Meet our judges for 2026

Robert's early years as a winemaker were somewhat peripatetic, with spells at Amberton in Mudgee, Lindemans at Karadoc and Corowa and the newly established Chapel Hill in McLaren Vale. From there he went downhill to Coriole where he stayed for a few years until returning to Mudgee to work for Montrose Wines.
 
After ten happy years at Montrose, they moved to Melbourne where Robert took up a consultancy role, advising wine businesses around Australia and internationally. In that role, he has worked in France, Argentina, Chile, China, Bulgaria, New Zealand and Turkey as well as most wine regions in Australia.
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In addition, Robert has been involved in many wine shows as Judge and Chief Judge, including Adelaide, Melbourne, Rutherglen, Cowra and Mudgee and of course the International Cool Climate Wine Show. From 2016 to 2022, Robert took on the role as Director of the Victorian Wine Show.

Lisa Cardelli is an Italian-born wine professional who has called Australia home for the past 15 years. After more than a decade in fine dining- including head sommelier at Neil Perry’s Rosetta - her experience expanded in Tuscany, where she worked at a Michelin-starred restaurant.

With a WSET Level 4 Diploma and sommelier certification, Lisa teaches WSET courses across Melbourne. In recent years, she has transitioned into wine journalism, becoming an award-winning and prolific bilingual writer, with work published in WinePilot, Halliday Wine Companion, Qantas Travel Insider, and Decanter.
 
Since 2024, Lisa has judged both Australia’s and China’s Wine List of the Year Awards and has participated in local and national wine shows since 2015. She has explored Italy’s most prominent wine regions and was selected for the Family of Twelve Tutorial in New Zealand in 2019. Maintaining strong ties with New Zealand, she reviewed wines from both islands and in 2025 was invited to judge the Central Otago Spring Release tasting. Lisa is also a Len Evans Tutorial alumnus (2024), widely regarded as one of the world’s most respected wine education programs.

After an inspiring start in fine wine retail in Perth, Toby studied Oenology at the University of Adelaide and graduated as dux in 2002.
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The flying winemaker lifestyle then took hold, with vintages spanning Margaret River, Barossa Valley, Marlborough, Langhorne Creek, the Clare Valley and Corsica.
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​Toby was a ‘Vin de Champagne’ winner and explored the Champagne region extensively on the back of this award. He completed the AWRI Advanced Wine Assessment course in 2004 and has been a judge for Winestate magazine and the International Cool Climate Wine Show over several years.
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​Toby’s career pivoted to wine wholesale in 2006 and he became a director and state sales manager for Bacchus Wine Merchant until late 2023. He was instrumental in selecting quality imported wines from cool-climate regions including Piedmont, Central Otago, Champagne, Chablis, Alsace & Mosel.
 
In 2024, Toby became Head of Sales for Vin Merchants - a start-up winemaking and wine distribution venture. He contributes across the breadth of winemaking, blending and brand development and also tastes extensively, selecting new wineries for the growing portfolio.
Keep an eye out for his first solo release wine – 2025 Helix Grenache, hand-picked from a single vineyard in Heathcote.

Matt Lugg is a winemaker and viticulturalist at Portsea Estate, where he has worked since 2021. As well as this role, Matt founded Lugg Wines in 2020, a sparkling-focused label dedicated to crafting premium sparkling wines from the Mornington Peninsula, reflecting both site and precision in winemaking.
 
Matt brings a broad depth of experience shaped by work across several renowned regions. In Australia, he has made wine on the Mornington Peninsula, Geelong, and in the Hunter Valley, while internationally he has worked in both the Southern Rhône Valley—returning for two vintages—and Burgundy. These experiences have informed his approach to both viticulture and winemaking, with an emphasis on balance, energy, and regional expression.
 
With a decade of involvement in wine shows, Matt values the opportunity judging provides to engage and learn with peers and continually refine his palate. He particularly appreciates the discipline and insight gained from blind tasting, as well as the chance to assess a wide spectrum of wines at a high level.
 
In addition to his professional experience, Matt has undertaken extensive international wine travel, further broadening his perspective and deepening his understanding of global wine styles, regions, and traditions.

Courtney has spent the past decade working across hospitality and liquor retail, building a genuine love for wine and the stories behind it. A big part of that journey has been her time with Dan Murphy’s, where she had the chance to connect with a huge range of customers — from casual drinkers to serious collectors — and help them find something they’re genuinely excited about. Courntey also hosted many masterclasses, was a part of judging for various Dan Murphy's campaigns (eg. Best in Glass Awards) and conducted many of instore wine training sessions for Dan Murphy's team members. She was heavily involved in Dan's Women in Drinks, an advocacy group dedicated to supporting, celebrating, and elevating women across the drinks industry.

