Who we are

Lulie Halstead - Chief Executive

Lulie is both an experienced wine industry practitioner and a leading wine marketing academic. She is co-founder and Chief Executive of Wine Intelligence. Previously Lulie spent 8 years in the wine industry building experience in importing, marketing, retailing and new business development. Lulie is also an established marketing academic, specialising in the field of wine marketing and focusing on wine consumer behaviour, and lecturing on the Bordeaux Wine MBA and WSET Diploma. She frequently speaks at industry and academic conferences around the world, presenting papers on issues such as wine branding, consumer behaviour and new product development. She is a full member of the Market Research Society.

David Scotland - Chairman

Over the course of a long and illustrious career, David has worked at the highest levels in the global alcoholic beverages industry. Following a succesful sales and marketing career at John Harvey & Sons, and five years at IDV heading up Cinzano’s international business and, briefly, Percy Fox & Co, David joined Allied Domecq in 1992 as President of Europe. From 1995 to 2005 David sat as a main board director of Allied Domecq plc, and spent his last three years with the company as President of its global wine division, which included brands such as Montana, Campo Viejo, Clos du Bois, Mumm and Perrier Jouet. Following his retirement from Allied in 2005, David now sits as a non-executive director of Inchcape plc and Brixton plc, and is Chairman of Thomas Preston & Associates.

Richard Halstead - Operations Director

Formerly the Business Development Manager of Virgin Wines, Richard brings extensive knowledge of retail and consumer industries to the team. He spent two years as deputy business editor at the Independent on Sunday and also worked as retail correspondent at the Mail on Sunday. Richard holds an Advanced Certificate in Market & Social Research Practice from the Market Research Society and an MBA with distinction from London Business School. Additional languages: Spanish

Brian Howard - Business Development Director

Brian brings over 30 years sales and marketing experience to the business, including creating, developing and finally selling an independent importer business. He now contributes that experience and his encyclopaedic knowledge of the wine industry to a wide range of clients, including brand owners, generic organisations and events/media providers.

Gerard Basset - Associate Director - On-trade

Gerard Basset brings a wealth of expertise to the business: In addition to his outstanding professional achievements, Gerard is the only person in the world to have achieved both a Master of Wine, Master Sommelier and the Bordeaux Wine MBA. Having been a co-founder of the Hotel du Vin group, Gerard has published a book, “The Wine Experience”, and is currently involved in a number of directorships including Hotel Terravina, the Academy of Food and Wine Service and the Court of Master Sommeliers. Gerard’s extremely wide-ranging industry expertise brings valuable insights to Wine Intelligence client projects. Additional languages: French

Graham Holter - Associate Director - Publishing

Graham Holter is a journalist specialising in the drinks industry. He was previously group editor of leading industry publications Off Licence News, Drinks International and Wine & Spirit and edited OLN for six years before embarking on a freelance career. Graham has worked as a journalist since 1988 and has won a string of awards for his editorship, news articles and feature writing. He combines his work with Wine Intelligence with a consulting editor role at William Reed Business Media and his independent communications consultancy.

Jean-Philippe Perrouty - Senior Research Manager

Jean-Philippe brings a wealth of expertise in wine industry analysis. He holds a PhD in wine marketing from the Agronomic Engineer School of Montpellier where he was a lecturer in wine marketing and accountancy for five years before joining Wine Intelligence. He specialises in conjoint analysis methodologies, which can be used to forcast market shares and to evaluate brand price sensitivity. He has published several academic papers on the use of such methodology in investigating wine consumer behaviour, notably at the French Marketing Association conferences and at the Wine Marketing Symposium in Sonoma. Jean-Philippe developed his passion for wine spending time in Corbieres, where his family make wine.

Additional languages: French

Emma Davies - Senior Project Manager

Emma is an experienced project manager with expertise in overseeing both qualitative and quantitative research projects. At Wine Intelligence, she also works with the Vinibrand team on NPD and brand redevelopment. Her interest in wine began when working in various on-trade locations whilst studying, including a prestigious restaurant in Lille where she spent her placement year during university. Emma holds a BA (Hons) in Management Studies with French from the University of Nottingham. She is also an Associate member of the Market Research Society and holds the WSET Intermediate Certificate in Wines and Spirits.

Additional languages: French

Nicola Engelbach - Project Manager

Nicola, a project manager at Wine Intelligence, is experienced in managing both qualitative and quantitative research projects. She is a specialist focus group moderator and has conducted groups for Wine Intelligence in a number of international markets. Her interest in wine was sparked by an internship at Christie’s wine and cigar department, followed by travels around the wine regions of Europe, South Africa and Australia whilst completing a BA (Hons) in Art History from the University of Nottingham. She has also worked as a restaurant manager and wine merchant manager, and most recently as a Business Analyst at Moet Hennessy before rejoining Wine Intelligence in 2008. She holds the Market Research Society Advanced Certificate and the WSET Advanced Certificate in Wines and Spirits.

