Shaun Byrne is an ideas man. After bartending, his first venture into production changed the game for a whole category – vermouth. Maidenii is now a mainstay in Australia’s bars, and its products have won titles such as Best Aperitif and Most Influential Spirits Innovation.

Shaun’s consultancy business Good Measure enables him to share his knowledge with the many startups that are entering the fold, and brings high-quality bars and local products to festivals across the country. In 2017 Shaun brought the team together to found Marionette Liqueurs, which won Champion Liqueur in the Distilled Spirits Awards in 2018 and 2019.

Although you’ll no longer find Shaun behind a bar, he’s constantly powering away behind the scenes to bring fresh categories to centrestage. He is the co-author of three books, Vermouth, All Day Cocktails and Punch (July 2020).

Gilles Lapalus has wine flowing through his veins. The third generation of a wine-producing family from the Cluny region of Burgundy, Gilles embarked on a prestigious wine making career that has taken him across three decades to the French regions of Burgundy, Languedoc, Medoc, and Beaujolais, and further afield to Tuscany, Campania, Chili and Australia.

In 2001, he moved to Australia to become the manager of biodynamic viticulture and winemaking at Sutton Grange Winery near Castlemaine, central Victoria. Five years ago, he established boutique Australian vermouth brand Maidenii with business partner Shaun Byrne.