Lisa Cardelli - 2024 LET Scholar

We are thrilled to announce that Lisa Cardelli from the Halliday Wine Companion has been selected as a 2024 Len Evans Tutorial Scholar.

Born and bred in Tuscany, she is a self-taught English speaker and wine writer. Her first published wine article, “Accessing all Areas”, went on to win the 2022 Wine Communicators of Australia Best Published Feature Article. A firm believer that if you work hard, you can get anywhere, and if you truly admire a brand, you’d better work for it, Lisa has worked as a sommelier in some of the finest dining restaurants in Italy and Australia for a decade, with stints in wine retail (Prince Wine Store’s favourite delivery driver during lockdown), wine sales and wineries.

 While working as a vineyard and cellar door hand for Pizzini in King Valley, she still remembers when Fred Pizzini tried to pick her up with his car because she was the only one pruning in the rain. Her response? “But I want to get experience in the vineyard!”

Today, Lisa works at Halliday Wine Companion, judges at wine shows, judges Australian wine lists, writes wine reviews and stories and teaches WSET at the Prince Wine Store. Lisa was the 2022 LET Foundation AWAC Scholarship recipient; her goal is to progress into the Australian wine show circuit, championing diversity, inclusion, and alternative varieties. “Eventually, one day, we’ll stop calling those alternatives, like the majority of people have stopped calling me a backpacker,” she says.