Ben Edwards, President of Sommeliers Australia and Founder of The Wine Guide

Founder and Director of The Wine Guide, Ben Edwards set up the business in 2006 to consult to the hospitality sector, organise and present events and to facilitate wine education in the private arena alongside restaurants. He is a multi-award winning wine personality and a veteran of the hospitality industry for more than 20 years. Ben's long and dedicated involvement in the trade has seen him become the first President of Sommeliers Australia.

The list of accolades attributed to Ben includes the Champagne Devaux Young Sommelier of the Year in 1999, and he was awarded the highly prized title of Dux at the Len Evans Tutorial in 2003. Since that time show judging has been a high priority, culminating in being invited to be the sole co-contributor to Australia's best-selling wine guide, the James Halliday Australian Wine Companion since 2008. Today Ben is Chairman of the Riverina Wine Show and the Canberra Regional Wine Show, while also being a panel chair at Australia's premier show, the RNCAS National Wine Show in Canberra.

Ben has also been responsible for writing and maintaining some of Australia's most highly respected wine lists including Circa at The Prince, France-Soir and Taxi Dining Room, and has utilised his extensive international wine knowledge to train some of Australia's top sommeliers.