Our People

Our highly skilled operators are both oenological and cellar-operations qualified, combined with several years experience of operation. The operators are professional and happy to interact with the winemaker, conduct a sweet spot trial for alcohol correction, and assist with conducting sensory evalution.

Matthew Hooper

Managing Director

Location South Australia
Contact 0438 131 551
Email matthew@vafmemstar.com.au

Matthew Hooper has a strong commitment to the wine industry since his beginnings in 1998. Matthew started in the viticultural aspect of the wine industry and after two years, progressed into the winery. Gaining much experience working in South Africa at a number of prestigious estates, Matthew then moved to Australia, gaining invaluable international experience and exposure.

The growth of VAF in Australia since 2003 has made it the clear market leader in wine filtration services to the wine industry.

After the acquisition of Memstar by VA Filtration in 2013, Matthew became Managing Director of both companies, offering the best of both companies to Australian winemakers.

David Wollan

Research & Development Manager

Location South Australia
Contact 0414 948 184
Email dwollan@vafmemstar.com.au

David Wollan was born in Brisbane but grew up in Melbourne. His winemaking career commenced in 1979 after completing a wine science degree at what is now Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga. He spent four years as winemaker at Arrowfield Wines in the Hunter Valley before moving to the Yarra Valley where he established Tarrawarra Vineyard performing duties as chief winemaker for twelve years. During much of this time, he nurtured a lingering interest in the rapidly developing computer field and specifically its application to the wine industry.

In the early 1990s, along with colleague Artemis Georgiades, he formed the company Wine File, pioneering a commercial computer-based winery management system, providing winemakers with a powerful and robust record keeping tool. It was soon adopted by many wineries around Australia and overseas. In 1994, Wine File was merged with colleague Gary Baldwin’s consulting company to establish the Wine Network Group of companies, for some time Australia’s leading wine industry consulting and technical services group.

After a number of years and new versions, Wine Network’s priorities changed and Wine File was sold to developer Tallships which has continued to improve and support the program.

As a director of Wine Network and a principal consultant, David spent a number of years consulting to wineries in Australia, New Zealand, Bulgaria, Israel and France. But after being introduced to the power of reverse osmosis based processes over 16 years ago, David has concentrated his efforts on the development and application of membrane separation technologies in the wine industry. Most notably he invented processes for smoke taint removal and alcohol reduction. These services were offered to the wine industry around the world by his company Memstar which recently was acquired by VA Filtration.

He has written and spoken extensively on these and other subjects.

David continues to work for the merged Memstar / VA Filtration companies as a consultant with responsibility for technical support, training, research and development and supervision of equipment design and manufacture. Recently he commenced a post-graduate research degree at the University of Adelaide.

Jarrod Dunning

State Manager (Western Australia)

Location Western Australia
Contact 0416 753 109
Email jarrod@vafmemstar.com.au

Jarrod Dunning has been involved in the wine industry for over twelve years, actively developing a range of vital skills and valuable knowledge of the industry and important processes found within winemaking and handling.

Working at numerous prestigious Australian wineries, Jarrod expanded his skillset and gained an appreciation of the nuances found within different wine regions. Jarrod is passionate about the wine industry and is committed to delivering the highest quality results at Memstar and VA Filtration.

Ali McMillan

Operations Admin Manager

Location South Australia
Contact 0400 788 009
Email ali@vafmemstar.com.au

Ali McMillan started in the wine industry at a young age growing up in Marlborough, New Zealand and later moving to the Barossa Valley. Gaining experience in all sectors of the
industry from Vineyard and cellar to bottling and in the laboratory. Once arriving in the Barossa, Ali moved into the Administration side of the industry including Quality, OHS, Inventory and scheduling. Ali has been with VAF Memstar for over 6 years starting in a part time coordinator role after having her son, now in a full-time role as our Operations Admin Manager.

Katheryn Cordova

Oenologist

Location South Australia
Contact 0424 144 925
Email kcordova@vafmemstar.com.au

After finishing her winemaking studies Katheryn Cordova has been contributing to the wine industry, accumulating working experience between both hemispheres for over more than five years. Her experience goes from the vineyard to winemaking operations, sales and now in a more scientific and chemistry related role. This perspective will assist the continuation of being part of the growth and development of new technologies in the wine industry.

Les Shalhoub

Operations Supervisor

Location South Australia
Contact 0448 520 391
Email lshalhoub@vafmemstar.com.au

Les Shalhoub has been an active member of the wine industry for over 20 years. He started working in the industry in the Hunter Valley before spending seven years working in McLaren Vale. He has held roles working throughout the entire production cycle from vineyard to bottling and completed a vintage overseas. Les has a Diploma in Viticulture and a degree in wine science from Charles Sturt University. He has brought a wealth of experience to his role at VAF Memstar and has been with the company for over 10 years, starting as an operator and now Operations Supervisor of the South Australian team.