Committee & Staff

Michaela has worked in the wine industry for 17 years. She joined the Penfolds laboratory team as her first job after university and moved to the Wolf Blass/Bilyara Winery 2 years later. Michaela showed an early aptitude for taking things apart and putting them back together (mostly) and as such held a technical and maintenance role in the laboratory for the last 10 years.  

Over the last two years her focus has shifted to people management and she has recently become Laboratory Team Leader. She finds people are more reasonable when talking to them than broken laboratory equipment.

Michaela has a diploma in management, Cert IV in laboratory operations and HACCP leadership training.

Andrew Johns is the Laboratory Team Leader at Pernod Ricard Winemakers. He has completed a BSc in Biochemistry and Organic Chemistry at Adelaide University and Applied Science degree in Food Science at UniSA. He was worked in the Wine Industry for over 17 years, having run wine laboratories in several regions including Barossa, Coonawarra, and Griffith.

He has a passion for training and education for laboratory staff having taught at TAFE in laboratory techniques. Has seen the ever-changing effect of new technology on wine analysis in production environments and training of vintage staff.

Sam graduated from the University of New South Wales in 2013 with a Master of Food Science and Technology, having previously completed a Bachelor of Horticulture in China.

Sam worked for 5 years in a QA/Technical role in a juice factory in Griffith, NSW before moving to South Australia and switching from juice to wine production. Sam started as a vintage laboratory Technical Assistant in 2018 at Yalumba Wines, later taking on the role of Technical Officer in 2021.

Sam's passion for the analytical aspect of the wine industry led him to become a committee member in 2021. Sam is also a basketball fan and a casual video gamer.

Sharon has been employed at Taylors Wines in the Clare Valley since February 2002, after stints at Kirrihill Estate, Clarevale Co-operative Winery and the Stanley Wine Company.

She has a Bachelor of Science from Adelaide University (majors in Genetics and Palaeontology), Diploma of Food Science and Technology, Certificate IV in Business (Frontline Management), Certificate IV in Training and Assessment and Certificate II in Information, Digital Media and Technology. After completing her degree she worked at the Women's and Children's Hospital for several years, as part of a team of researchers involved with the Human Genome project.

Her interests include aviation and good literature.

Truc has been working at TWE Barossa since 2017 in his current role as Analytical Services Manager. He leads Analytical Services function and ensures that all TWE's AU & NZ laboratories are operating to the same standard. He is also responsible for method development/improvement and automation, and providing technical support.

He is currently the Statistics Secretary for the Interwinery Analysis Group (IWAG), www.interwinery.com.au

He has a PhD in Wine Science/Chemistry, with a background as a researcher in low alcohol wine, synthesis and analytical chemistry.

Truc loves a challenge and has worked on some very successful projects for the business. With his help the lab moved to paper-free analysis. He is also a GC/ GCMS expert and involved in many R&D projects.

His favourite thing about working at TWE is being able to understand more about different wine products. He's not all science though! Truc loves table tennis, golf and photography.

Rachel has a BTech, BSci Hons and PhD in Forensic and Analytical Chemistry. Her first foray into the wine world was a vintage night shift position at Shaw + Smith in 2018, completing a second in 2019 before moving on to work at Petaluma/Croser until the site was sold in 2020.

Since 2021 she has been at the AWRI (now Affinity Labs), initially working in the Analytical lab, but now working as the Operational Support Technician, covering all departments.

Fang has over 12 years of experience in the wine industry and joined IWAG in 2021. She has also been part of the AWRI Finance Team since 2011. She holds a Master of Accounting from the University of New England and is a qualified CPA.

Before relocating to Australia, Fang worked as Group manager for Ford Credit China, where she gained her skills in finance, customer service and sales marketing. She is passionate about serving IWAG members and enjoys outdoor activities like walking and gardening in her free time.

Ben joined the IWAG committee in 2022. He is an Oenologist at the AWRI and has been part of the AWRI helpdesk team since 2020. His role has him assisting industry with winemaking advice and addressing technical issues across all aspects of winemaking.

He has a particular interest in traditional method sparkling winemaking, wine microbiology, and troubleshooting lab analysis issues.

Ben has 5 years industry experience working across viticulture, laboratory and winery in Australia and overseas. He has completed a BSci in Wine Science and a BSci Hons in Biotechnology.

Away from work he enjoys playing drums and watching soccer, cricket, and rugby league.

Carly Gamble graduated with a PhD in biochemistry and completed a number of postdoctoral research positions overseas before returning to Australia. She transitioned to the wine industry in 2015 when she began working with Vintessential Laboratories where she held a laboratory management role and also lead a team in the development of new enzymatic based testing kits.

Carly is currently the National Technical Manager and WA Laboratory Manager for Winechek in the Margaret River region and is also responsible for the quality control system for the group. This has subsequently lead to her becoming a committee member in 2023.