Masters of the wine trade
More From: Curious Facts & Fun
Posted June 21st, 2010 by Matt Kane
The pinnacle of wine eduction is when you have earned the two letters ‘MW’ after your name. Becoming a Master of Wine (MW) is considered in the wine industry to be the highest standards of professional knowledge that can be attained and tomorrow we’ll be interviewing one of less than 300 Masters of Wine on the planet; Tony Brown MW.
There are currently 280 MW’s living in 23 different countries. Some names you may recognise – Jancis Robinson, Clive Coates, Tim Atkin.
The qualification is issued by The Institute of Masters of Wine, with the objective of promoting knowledge, understanding and appreciation of wine, which will naturally carry relevance into industry itself on a professional basis.
So why are there so few in world you might ask? Well, it’s incredibly challenging, there’s a high failure rate, it’s very time consuming and, relatively speaking, it’s quite expensive.
But hey, don’t let me stop you.
Key Dates in the history of The Institute of Masters of Wine
1953
Six candidates out of 21 pass the examination and become Masters of Wine.
1955
The Institute of Masters of Wine is formed in London.
1970
The first female Master of Wine, Sarah Morphew Stephen, passes the examination and is admitted to the membership of the Institute.
1984
The Institute opens the examination to people working outside the wine trade (such as winemakers and journalists). Jancis Robinson OBE becomes the first non-trade Master of Wine.
1988
The first Master of Wine from outside the UK, Michael Hill Smith AM from Australia, passes the exam.
1990
The first Masters of Wine from the USA, Joel Butler and Tim Hanni, pass the exam.
1992
The education programme and the exam are delivered on three continents: Europe, Australasia, and North America.
2006
The Institute of Masters of Wine Endowment Fund is established to secure the Institute’s financial stability and promote its strategic goals. Funds are raised through cash donations from members and by an auction of wine and winery visits provided by Masters of Wine and supporters of the Institute from around the world.
2008
The first Masters of Wine from Asia, Jeannie Cho Lee and Debra Meiburg from Hong Kong and Lisa Perrotti-Brown from Singapore, pass the examination and become members of the Institute.
2010
Ned Goodwin becomes the first Master of Wine in Japan.
Time line from The Institute of Masters of Wine.
June 21st, 2010 at 4:27 pm
No mention of the Irish Em-Dubs?
Martin Moran, Alan Crowley and Dermot Nolan.
Lar
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:05 am
[...] interviews (with more to come) I thought it was about time we asked a few questions to one of the Masters of Wine behind a number of our labels in the Curious Wines [...]
June 22nd, 2010 at 9:03 am
Thanks Lar. How could I forget
June 22nd, 2010 at 9:42 am
Besides no mention of Irish MW’s there should have been mention of when the first and only MW was awarded to someone coming out of the Irish wine trade – Dermot Nolan. They have no problem mentioning the US and Asia. (Maybe they still think of us as them!) High time we had more MW’s coming from our trade. It’s so damned cash and time expensive that most working people ie sales! never have a chance. Let’s hear it for a trade bursary so that the talented rather than the …… represent us into the future.
June 22nd, 2010 at 10:30 am
Hear hear. Would be great to see more MW’s from here. I suspect the institute doesn’t see Ireland as a big market. They see the USA as a big player and Asia as a potentially bigger player (or is it bigger already?)
I think one of the main things you need is financial freedom. Once you have that, you have the time as well as the cash to give it a proper crack of the whip.
Also, MW’s have a place in the industry, but the depth of knowledge they acquire simply isn’t needed in most areas. For the likes of what I do, our customers don’t need to know the Semillon in Scott’s vineyard is Clone BVRC32. So perhaps the trade doesn’t really need many more Masters of Wine.