Robert Joseph

In 1984, he launched the International Wine Challenge and built it to become the world’s biggest wine competition, with regional competitions being held in China, Japan, Russia, India, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Poland. He is now on the board of Mundus Vini in Germany and a General Chair of the 5-Star Tasting in Verona, Italy.

A frequent public speaker, he has given keynote presentations across four continents and often appears on radio and television.

Since 2005, Robert has focused on producing his own wines – 3.7m bottles of le Grand Noir, sold in over 65 countries and the organic brand, Greener Planet – and on strategic and digital marketing consultancy for a wide range of companies and regions, ranging from Chateaux Brane Cantenac and Malartic Lagravière in Bordeaux, to Torres, Accolade Wines, Origin Wines, Wine Australia and the Republic of Georgia.

Robert was Visiting Professor at the Burgundy Business School and has lectured to wine business students at the University of California, Sonoma, Hong Kong, Trento as well as to WSET and Master of Wine students in the UK.

His often-controversial weekly thoughts on wine are published every week in Meininger’s International, of which he is Associate Editor. In 2020 and 2021, he was co-presenter of The Real Business of Wine webcast and, in 2023 he is launching a podcast. His next book WINE WHY’s – Uncovering the Essential Circumstances & Choices that Separate one Wine from Another will be published this year. Another book, looking back over the last 50 years of the wine industry is in preparation.

In 2006, with his Master of Oenology degree, he began working at Winery Khareba, a business whose vineyard holdings across Georgia have grown from 300ha to 1,500ha. Five years later, he was appointed chief winemaker at the company’s newly renovated Terjola winery in Imereti where over 50 different wines are produced from more than 20 grape varieties.

In 2015 Kublashvili obtained a Wine MBA Diploma at INSEEC in France and, used the knowledge he gained to help build Khareba’s chain of 12 retail shops and wine bars in Georgia (and one in Bari, Italy) and exports to a broad range of countries.

 Since 2011 Khareba wines have won over 100 gold medals at international competitions

Vladimer Kublashvili, chief winemaker and Deputy General Director of Winery Khareba, was born in 1984 in Tkibuli in Western Georgia. As a child, thanks largely to his grandfather, a geography teacher, he developed a passion for travel. His grandfather advised him to choose a profession that would not only offer that opportunity, but also offer something valuable, unique and, most importantly, Georgian to the world. In a country where wine is a central pillar of the national culture, this almost inevitably sparked an interest in winemaking.

In 2004 he graduated with an Oenology degree from the Agricultural University of Georgia and the following year he went on to continue his studies at Cranfield University in the UK. Hohenheim University in Germany and Magarich University in Ukraine.