Paul Medder - Project Manager

Paul specialises in quantitative research and is responsible for managing Vinitrac projects. He has a wealth of expertise and experience in research and data analysis gained both in his native New Zealand and also in the UK. Having graduated with a Bachelor of Management Studies degree from the University of Waikato, Paul worked as a Property Planner/Analyst for New Zealand's Ministry of Education. Since moving to London in 2002, he has worked in various research and analysis roles across a number of industries in both the public and private sectors. Paul has been passionate about wine for many years after discovering Australian reds and the wines of his homeland. He holds the WSET Advanced Certificate.

Erica Donoho - Project Coordinator - USA

Based in the United States, Erica is responsible for coordinating research projects in USA. Having worked for 8 years as a Litigation Attorney, Erica developed her examination and interviewing skills as well as her ability to collect, analyze and present data. She graduated with a BA (Hons) in English from Columbia University and a Doctorate of Jurisprudence from Vanderbilt University. A true wine enthusiast at heart, Erica has traveled with her family to vineyards throughout the United States, Italy and France. She recently completed the WSET Intermediate Certificate at The International Wine Center in New York.

Juan Park - Senior Research Analyst

Juan brings particular strengths in data analysis to Wine Intelligence. After graduating with a degree in Sociology from the University of Salamanca (Spain), he worked in Madrid as a Marketing Analyst. After moving to London in 2005, he obtained an MSc in Social Research Methods from the London School of Economics. Juan specialises in research and quantitative data analysis. Juan’s passion for wine stems from the fact that he grew up in Valladolid, at the heart of the Castilla and Leon wine regions of Ribera de Duero, Toro, Cigales and Rueda. Juan holds the WSET Intermediate Certificate in Wine and Spirits. Additional languages: Spanish

Susana Canals - Research Analyst

Susana joined the Research and Quantitative team at Wine Intelligence after working as an International Trade Consultant for the Catalan Chamber of Commerce in New York City. She has previous experience in the wine and spirits markets having worked for Bacardi in Spain, where she was an assistant in the Marketing department. Susana graduated from the University of Barcelona with a B.A. in Business Administration, and later with a B.A. in Marketing Research from the Open University of Catalonia. Her Catalonian heritage has instilled Susana with a passion for wine and cava from this region of Spain - the wines from Priorat being among her favourites.

Additional languages:Spanish, Catalan 

Maxime contributes particular strengths in international market research to the Wine Intelligence team. After graduating with a Degree in International Business, Maxime worked for a press agency in Spain compiling country reports for BusinessWeek magazine. His marketing skills have been developed in an international context working in France, Mexico and studying in Finland. Maxime owes his passion for wine to his family, he grew up amongst the vines of eastern France, right between two important wine regions: Bourgogne and Jura.

Additional languages: French, Spanish

Marina joined Wine Intelligence’s quantitative research team having recently graduated from the University of Nottingham with a BSc in Economics. Her previous research experience includes time spent working at the Institute for Social and Labour Studies in her city of birth, Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Marina’s diverse origins, and particularly her Italian heritage, led to her discovering wine at an early age - she has been interested in wine's many perculiarities ever since.

Additional languages: Portuguese, Italian

Rachel Robinson - Project & Marketing Assistant to Lulie Halstead

Rachel has previously worked for Majestic Wine Plc and as an Analyst in Ernst & Young’s consumer products division.  She joined the team with a BA in Management and Finance from the University of Nottingham and the WSET Advanced Certificate in Wines and Spirits - she is now working towards the Chartered Institute of Marketing's Professional Diploma.  Having travelled extensively, with a passion for wine that dates back as long as she can remember, Rachel has been fortunate enough to have visited vineyards all over the world, from Europe to South America and even India!

Stephen Farrington - Logistics and Office Services Manager

Having worked for seven years as distribution manager for a wine import company and drinks company, Stephen brings a wealth of previous wine industry experience to Wine Intelligence. In addition to his strengths in logistics management, Stephen is also experienced in administration management thanks to his earlier responsibilities in various b-to-b companies.

“It is exceptional to work with an external consultancy that views the opportunity to collaborate as an ongoing partnership rather than a one-off commission. This confident and far-sighted approach by Wine Intelligence fosters consistently better outcomes and insight for clients.”

Paul Henry, General Manager Market Development, Australian Wine & Brandy Corporation