WineWise Educators

After her studies at the hotel school Spermalie, Sybille travelled to Bordeaux to further perfect her passion for wine. She graduated in 'Commerce des Vins et Spiritueux' and 'Diplôme Universitaire d'Aptitiude à la Dégustation' and then spent a year travelling around the world. The route took her through the vineyards of the so-called 'New World'. On her way she met many passionate wine professionals who were WSET certified. These fascinating encounters triggered her to complete the Wine & Spirit Education Trust program herself, and later, with her company WineWise, to offer the WSET courses in the BeNeLux.
She values lifelong learning and commitment and wants to share this with her students through the WineWise LifeLong Learning platform. Besides being a certified WSET educator, Sybille is also a certified Bourgogne, Bordeaux, Sherry, Madeira and California educator.
In her free time, she is creative or goes for nature walks, which inspire her.

After studying commercial sciences and European economics, Piet started his professional career as a restaurant manager. The initial plan was to do this for a few years. In the end, it turned out to be 25 years. During this fascinating period, Piet travelled a lot and met many interesting people in the wine world. Piet was infected with their passion for wine and decided to study wine further. He could find no 'better' wine education than the WSET course at WineWise. After obtaining the WSET level 4 Diploma & the title Weinakademiker, Piet became a full-time wine educator at WineWise in 2015. Besides being a certified WSET educator for wines and sake, Piet is also a certified Sherry, Madeira and VDP educator.
When Piet is not at work he goes out to sport or to dinner. And he also enjoys a good book.

Frank Smulders started his career in the wine-business in 1985 and became a ‘Master of Wine’ in 1992. He played various roles in the wine industry, including sales, marketing, buying and general management. For three years he is now also a wine producer, with his Liskar wines based on old Garnacha vines in Navarra, Spain.
Frank started teaching WSET Level 4 in Austria in 1994, since then he became one of the leading wine teachers in Europe. Currently he devotes more than half his time to teaching WSET Levels 3 and 4, in 15 countries in Europe. He specializes in Spain, Bordeaux and sparkling wines.
Frank set up the ‘Benelux Diploma Course’ together with Sybille in 2003, and is the ‘head teacher’ today, lecturing Spain, Bordeaux, Loire, Rhône valley, Languedoc-Roussillon and fortified wines, as well as giving examination trainings.
Frank favors drinking white wine over red wine, he particularly enjoys Champagne, Mosel Riesling and the great sweet wines of the world (Sauternes, Tokaji etc).
He does not indulge in food and wine pairing, but believes in people and wine pairing. A great wine is best enjoyed with good company, like his family (wife, three children and partners) and best friends.

Fiona Morrison is a British Master of Wine, wine author, winemaker and wine merchant who lives in Belgium and Bordeaux.
She loves that her career has spanned so many facets of the wine trade both in Europe and the United States.
She is married to Jacques Thienpont of Le Pin fame and manages the Thienpont family négociant business. Together, they manage the three Jacques Thienpont estates named, Le Pin (Pomerol), L’IF (St Emilion) et L’Hêtre (Castillon).
Winner of several awards for her writing, including the ‘James Beard Award’, her latest book, “10 Great Wine Families” has recently been published internationally.
She is the only woman in Belgium to qualify for the celebrated title of Master of Wine.
When she is not involved in wine, Fiona can be found in Verbier skiing and hiking, enjoying Opera and Theatre worldwide, travelling and riding her bike around the hills of the Flemish Ardennes.

Romana used to work as Chef Sommelière in top gastronomy. To name a few: restaurant ‘Quadriga’ in Berlin -their wine list features only German wines- and restaurant ‘Vendôme’ near Cologne, which was awarded 3 stars in the Guide Michelin.
Since 2015 Romana is Master of Wine and self-employed; she writes books and focuses on biodynamic viticulture. Romana also write columns and articles for various magazines and newspapers. In addition, she is also active in education, events and consulting.
Besides her job, Romana loves to spend time with her family. From sledding, to going to the zoo, to cooking together. Everything that is fun for their 2 and 4-year-old boys, brings great joy to Romana and her husband.
When the children are older and she hopefully will have more time, she would like to play the piano more often. Her dream: to be able to play all Beethoven sonatas.

He graduated in 2005 with a degree in ‘International Business Administration’ from Maastricht University, but wine has always been a major interest in his life.
Job studied at the ‘Dutch Wine Academy’ and did an internship at the Faculty of Viticulture and Oenology of UC Davis. He also worked as a cellar hand at ‘Château Giscours’ in Margaux and ‘De Toren’ in Stellenbosch.
In 2010, he earned his WSET Diploma via ‘WineWise’ and became ‘Weinakademiker’ in 2011.
Currently, Job works as a wine buyer and marketer for ‘Les Généreux’ – an association of 40 independent fine wine shops in The Netherlands.
For his research paper, he co-founded ‘Grape Compass’, an online decision support system that forecasts fungal disease pressures in vineyards.
Job also teaches, supervises wine tastings and writes for professionals and enthusiasts.
He not only enjoys wine, but also loves to cook, dine with family and friends and listen to jazz music.

Rod is a wine educator, marketer, and journalist, based in the South of France. With a client list that includes the world’s wealthiest, most discerning and demanding customers, Rod is the owner/director of the Riviera Wine Academy,
Prior to this, Rod worked for Vins Sans Frontières – the leading wine supplier to the superyacht industry in the South of France, and before that in the UK for a variety of fine wine importers and retailers, as well as being an established WSET educator. Rod has been extensively involved in judging wine competitions in London (Panel Chair, Decanter World Wine Awards, IWC), Shanghai (SIWC, Wine100), Guangzhou (Golden Bottle Awards), Dallas (TexSom), Sofia (Balkans International Wine Challenge), Moscow (Russian Wine Fair), and Sydney (Sydney Royal Wine Show).

