Built by someone who has lived every side of the wine industry.
Our story
Ayu was born from decades of firsthand experience curating wine programs for Australia's most celebrated venues and a growing frustration with how inefficient the industry's back-end had always been. Every venue is different. Every producer is different. The tools should be too.
"In my experience, the most successful wine lists are a narrative about the symbiotic relationship between the different bottles of wine."
— Shun Eto, Gourmet Traveller Wine, July 2019
Shun Eto
Founder @ AyuWine
Our mission is to give every venue, producer, and hospitality professional the tools to achieve their own version of great on their terms, not ours.
Born in Tokyo and raised in Queensland, Shun Eto fell in love with food and wine at a young age. After boarding school, he travelled the world solo before finding his way to École Hôtelière de Lausanne, Switzerland, one of the world's leading hospitality schools, where he studied hotel management.
Following his Swiss education, Shun completed a management trainee program at the world-famous Oak Door at the Grand Hyatt in Roppongi, Tokyo. He then returned to Sydney, building his reputation at some of Australia's most celebrated establishments: Kable's at the Four Seasons, Berowra Waters Inn, Icebergs Dining Room and Bar, Nomad Sydney, and across the QT Hotels and Resorts portfolio.
In 2015, Shun became Group Curator of Wine at QT Hotels and Resorts, and later Group Curator of Wine at Ovolo Hotels, overseeing the beverage program across Australia and Ovolo Central, Hong Kong. He went on to work with Merivale at Mimi's and Fred's, launched Shell House as Wine Director for Point Group, and helped shape the beverage structure for Etymon Projects.
Today, Shun is channelling everything he has learned, every invoice, every stocktake, every supplier negotiation, into building Ayu. A platform designed by someone who has sat on both sides of the table, and knows exactly what the industry has been missing.
