Eric Wilkes

Eric has worked in the beverage industry since completing his PhD in chemistry at the University of Newcastle in 1997, where he held both teaching and technical positions. Initially spending four years based in the Hunter Valley with the then independent Rosemount Estates he moved to SA in 2001 to take up the role of Group Chemist with the Foster’s Wine Group based at the Wolf Blass Winery in the Barossa Valley. In 2007 he accepted the role of Global Manager Analytical Services with the Foster’s Group overseeing the integration and alignment of testing and technical services across their whole beverage portfolio on three continents. In 2010 he joined P&N Beverages in Sydney as National Technical Manager with responsibility for new product development, product QA, customer feedback and product compliance before returning to the wine industry in 2011 where he is the Group Manager, Commercial Service at the Australian Wine Research Institute. Current areas of research include new methods for wine analysis, environmental impacts of wine production, wine stability, methods to determine authenticity and the impact of metals on wine development. He is a past Chair of the Interwinery Analysis Group, is an active member of a number of international working groups on wine analysis and export regulations, co-author of a book on wine analysis and a regular speaker at national and international regulatory and wine chemistry conferences.