The Royal Agricultural Society of WA awarded winemaker Paul Dixon of Busselton with an opportunity to attend a Wine Sensory Evaluation course in Australia.
Mr Dixon was awarded the scholarship based on his experience, which includes work at Thompson Estate, Vasse Felix and Moss Brothers, with over two dozen awards for the quality of his wine making.
The Advanced Wine Judges Scholarship was developed by the RASWA wine committee to support education in agribusiness.
The RASWA councillor John Snowball said it was a pleasure to have Mr Dixon as the inaugural recipient of the scholarship and that he could not think of someone more deserving and committed to excellence than Mr Dixon.
The scholarship allowed Mr Dixon to attend the 40th Advanced Wine Assessment Course held by the Australian Wine Research Institute in SA.
This course is recognised as a vehicle for training professional wine show judges and was one of the primary developers of Australia’s elite wine sensory analysis and vocabulary capabilities.
The course saw Mr Dixon engage in training with the nation’s leading wine judges and winemakers.
Mr Dixon said it was good to be put into a show situation and to feel the pressure of what it would be like to be judging at the highest level.
“I tasted a huge array of wines and this will be of great benefit when I do wine show judging in WA’s wine producing regions,” he said.