Last year Courtney was selected to take part in the Sommeliers Australia Education Scholarship. This rare opportunity gave her the chance to blind sample countless benchmark examples of wines from Australia and Internationally and helped to put some of the most revered wines into perspective and a chance to learn from the best. Since then, Courtney became a Sommeliers Australia Committee member and hosted a number of masterclasses to contribute to the wine community. She is also a Rootlings Victorian State Champion where she helps to promote and connect young wine industry professionals with the wider community and also to run activations for these young professionals so they can learn, connect and collaborate. She has also recently been accepted as a committee member for the Victorian Chapter of Wine Communicators Australia where Courtney hopes to be able to contribute further to the Australian Wine Industry.

Cyndal Petty is a Western Australian wine and restaurant writer, critic and presenter. She is a regular contributor to Halliday, Broadsheet and Sitchu, and a critic for Winepilot, where her work brings a contemporary, culturally driven lens to Australian wine. Alongside writing, Cyndal works across television and live events as a presenter and host, leading panels and tastings both nationally and internationally.
 
A chef-turned-sommelier, in a previous role as Group Sommelier, Cyndal oversaw seven wine lists, holding one of Western Australia’s most significant wine-hospitality positions. During this time, she built and guided the wine team, contributing to multiple accolades, including Gourmet Traveller Wine Bar of the Year for a venue opened under her tenure.
 
Cyndal judges a minimum of three wine shows annually, where she is known for precision, clarity and a lens shaped by both technical training and stylistic awareness. Having worked extensively across wine lists in both Australian and international contexts, her palate carries a global perspective, grounded in structure, intent and relevance. Her judging extends beyond the bench to industry panels, moderated tastings and international engagements with producers, buyers and audiences.
 
Her approach is defined by clear, confident assessment and an ability to situate wines within both tradition and modern drinking culture.

With over 17 years in the global wine industry, Sammy Wilkinson is a New Zealand-based wine reviewer and judge. Originally from the UK and now based in Nelson, she is known as The Wine Writer, an independent platform focused on clear, commercially relevant reviews that help both trade and consumers quickly understand what is worth drinking, and she also contributes as WinePilot’s only New Zealand-based reviewer.
 
By day, she works as a brand manager across a portfolio of New Zealand wine brands at Booster Wine Group. She is a Stage 2 Master of Wine student, WSET Diploma holder, and certified WSET educator. Her background includes hands-on harvest experience in Nelson, Marlborough, and Sonoma, giving her a grounded understanding of how winery decisions translate into what’s in the glass.
 
She has judged for three years at the National Wine Awards of Aotearoa and at regional wine competitions. Her judging style is direct and pragmatic, focused on wines that are well made, true to style, and deliver within their category. Through The Wine Writer and her global experience across production, sales, and marketing, she has built a reputation for reviews that are clear, consistent, and easy to trust.

Liinaa Berry is a Melbourne-based wine communicator with many years of experience in the Australian and international wine industry. She is the Melbourne Ambassador for Star Wine List, a freelance wine writer contributing to publications including The Real Review, and serves on the Victorian committee of Sommeliers Australia.

Liinaa has judged at the Melbourne Royal Wine Awards, reviewed over 500 wines at the Erste Lage Wine Summit in Vienna, and recently evaluated hundreds of wines across 84 appellations in Burgundy. She has travelled extensively across 35+ wine regions in Europe, bringing a strong Old World perspective to benchmarking and assessment.

Internationally, she collaborates with luxury resorts and private clients, presenting curated wine dinners and experiences across Europe and Australia. Her work approaches wine through a cultural lens, connecting site, context, and people. She is also the author of The Cultural Glass, where she writes on the social, cultural, and agricultural forces shaping the future of wine.

With over twenty-five years of experience in all areas of wine, Cam is a highly motivated and passionate wine professional. This experience includes working at a range of wineries where he undertaking all facets of wine making.   However, his interest has always been the food and wine retail management and wholesaling, where he has designed restaurant wine lists to meet clientele needs. With his travels, reviewing and selecting wines for wine lists more many years, Cam has continually developed a strong product knowledge of both Australian and International wines.

Cam has a proven track record of implementing strategies to enhance the wine culture and customer experience, which has led to profitable outcomes.  With a well-developed network of long-term customer loyalty and industry relationships, together with the completed WSET Diploma Level 4 and accredited judging at the Royal Melbourne Wine Awards, Cameron’s career in the wine industry is showing great momentum.  He is looking forward to judging with the International Cool Climate Wine Show for the first time, in 2026.