IMW ceremony recognises 18 new MWs

The Institute of Masters of Wine has welcomed 18 new Masters of Wine to its membership at its annual awards ceremony in London.

The newly qualified Masters of Wine take the total number of MWs across the globe to 354 (Photo: IMW)

The ceremony celebrates the induction of the new MWs to the institute and recognises individual excellence in all aspects of the Masters of Wine examination.

The new Masters of Wine, who were announced in February and September of this year, hail from all parts of the world and include the institute’s first MWs from mainland China, Croatia, Czech Republic, India, Israel, Malaysia, Romania, Taiwan and Wales.

There are now 354 Masters of Wine based in 28 different countries.

“Many congratulations to each of the 18 new Masters of Wine – it‘s a tremendous personal achievement,” Jane Masters MW, chairman of the IMW, said.

“The diversity of geographies and range of their professional wine experience reflects the international membership of the Institute of Masters of Wine. Their future contribution individually and collectively as professional, knowledgeable, critical independent thinkers represents a bright future for the global wine trade.”

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Individual awards were given during the ceremony to the MWs who performed exceptionally in a particular area of the MW examination.

The Villa Maria Award was presented to Mick O’Connell MW for his outstanding knowledge and understanding of viticulture in the MW examinations.

The Errázuriz Award was presented to Fongyee Walker MW for her performance in the Business of Wine examination.

Stephen Wong MW was presented with two awards – the Taransaud Tonnellerie Award for his excellence in the Production and Handling of Wine paper and the Robert Mondavi Winery Award for his outstanding performance across all of the Theory papers.

The Noval Award, sponsored by Quinta do Noval and awarded to the best Research Paper by a new MW, was awarded to Matthew Forster MW for his Research Paper: The Colheita and Frasqueira Classifications: A Study of the Legal Framework and Key Themes in the Production of Vintage Madeira.

Mary Margaret McCamic MW was awarded The Bollinger Medal for her outstanding tasting ability. She also received the Institute of Masters of Wine Outstanding Achievement Award, sponsored by the Austrian Wine Marketing Board.

The 18 new MWs, who passed the MW Examinations in February and September in 2016 are: Richard Ballantyne MW (Wales), Ivan Barbic MW (Switzerland), Bree Boskov MW (Australia), Barbara Boyle MW (Ireland), Matthew Deller MW (New Zealand), Matthew Forster MW (UK), Sonal Holland MW (India), Jeremy Lithgow MW (UK), Mary Margaret McCamic MW (USA), Iain Munson MW (France), Mick O’Connell MW (Ireland), Eran Pick MW (Israel), Mark Pygott MW (Taiwan), Ana-Emilia Sapungiu MW (UK), Jan Schwarzenbach MW (Switzerland), Lenka Sedlackova MW (UK), Fongyee Walker MW(China) and Stephen Wong MW (New Zealand).

db wishes all the new MWs its warmest congratulations.