Britta Samuelsson

Senior Advisor

Britta is SWA:s Senior Advisor. She started Scandinavian Wine Academy together with her husband Dick, and has had lots of experience of running the company over the years. 

Dick Samuelsson

Founder

Dick is the founder of Scandinavian Wine Academy. He has worked in the wine business for more than 35 years, and his background was with Vin & Sprit, international drink producers and distributors. He worked as a chemist at their test laboratory, and was responsible for quality assurance and internal training. In the 1990s, he drew up the syllabus for the sommelier course at Restaurangakademin and is now responsible for SWA. Today, Dick is Sweden’s leading wine chemist.

Maya Samuelsson

Marketing

Maya is responsible for marketing at SWA, and also teach during the Sommelier program. Maya is one of Sweden’s most successful female sommeliers, and won the Lily Bollinger Award in 2014. The same year, she was awarded the prize of Newcomer of the Year at the Swedish Restaurant Gala. Maya was also placed in the Swedish Sommelier Championships in 2014, 2015 and 2016. As Maya has lots of experience of competitions, she now helps to coach others who want to enter into competitions. Maya has become a popular feature on TV4’s Nyhetsmorgon morning news programme, where she talks about wine in combination with food in a way that is easy to understand. 

Filip Samuelsson

Strategy

Filip works with strategic development and accounts. With  responsibility for the operational development as his main interests, he takes part in future strategies of SWA. 

Erik Plöen Casterud

Principal

Erik is the principal of the school and one of our main educators. He began his career in the drinks industry by selling wine over the counter at the swedish wine monopoly Systembolaget in 2006. In 2010, he became a certified sommelier, and then worked together with Jürgen Grossmann at Restaurang GQ, where he was responsible for the wine bar. He has worked at SWA since 2014. He has a Level 4 Diploma in Wines & Spirits from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET). 

Love Åkerberg

Wine Director

Love is Director of Studies and responsible for the wine program and materials. He passed his sommelier exam in 2016. Love worked in a food shop for several years, mainly in the charcuterie section, where his interest in food and wine really blossomed. He has worked at SWA since spring 2015. When Love is not at Vinkällan, he likes to cook and socialise with his friends and relations, preferably in combination. 

Anneli Nicholson

CEO

Anneli is CEO of SWA. After 20 years as a manager and leader in IT and engineering, Anneli Nicholson took the leap fully into the world of wine at Vinkällan. Anneli became interested in wine in 2005, when she lived in Australia and realised the world of wine was so much bigger (and better!) than the range offered by Systembolaget. For this reason, Anneli and her husband bought an import company that they ran on the side of their work in IT during 3 years. Anneli is passionate about good leadership, and she strongly believes that all people can and want to develop. In 2020, she passed her sommelier exam at SWA. 

Maria Buchmann

SoMe & Educator

Maria’s great interest in wine began when her family bought a vineyard in Hungary almost 20 years ago. Maria started in the restaurant business at the age of 17, and has also had time to run a furnishing shop, a cafe, a wine import business and a wine bar. With her background in accounts, she has also had time for a couple of years at Svea Ekonomi before studying to become a sommelier at SWA in 2016–2017. She has also studied French Wine Scholar and WSET Level 3. She is now studying Spanish Wine Scholar. Maria is our social media manager. 

Anna Pakka

Course administrator

Anna’s roots are in the northern part of Sweden, more specifically Luleå, but she was brought up mostly in Stockholm. She now lives with her husband and three children, and spends a lot of her leisure time with friends, preferably doing things related to food and wine. She previously worked in childcare, but eventually thought it was time to retrain and do something different. Anna passed her sommelier exam at SWA in 2018, and shortly afterwards also the French Wine Scholar exam, as her interest in France grew. In 2020, she also did WSET Sake Level 1. 

Mauro Nicastro

Sales & Marketing

Mauro took his sommelier exam at SWA in 2016, while working at The Winery Hotel as a sommelier and assistant winemaker. He thinks it is a fantastic feeling to refine a grape into something drinkable, and was involved in three harvests in 2017, in South Africa and in Chianti, Italy. He previously worked in restaurants, among them Michelangelo, which is owned by his uncle. Mauro is passionate about travel and discovering new areas, flavours, and cultures, and likes to cook. He is now in the process of furthering his knowledge in Italian Wine Scholar, and holds a Level 3 qualification in Wine and Sake from WSET. 

Anders Molin

Educator

Anders has a sommelier diploma from SWA and also studied at WSET in London, from where he has an Advanced Level Diploma. He has worked for more than ten years with wine tastings, and runs a company where he lectures on food, and in particular on wine. He has acted as consultant to a number of wine companies, has written journalistic articles on wine, and owns the vineyard La Casa Vola in Piemonte, to which he arranges group travel for persons interested in food and wine. He has a Level 4 Diploma from WSET in London. 

Andrea Olausson

Sales & Marketing

Andrea grew up outside of Gothenburg and has a background in the restaurant business. For eight years she lived in a ski resort in Norway where she managed a restaurant, and later a hotel. Andrea is our course administrator in Gothenburg and takes care of our students on the west coast. She likes spending her time outdoors doing various adventures, preferably with her dog by her side. Andrea graduated from SWA in 2023.