Image: AVC scholarship recipient Gabrielle Castelluccio

The Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology (ASVO) board of directors have announced the recipients of two ASVO Scholarships.

A major objective of the ASVO is to promote education in viticulture and oenology and to ensure and maintain the highest standards of quality for these educational objectives.

The ASVO has offered an annual scholarship to attend the Advanced Wine Assessment Course (AWAC), delivered by the Australian Wine Research institute (AWRI) since 2015.

Stephanie Eyles was the recipient of a scholarship to attend the Advanced Wine Assessment Course (AWAC) and Gabrielle Castelluccio the recipient of a scholarship to attend the Advanced Viticulture Course (AVC).

This year the ASVO also introduced a scholarship for one member to attend the Advanced Viticulture Course (AVC), also held by the AWRI.

“The ASVO scholarship program is an important component of our membership offering to support professional development,” ASVO president Brooke Howell said.

“Our scholarship program is one way members can gain valuable experience from across Australia that helps them to build skills and knowledge relevant for their career paths”.

An esteemed panel of judges with extensive expertise in the area of wine show judging and wine sensory assessment have this year selected Stephanie Eyles, Rhône Girl and Fighting Gully Road to receive the AWAC scholarship.

Stephanie’s career in wine started at a young age, helping her father stack shelves in their family wine store. She progressed to learn how to assess wine quality and price wines for retail stores.

As her interest in wine developed, Stephanie travelled across Australia and France, completing three vintages in the Northern Rhône including multiple vineyard seasons working the steep slopes of Hermitage AOP.

Back in Australia Stephanie worked a season in Beechworth between the vineyards of Fighting Gully Road Beechworth and Stone Tryst; this vineyard using the same single post goblet vine training system as Hermitage AOP.

Stephanie was a finalist in the Gourmet Traveller WINE new wine writer award. She has published articles in Gourmet Traveller WINE and was accepted into the Wine Communicator Australia Mentor Program in 2019.

The inaugural recipient of the AVC scholarship was Gabrielle Castelluccio. Gabrielle is a Viticulturist and Technical Officer for Accolade Wines based in the Barossa Valley.

She is new to the industry, having completed a Graduate Diploma in Viticulture & Oenology in 2019.

Being part of the next generation Gabrielle is passionate about having a wide variety of innovative ideas and practices to ensure the industry can maintain relevance and sustainability into the future.

Recognition of this year’s scholarship recipients will be made at the Annual ASVO Awards for Excellence, which is taking place on Tuesday 17th of November.

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