Master of ceremonies

Jesse Mulligan is a writer and broadcaster best known as presenter of Afternoons on RNZ National and host of The Project on TV3. For the past ten years he has written a weekly restaurant review for NZ Herald Viva, and prior to that was restaurant critic for Metro magazine. He has a keen interest in food and drink, as well as professional experience in the sector working for several years at a busy Covent Garden PR agency. His clients there included Green & Blacks chocolate, FIJI Water, and Tio Pepe – the beginning of a lifetime love affair with fino sherry. He has a long running association with New Zealand’s wine industry, including having hosted the National Wine Awards on a number of occasions, and recently judging Hawkes Bay’s Wine Tourism Awards.

ChristchurchNZ’s Chief Executive, Ali Adams, leads the city’s economic development agency, which aims to make Christchurch a better place to live, work, and play.

“Leading ChristchurchNZ is the best role in the world. It is a privilege to have that kaitiakitanga, that responsibility on behalf of all who call Ōtautahi Christchurch home now, and on behalf of my children and the children who will live here in the future. I love that I have responsibility to help grow this amazing place.”

Ali has a background in economic development, having led New Zealand Trade and Enterprise’s work in Europe and the South Island. She has also worked in marketing, tourism, and sports leadership, including four years as the domestic manager for New Zealand Cricket. A Cantabrian by choice since 2003, she started her career as a brand manager for Unilever after graduating from Cambridge University with a first-class honours degree in natural science.

Greetings. My family name is Allen, but please call me David. My mountain is Snafell, my sea is the Irish Sea and my river, the mighty Thames. I am an Englishman, originally from London, but moved to New Zealand and joined Wine-Searcher, where I am the Wine Director, 8 years ago. If you don’t know Wine-Searcher, we are an online search engine for wines and spirits, an app and now also a marketplace for wines.

My career began working, for over a decade, in retail wine stores, with the U.K.’s innovative Oddbins chain. As well as running shops for Oddbins, I wrote copy for their website and was involved in logistics. I then worked for an online auction site called Uvine. Subsequent roles involved selling fine wine for distributors Top Selection and Coe Vintners. I became a of Master of Wine in 2010 and moved to New Zealand in 2017.

Eric Asimov is the chief wine critic of The New York Times and the author of “How to Love Wine: A Memoir and Manifesto,’’ published by William Morrow, and “Wine With Food: Pairing Notes and Recipes From The New York Times,’’ written with recipes by Florence Fabricant and published by Rizzoli. His column appears in the Food section of The Times. He is on Twitter and Instagram, @EricAsimov. A collection of his columns is included in “The New York Times Book of Wine,’’ published by Sterling Epicure.