Wine Australia certifies Australian-based Chinese language educators
Wine Australia has certified two Australian-based Chinese language educators, Ruyi Li and Jackie Qi who conducted their first A+ Wine School Level One classes for Chinese speaking wine trade and consumers in Adelaide and Melbourne over the weekend (20-21 September).
Willa Yang, Wine Australia’s Regional Manager China said, 'Education is a core pillar of Wine Australia’s global market development strategy. Through our A+ Wine School program 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.'
Ruyi, based in Adelaide, is a highly qualified wine professional with a Bachelor of Bio-Engineering (Viticulture and Oenology) and a Master of Viticulture and Oenology from Northwest University in China and a Ph.D. in Wine Science and Business from the University of Adelaide.
With more than 10 years’ experience in the industry, Ruyi was most recently a marketing officer for Premium Vintners and a program coordinator for the Beijing International High-End Vintage Wine Expo as well as a Chinese translator at Wine Australia’s Savour event held in Adelaide last year.
Jackie, based in Melbourne, brings to the education program a broad range of agricultural knowledge having attained a Bachelor of Horticulture from China Agricultural University and a Master of Viticulture from the University of Adelaide.
Jackie spent two years from 2009-11 working as an assistant winemaker at Sandhurst Ridge Winery in Victoria and for the past five years has assisted agricultural businesses including wine exporters with Chinese translations of documents and collateral.
While Ruyi and Jackie are the only Australian-based Chinese language educators, they join the 17 A+ Wine School educators already certified and conducting classes across mainland China. To date more than 6,000 students have attended an A+ Wine School class in China.
About A+ Wine School educator certification
Applicants for A+ Wine School educator certification must satisfy the selection criteria and undergo a process of interview and evaluation including a written exam and blind tasting to determine their eligibility and demonstrate that they have the requisite experience.
Applicants are interviewed on their previous experience with Australian wine, their motivations for promoting Australian wine, their industry network and how many education classes they have the capacity to run throughout the year (educators must teach a minimum of 150 students per year).