Madeleine Waters - Director of PR and Events
Madeleine is a senior PR practitioner with over 25 years’ experience of drinks PR and marketing and extensive experience of running generic campaigns as well as working with brands. Madeleine runs her own PR consultancy, specialising in food and drink and covering media and trade relations campaigns, press and trade trips, event management and social media marketing.
Madeleine is a senior PR practitioner with over 25 years’ experience of drinks PR and marketing and extensive experience of running generic campaigns as well as working with brands. Madeleine runs her own PR consultancy, specialising in food and drink and covering media and trade relations campaigns, press and trade trips, event management and social media marketing.
Recent brand work includes campaigns for Champagne Deutz, Lebanese winery Domaine des Tourelles and Pinkster Gin. Her experience of marketing regions and countries includes the creation of the award-winning first ever generic campaign for the wines of Lebanon, running the UK office of the Napa Valley Vintners for ten years, event management for the first generic trade and press tasting for Wines of Turkey, and media relations and delivery of an extensive on trade training programme throughout the UK over two years for the West Indies Rum Spirits Producers’ Association (the Authentic Caribbean Rum campaign).
She has an in-depth understanding of the wine industry and how it works with an excellent contact book of both on and off trade buyers and all the journalists you need to know.
When Mads is not busy promoting our fantastic clients, you will most likely find her in the kitchen – (surprisingly she loves all things food & drink related!) and spends the rest of her free time trying to counter that by running, boot camp and yoga, and walking her chocolate Labrador, Pippa, in the beautiful Somerset countryside!
Sarah Abbott MW - Co-founder and Conference Lead
Sarah studied Classical Italian and Greek Literature at University and took a Post Graduate Diploma in Enterprise at Durham Business School before joining the wine trade in 1996. She has worked in the wine trade ever since, in roles including buying, business development, marketing, and commercial strategy. Her specialist areas are Bordeaux, Burgundy, Barolo, and Emerging Wines. Her initial wine experiences and training were in the wine classics, but she has a great appreciation for the new frontiers of wine.
Sarah studied Classical Italian and Greek Literature at University and took a Post Graduate Diploma in Enterprise at Durham Business School before joining the wine trade in 1996. She has worked in the wine trade ever since, in roles including buying, business development, marketing, and commercial strategy. Her specialist areas are Bordeaux, Burgundy, Barolo, and Emerging Wines. Her initial wine experiences and training were in the wine classics, but she has a great appreciation for the new frontiers of wine.
She is Co-Chair (one of 5 head judges) of the International Wine Challenge, the world’s largest wine competition, as well as judging competitions globally, from London to Tbilisi to Melbourne. She is a finalist in the ‘Roederers’, the global competition for wine writing and communication, for her columns for timatkin.com and co-author of the Burgundy section of ‘The Wine Opus’, an award-winning wine guide published by Dorling Kindersley in 2010.
After 10 years working for wine importers, Sarah founded her business, Swirl, in 2006. Swirl delivers corporate events, private client consultancy, and marketing strategy and activation for wine producers and trade bodies from France, Italy, Turkey, Georgia and Portugal. Most recently, she has partnered with trusted associates around the world to offer integrated global solutions for wine marketing and distribution strategy.
When she’s not giving technical masterclasses or judging international wine competitions, Sarah is usually found dancing in the kitchen, playing with the dog, cooking food, and going for small and painful jogs to balance her love of wine!