media and held media advisory and management roles in government and private industry before moving to the Mornington Peninsula to raise her children. It was here, where generations of her family have fished the waters of Port Phillip and Westernport, that Joanne was drawn to the vibrant local wine industry.
Having worked in cellar door sales and wine marketing, administration and production, she has a comprehensive understanding of the industry from vineyard to market.
Having earned the Wine and Spirit Education Trust Diploma in 2018, Joanne completed the WSET educator training program in Hong Kong later that year.
She reckons there is no such thing as a silly question, except perhaps, “What’s your favourite wine?”, because how can you choose one from a world of delicious alternatives?
Having enjoyed coaching tennis to get through university,
and 30 years in industry, Dave was looking for a new
challenge that coupled his passion for teaching and science.
Over a glass of wine one evening, Dave decided wine education ticked both boxes. “Science has the ability to demystify the complicated, and WSET courses demystified wine in a way that maximised my enjoyment for what’s in the glass.
I’d like to bring that to others”.
Dave studied at Melbourne Wine School and completed
WSET 1, 2 and 3 with distinction, under the expert guidance
of Andy McIntyre.
Dave is always super keen to meet and develop beginners, enthusiasts and those employed, or seeking employment, within the wine industry. For the last two years Dave could also be found working as a cellar door specialist at a small family owned vineyard - Pimpernel in the Yarra Valley
Aruni has developed a lifetime passion for spirits and wine by connecting countries, regions, production methods, distilling and of course, the myriad of aromas and tastes.
Aruni Vaswani holds the valued WSET Diploma in Wine and Spirits along with multiple international qualifications in spirits and wine and is Western Australia’s only qualified level 3 WSET Certified Educator in Spirits.
She now shares her passion with a range of accessible and personal face-to-face courses.
Aruni runs and teaches WSET Level 1-3 Spirits at The Spirit of Wine in Perth, Western Australia
Maddy has over 10 years’ experience working with wine, spanning different sectors, countries and cultures.
She grew up around the industry and discovered her interest in wine while working for her family’s business: Pimpernel Vineyards, a boutique producer of Yarra Valley wines. Her passion continued to grow while living and working in Europe as a sommelier in Hamburg; then in the UK, where she completed the WSET Diploma in 2019 while working with leading importer Indigo Wine.
Since returning to Melbourne, Maddy has concentrated my professional efforts on wine communication as a specialist copywriter and freelance wine writer. She is currently enrolled in the rigorous Master of Wine programme and continues to refine her skills and knowledge to provide engaging wine education and content.
When her nose isn't in a glass, it's in a book – preferably a cookbook, phrasebook, or travel guide – planning my next trip to a far-flung location to indulge her love for travel, food and fine wine.
Where can you find us?
Richmond​
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1/41-43 Stewart Street, Richmond VIC 3121, Australia.
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Melbourne Wine School is proud to be an independent wine school, and as such we are not affiliated with any wine shops, bars, restaurants or retailers in Melbourne.​
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So, if you are looking to find us, look no further than Melbourne's vibrant Inspire9 space.