Emma Wood

The Climb

Emma Wood’s work at Penfolds came first, in a senior winemaking role that placed her inside one of the industry’s most closely watched cellars. That setting required scale discipline, technical consistency, and the ability to work with pedigree without mistaking it for repetition. In 2022, she moved into the Chief Winemaker role at Wirra Wirra, where the brief shifted toward freshness, regional character, and a clearer line on style. The appointment brought together McLaren Vale reds, Adelaide Hills whites, and Shiraz as the portfolio’s fixed points. In that kind of roster, the job is not to flatten difference but to hold a house profile while letting each wine keep its own shape. Wood’s work sits in that balance: structure on one side, sensitivity on the other.

Today

On the work itself, Wood says, "It's practical, it's got people, it's got challenges, it's got problem-solving." That is the register of the job as she describes it. Winemaking here is not treated as an abstraction but as daily trade: decisions made in sequence, people coordinated, problems answered with judgment, and each season bringing its own variables. The emphasis is on the bottle only after the work has been done in the cellar.

In Their Words “It's practical, it's got people, it's got challenges, it's got problem-solving.”

Recognition

Shiraz is the wine style most directly associated with Emma Wood’s specialty. At Wirra Wirra, that sits within a stated balance of generosity of fruit, elegance, and perfumed aromas. The style leaves room for richness without losing lift, and for fragrance without losing shape. It is a practical expression of the same method that runs through her work: keep the frame clear, and let the wine speak in its own terms.