EBONY Tinkler, the owner and manager of the innovative Usher Tinkler tasting rooms, cellar door and salumi and cheese bar in McDonalds Rd, Pokolbin, has been declared marketer of the year in the 2017 Australian Women in Wine Awards (AWIWA).
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Her win was announced on Tuesday night at a ceremony at Australia House in London and streamed via a live internet broadcast to AWIWA gatherings in the Hunter Valley and other Australian wine regions and cities.
The awards were established in 2015 by The Fabulous Ladies’ Wine Society to turn the spotlight on positive female role models and bring about a significant rise in gender diversity in the Australian wine industry.
Mrs Tinkler, the wife of ace winemaker Usher Tinkler, was one of eight award winners announced at the London ceremony attended by 60 Australian women in wine members who staged major tasting for UK drinks trade and consumers featuring wines from female producers.
Mrs Tinkler gained a bachelor of science degree majoring in biotechnology at the University of Newcastle, then completed a UON post-graduate diploma in marketing and is now studying Mandarin at UON.
As a student she worked in the Tempus Two cellar door and, after completing her degree, was employed as a laboratory technician at the Poole’s Rock Pokolbin winery.
She says the Usher Tinkler Wines venture was born out of a desire to attract new, younger audiences to the Hunter Valley.
“I wanted consumers to be able to explore wines in a social setting, intertwined with food and conversation to heighten the whole experience,” she says.
The AWIWA 2017 winemaker of the year is Virginia Willcock of Vasse Felix, the first wine venture established 50 years ago in Western Australia’s Margaret River Region.
Other awards were: viticulturist of the year, Jennifer Doyle of Jansz Wines; owner-operator of the year, Sarah Collingwood of Four Winds Vineyard, Canberra; workplace champion of change, Professor Eileen Scott of Adelaide University; cellar door person of the year, Jasmine Morgan of Caudo Vineyards; researcher of the year, Christine Böttcher of CSIRO Agriculture and Food; 2017 woman of inspiration, Sue Hodder, Wynns Coonawarra Estate chief winemaker.