Wine Sentience is a wine events and education provider in Wellington developing wine experiences that connect wine lovers to the people & places behind the wines they’re drinking. Their philosophy centres around wine knowledge, not wine sales. They exist to broaden the conversation, connection and community around wine to help create a more inquisitive & excited wine community in Wellington and throughout New Zealand.
Stephen Wong, Master of Wine
Wellington's own resident Master of Wine, Stephen fell in love with it while playing music at clubs and doing harvest while studying at Otago University. He took on sommelier and waitstaff roles in Wellington in the early 2000s, running the wine programmes at Café Bastille/Roxburgh Bistro, The Matterhorn (pre-2011), Citron, The Spire Queenstown, Singapore Marriott Hotel and Arbitrageur Wine Room while Wine Sentience was coming together.
With a focus on education and communication, he developed the first year wine syllabus for Le Cordon Bleu's Bachelor of Culinary Arts and Business degree, was a founding member of the NZ Sommelier and Wine Professionals Association, and occasionally judges wine shows in NZ and Australia. He works closely with wine festivals and NZ Winegrowers in education, presenting and speaking at the Sommit Scholarship, Pinot Noir Conference, The Aromatics Symposium, Bragato Conference and at their events in Melbourne, Hong Kong and China. He sits on the Education Committee of the Institute of Masters of Wine as the Coordinator for the Assignment Marking Scheme, as well as being co-chair of the Institute’s Diversity, Inclusion and Transformation Committee.
As one of the organisers for Budburst, natural wine is a particular passion for him. A natural wine pioneer, Stephen instigated Ponsonby’s Golden Dawn Tavern becoming the first natural wine bar in the country back in 2010, followed by Ancestral and Whitebait Restaurant a few years later. This commitment is now carried on by Sherwood Queenstown. However, as a classically trained taster, fine wine is definitely part of his oeuvre. Stephen handles the Wellington fine-wine support for French specialist importer Maison Vauron and also runs in-depth tastings and masterclasses on traditional fine wines regularly. You'll see him presenting at vintage assessment tastings of Germany, Austria, New Zealand, Rhône, Burgundy and Bordeaux as well as deep-dives into the myriad natural wine styles.
Most recently in 2022, Stephen completed the exams for and was appointed as the New Zealand Ambassador for the VDP German Fine Wine Estates and is qualified to introduce, educate and raise awareness of the diverse wines of Germany’s top estates. You can also find his writing on wine in editorial columns for Cuisine, The World of Wine, and The Real Review.
Caitlin Perlman, Associate Sommelier
Over the past decade Caitlin has been building her career in food and wine with stints in North America, Europe and New Zealand. During her university years Caitlin took a break from a degree in literature at University of California, Santa Cruz for a culinary program in Eastern France. At the end of the culinary program Caitlin accepted an internship at the two Michelin starred L’Oxalys in Val Thorens where the more prominent wine regions of the world took second stage and a life-long love of wines from the mountainous Savoie and the nearby Jura was born.
A return to California without an obvious role specialising in the wines of the Savoie & the Jura, Caitlin reinvented herself as a Cheesemonger over the following six years. Wine was not forgotten and Caitlin also became a certified Sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers during this time. A return to wine brought about harvest stints at Saint Jean du Barroux in Provence, time behind the bar at one of San Francisco’s first natural wine bars, Terroir, another harvest at Crater Rim in North Canterbury and then rounded out with time spent as Retail Manager at Regional Wines & Spirits in Wellington.
In 2019, Caitlin founded the Nouvelle Wine Festival to create a platform for celebrating organic, low-intervention New Zealand Nouveau wines. It has run for four consecutive years and grown from a small single-day festival to a month-long celebration spanning multiple cities and including nearly 20 New Zealand producers across this time. She also provides Wellington en-premise support for specialist natural wine importer Salinity Wines, which is run by Alex Craighead of Kindeli, and Theo Coles of The Hermit Ram.
Caitlin provides support to many of Wine Sentience hospitality accounts, was a regular guest lecturer for Le Cordon Bleu New Zealand, while also leading our events programme for both the wine trade and the wine drinkers. Get in touch with Caitlin to talk about Charley Noble, WOLF at Foxglove, Nouvelle, hospitality education or natural wine events.
Sylvaine Novel, Associate Sommelier
Sylvaine is a French-qualified Sommelier and have worked in the trade since 2002.
As a teenager Sylvaine set out to be a chocolatier/ confiseur at a catering school near her home in Toulouse. But during her first year she took part in - and won - a local wine competition and this glimpse into the world of wine changed the trajectory of her studies and her career with chocolate and sweets being left behind for wine.
Sylvaine made quick use of her Sommelier certification landing roles in several Michelin star restaurants including La Villa du Majestic and L’Oasis in Cannes; The Waterside Inn (Michel Roux) in Bray on Thames; The Square, Angela Hartnett at The Connaught (Gordon Ramsay group) and La Trompette in London. 2008 saw a shift from fine dining and classic wine hospitality experience to working vintage in the Yarra Valley with Mac Forbes and taking on the role of assistant retail manager at the Prince in Melbourne. The move to Wellington brought Sylvaine back to her Sommelier roots as she joined Arbitrageur restaurant and took charge of their wine list and wine program. When Arbitrageur made the radical transformation into Annam, Sylvaine dived deep into pairing wines to asian flavours and spices.
At Wine Sentience Sylvaine specialises in the classic French wine regions and her primary role from Feb 2019 to Dec 2023 was providing agency en premise support in Wellington for French specialist importer, Maison Vauron, in Wellington. Although she has a day job at Government House now, she is still part of our network after hours.
