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Australia to host Master of Wine symposium in 2022
As this year’s Master of Wine symposium came to a close yesterday in Logroño, Spain, legendary Australian winemaker Brian Croser announced that the next MW event will take place in Adelaide, Australia.
Brian Croser made the announcement at this year’s IMW International Symposium in Spain, called ‘Living Wine’
Speaking at the close of this year’s international symposium in the heart of Rioja, Croser, speaking on behalf of his country, said, “We are highly honoured and very surprised,” at the decision by the Institute of Masters of Wine to head to Australia for the organisation’s next major event, which will take place in 2022, from 21-24 June.
Continuing he said that Adelaide was the ideal place in Australia for the symposium, both because of its proximity to many famous wineries and wine regions, but also because the city is home to both The Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) and Wine Australia.
Croser added that by the time the IMW comes to Adelaide in 2022, “the Australian wine community will have changed an enormous amount,” adding, “We will be ready for you, but will you be ready for us?”
Taking place every four years, the IMW International Symposium is the institute’s biggest and most important event, and the upcoming one in Adelaide follows this year’s symposium in Logroño; 2014’s event in Florence, and 2010’s one in Bordeaux.
The Australian-based symposium will follow a similar format, taking place over 4-days in mid-June. This will of course mean that the event will be during winter in Adelaide, although delegates present at the event in a sunny Logroño were assured that the weather in Adelaide during June will be dry and bright, although nights will be cool.
The event in Australia will be co-hosted by Wine Australia, and will be the institute’s 10th symposium.
Giving an idea of the scale of such an event, chairman of the IMW Jane Masters MW, said that the symposium in Rioja had attracted 450 participants, who had got through over 5,000 bottles of wine, and used 22,000 Riedel glasses – and that was just during the daytime sessions, with many more wines and glasses used during the elaborate evening events, which included a major tasting, dinner and concert at the Bull Ring in Logroño, along with a ‘gala dinner’ at Marqués de Riscal, where the producer served bottles from its cellars from 1955 to conclude the meal.
Meanwhile, in a statement sent to the drinks business this morning, Andreas Clark, CEO of Wine Australia said, ‘We’re thrilled to be hosting the world of wine in Adelaide in 2022 and look forward to showcasing Australia’s diverse and thriving wine scene, and our enviable epicurean culture.”
He added, “Australia’s creativity, passion and focus on innovation makes it the perfect destination to inspire leaders in wine and help shape the future of the industry.’
He also noted that Adelaide is a gateway to 18 wine regions, while there are more than 200 cellar doors within an hour’s drive of the city.
Location for 10th IMW Symposium: Adelaide, Australia
Timing: 21-24 June 2022
Well that’s interesting given in most of Australia’s cities, the furthest you can get with WSET training is level 3- and that includes Adelaide where that bloody symposium is happening! How ridiculous is that?
I live in Western Australia, a proud wine producing state and not a single person is qualified to teach the diploma. I am at the stage where I am having to rethink even being in the wine trade anymore as having a Level 3 Certificate and a decade of experience in London, renders candidates like me as too overqualified” what what limited opportunities there are. The quality of wine we’re knocking out right around Australia right now has never been better but the market for it all has been falling steadily for years, it’s depressing.
Let’s hope this event encourages more MW’s to base themselves in various wine producing states so we can start educating the industry more broadly- I can tell you most sales staff in my part of the world haven’t got a clue and thanks to the daft lack of strategy by one of the universities and the TAFE college, we have a massive oversupply of winemakers with no where to get placed.