An Orange winemaker will have a chance to enhance her skills after being awarded a prestigious scholarship recently.
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Nadja Wallington who is a winemaker at Philip Shaw Wines and lives in Orange while also being involved in running Wallington Wines in Canowindra was awarded a 2019 Sydney Royal Wine Assessment Scholarship.
The scholarship, which was awarded by the Sydney Royal Wine Show and Royal Agricultural Society of NSW Foundation is a fully funded position.
It will enable her to attend the prestigious Australian Wine Research Institute’s Advance Wine Assessment course in South Australia.
She said it is about understanding her palate, knowing when to ask for help in a tasting and opening a wine tasters mind to different styles and varieties.
It’s a tasting that shows you your strengths and weaknesses.
- Nadja Wallington
“It’s for show judging and that sort of thing,” Miss Wallington said.
“It’s a tasting that shows you your strengths and weaknesses.”
Miss Wallington said only a few positions for the course are opened each year and she previously entered the ballot to take part.
She said without the scholarship, the course would have cost her about $7000 including travel and accommodation had her name been drawn.
To qualify for the scholarship Miss Wallington said she had to demonstrate that she had participated as a taster at wine shows. That experience included the National Cool Climate Wine Show in Bathurst last year, at the 2018 Orange Wine Show, the NSW Wine Awards in 2015 and 2018 and at the NSW Small Wine Awards in 2015 and 2018.
She said she first became interested in the industry because her parents had a winery at Canowindra and she liked the blend of agriculture, business and art as well as not having to spend all day behind a desk.
As well as working with winemaker Daniel Shaw at Philip Shaw Wines in Orange, Miss Wallington said she’s also worked at wineries in California, Bordeaux in France, and South Africa.
She said every wine region is unique and she particularly likes Orange’s cool climate region where she initially came to work for one season but stayed.
In addition to Miss Wallington’s award, William Schibeci of Bathurst was awarded a 2019 Sydney Royal Wine Study Scholarship, which offers funding to students pursuing studies related to the industry.
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