Mark De Backer is a Sommelier-Conseil; he lectures and writes about grapes and wine. With more than 20 years of experience, today he willingly shares his expertise and passion via AmpeloPlus. Ampelo is the Greek word for grape, and Plus stands for everything that has to do grapes; ampelography, geology, wine making and, of course, wine tasting.
He had previously established a very diverse career in the ICT sector: manager at a distribution company, marketing and sales manager in Belgium and international business development manager at one of the largest ICT companies in the world. Today, he is an independent consultant and is active as crowd-funding angel, mentor and director. This core activities include performing market analyses, segmenting customers or developing business plans.
He completed his studies as Sommelier Conseil at the Université du Vin in Suze la Rousse. He was a lecturer at the Vlaamse Wijnacademie and, as IBWE International Wine Educator, helped to set up the Bordeaux training courses at Syntra.
He writes as wine journalist for i.e. Ken Wijn and is a wine blogger. Besides being a wine master in a commandery of the Flemish Wine Guild, he is also a jury member of the renowned Concours Mondial de Bruxelles.
In addition to a strong interest in the lesser-known grape varieties, he is also passionate about mineral terroirs. Or how the geology and location of the vineyard influence the winemaker and ultimately the wine. As a true citizen of the world, he has criss-crossed and visited numerous wine regions and countries.