He has travelled and presented about wine widely including many trips to China and the Far East.

Rod’s personal interests include cycling, running, travel, literature, card magic and film.

Anja Vondenhoff is a wine teacher, vinologist at the Wine Academy and co-author of the SommelierOorkonde course. She also founded www.wijncampus.nl, where interested parties and wine professionals can gain professional knowledge.
After studying a Master of Science in Hospitality Management in Miami, and having worked in several hotels in France, the United States and Germany, Anja started teaching wine courses. She has not only been teaching at the Hotel School in Apeldoorn for about 30 years, she also teaches the module 'Sparkling Wines of the World' for the 'WSET Diploma Course'.
Anja won the European Champagne Ambassador competition in 2011. As of 2017 she is president of the Club of Weinakademiker (Benelux) andas per 2018 she is Certified Sommelier of The Court of Master Sommeliers.
In addition to her love for champagne, Anja enjoys any wine that has the option of further maturing in the bottle and/or that can be combined with a variety of dishes. Anja therefore advises restaurants in the field of wine purchasing, with the composition of the wine list, or to spar about drink/food combinations.

Jeroen Tackx is currently 20 years active in the beverage industry.
He started out as a waiter, then he climbed the ranks from sommelier to cocktail bartender and headwaiter in different restaurants and bars. In Bar ‘SIPS’, Manuel Wouters taught him everything about the art of spirits and mixing.
Jeroen’s next step was wholesale for ‘Metro Cash & Carry Belgium’ as product specialist in wines, with a professional interest in mocktails and cocktails. This way he could free up time to graduate from the WSET in London with Diploma as well as ‘Weinakademiker’ from the ‘Akademie Österreich’
Besides his interest in wines and spirits, Jeroen is fond of his wife and two kids, and loves travelling, cooking, reading and occasionally streaming sci-fi series.
Jeroen’s advice for students: With every exam you take, always read the question 3 times !

I feel privileged that I can divide my working hours between both wine sales and wine education.
I spend most of my time managing global exports for winemaker Oxer Bastegieta, producer of unique Txakoli and premium Rioja wines.
In the field of education, I am committed to WSET. Thanks to this education program, I learned so much about wine in a relatively short time and eventually made a career in the wine trade. I now run my own school (APP) in the Netherlands and teach for WineWise in Belgium.
As a working mom of young twins, I don’t have a lot of free time, but the limited time I do have, I like to spend horseback riding (western style) or training my dog (scent detection).

With a Master’s degree in Germanic Languages (English/German), Kristel started her career in an independent bookshop, before moving into teaching – and later to more organisational responsibilities – in higher education.
She got bitten by the wine bug about 15 years ago, which lead her to study Sommelier-Conseil in Suze-la-Rousse, followed by WSET Level 3.
In 2015 she started her own wine business, Wine and Words, focusing on wine writing, education and consultancy. The business got a sudden boost in 2017-18, when Kristel won the Belgian Champagne Ambassador competition, gained second place in the European Champagne Ambassador finals, and was elected Wine Lady of the Year.
Her WSET Level 4 adventure started in 2021, and she obtained the Diploma in 2022 with an overall distinction grade. She also won the Peter Hampson Memorial Prize and the IWSC Trophy for the highest overall grade in the EMEA region.
Kristel now works for a wide range of companies, organisations and private customers. Alongside WSET Level 3 classes at WineWise, she also teaches at Syntra Ghent, is a regular contributor to different wine publications, creates content for professional trade bodies and on- and off-trade businesses, and is writing her first book on food and wine pairing (publication: October 2023).

Kris Lismont is ‘Best Sommelier of Belgium 2010’, President of the ‘Belgian Sommeliers Guild’ and owner of wine business ‘Mondevino’.
After 20 years of owning a restaurant and working as sommelier, Kris recently has been focusing on wine. Kris is not only WineWise educator WSET Level 2, he also curates and sells wine, he advises how to manage your wine cellar and acts as a wine consultant for the hotel and catering industry. Kris reaches out to the hospitality industry, to companies and private individuals.
Besides his passion for wine, Kris likes to travel and eat. Basically he likes to use all senses. He is fond of watching sports, especially football and cycling. And he likes to run his weekly necessary kilometres since he believes in the motto ‘A healthy mind in a healthy body’.

WSET Diploma & Weinakademiker Sylvain has been working for 16 years in the Belgian wine industry, directly with ‘horeca’ & gastronomy, and currently distributes wines from ‘The Portugal Collection’ & ‘Sapinot’.
Sylvain was born in Corsica -he knows how to make a good selection- and imports 9 of the best producers of his island
He is passionate about working with Sommeliers and dealing with Vignerons.
In addition to his expertise and passion for wine, he enjoys cooking, traveling and playing tennis.

Born in France, Antoine has worked as a sommelier in several Michelin-starred restaurants for the past 20 years.
He started his WSET journey in London at the beginning of his career, and graduated in Belgium a few years ago.
Antoine also won the title of 'Best Sommelier of Belgium 2014' and represented Belgium at international competitions in 2016 (Mendoza), 2017 (Vienna) and 2019 (Antwerp).
In early 2022, Antoine ended his career as a floor sommelier and has since worked for Le Wine (Belgium), where he can further deepen his knowledge of the wine world...
Antoine enjoys spending time with his family, travelling and cycling.