Robert Joseph is an associate editor of Meininger’s Wine Business International, which he helped to launch in 2006. In 1983, after living in Burgundy for five years, he launched the Wine International magazine; set up the International Wine Challenge; became a wine writer for the Sunday Telegraph, and wrote The Wine Lists, the first of his 25 books. He has chaired and launched over 50 wine competitions in Asia, Europe and the UK. Robert has been in Who’s Who since 2013, and the awards he has received include the Jacob’s Creek ‘Golden Vine’; ‘the Best Wine Guide in the World’; the Glenfiddich (twice); The Wine Guild of the United Kingdom Premier; the Marques de Caceres. He regularly appears on television and radio and has lectured at the Wine & Spirits Educational Trust, Burgundy and Sonoma Wine Business Schools. Joseph is one of the trio behind Hugh Kevin & Robert Wines whose le Grand Noir range now sell over 3.8m bottles per year in over 60 countries. His website is winethinker.com. He recently-launched his own Georgian wine venture: K’AVSHIRI.

Andrea Lonardi is a viticulturist, enologist, business strategist, and team builder. He collaborates with numerous family estates to develop and execute strategies for producing fine wines with an Italian soul.

Lonardi began his career in the wine industry by studying and working across France, Washington, and California. He later led marketing and sales for Gruppo Italiano Vini (GIV), Italy’s largest wine group at the time. He contributed to the spread of southern Italian grape varieties in the U.S. market and managed 13 estates from the Alps to Sicily. As COO of Angelini Wine Estates, he spent a decade revitalizing historic brands in Valpolicella, Montalcino, and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. He holds a degree in Agrarian Sciences from the University of Bologna and a Master’s in Agri-Business from the Grande École at the University of Montpellier, France. Lonardi has since reinvigorated the historic brand and pioneered a new style of Valpolicella wines. He introduced innovative vineyard harvesting technologies, implemented new zoning in Montalcino, and established fresh labeling guidelines in Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and Chianti Classico, all while cultivating key international sales relationships to impact fine wine distribution.

In 2023, Lonardi received the esteemed credential of Master of Wine, becoming the second wine professional based in Italy to hold this distinction. He is a regular presenter of wine education for various entities, including the Vinitaly International Academy.