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The First 20 Years

The Len Evans Tutorial (LET) was founded in 2001 by wine godfather Len Evans AO OBE. Evans had recently retired from his lengthy wine-judging career and was looking for a way to continue to educate and inspire future industry leaders and show judges.

Since the first Tutorial in 2001, 252 scholars have completed the program, which is now commonly described as the most extraordinary wine school in the world.

The overarching intent of the LET is to equip scholars with the tools and skills to evolve the quality of Australian wines in terms of style and technical attributes and to give them the confidence to broadcast the incredible quality of Australian wine both locally and abroad.

Proudly, in 2016, the LET was the recipient of the highly-coveted Maurice O'Shea Award, honouring its outstanding contribution to the Australian Wine Industry

As a non-profit organisation, the LET is funded entirely by a group of generous industry sponsors and benefactors who recognise the important role that the LET plays in developing Australia as a true Wine Nation.

The program is run almost entirely by volunteers from across the Australian wine industry. An impressive pool of fly-in-fly-out tutors conducts the sessions, with all experts in their own category headed by tutors, including James Halliday AM, Iain Riggs AM, and Michael Hill-Smith AM MW.

All logistics are managed by an industry-based team from the Hunter Valley, who volunteer their time for free, year after year, as pourers, cellar managers, and session coordinators. The only remunerated position is that of Administrative Assistant.

The Tutorial week takes place in the first week of November in the Hunter Valley, with twelve fully paid scholarships offered each year. All wine, food, travel and accommodation are included, valued at over $180,000 or $15,000 per attendee.

In 2022, as part of the 20th anniversary LET, a Round Table session was held to review the past and discuss the future of the Tutorial. A large group assembled: the Board, tutors, working group, back-of-house team, in-kind supporters and sponsors. The overall consensus was to keep doing exactly what we’ve been doing.

“The Len Evans Tutorial goal of training better wine judges is as relevant today as it ever was.”
— Martin Shaw, Shaw + Smith
“As a sponsor since 2001, we want to see scholars come out with a great knowledge of wine, as this strengthens the whole Australian wine industry.”
— Bruce Tyrrell, Tyrrell's Wines

What the Industry is Saying

  • “The LET gives wine professionals aspirations to succeed, to prepare and challenge themselves to be part of a thorough, skills based tutorial, pushing themselves out of their comfort zone and learn along the way. These skills can be transferred to their professional life lifting the overall wine industry through achievement.”

    — Annette Lacey, Solotel Group

  • “Those who have undertaken LET , go forward to inspire and educate others within the wine show system but also broaden their horizon of wine within other facets of the industry such as winemaking, marketing & communications.”

    — Edward Tobias Barlow, Treasury Wine Estate

  • “LET has cemented itself as the one tutorial you need to get a place at if you are a wine professional in Australia. It has built better wine show judges and increased the amount of younger industry leaders in the show system.”

    — Penny Grant, Shaw + Smith

  • “It gives scholars a great understanding of the world of wine, the characteristics that make a wine great and in a lot of cases provides the scholars with the belief that they have the ability to make wine of this quality. It also develops industry friendships and massive professional development.”

    - Luke Jolliffe, Chief Winemaker, Stella Bella Wines

  • “I believe the Len Evans Tutorial has produced mostly a high quality of wine people that want to make their own wines better, or if not in wine production, then make their wine lists better. Also, it has been amazing at getting the right up and coming people in front of the best old Australian and international wines."

    - Chris Tyrrell, CEO, Tyrrell’s

  • “The exposure of such amazing wines of the world to scholars significantly improves their knowledge and allows them to use this within winemaking and judging. Hence adding value to the Australian wine industry.”

    - Jaden Hall, Winemaker, Mount Pleasant Wines

  • “Being accepted to the Len Evans has always been highly desirable and this has resulted in applicants working to improve their skill set, to increase their chances of acceptance. I feel that this has raised the bar for knowledge and skills in the industry across the board.”

    - Alexandra McPherson, Group Beverage Director, St Albans Group