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News
Five new Masters of Wine announced
The Institute of Masters of Wine has welcomed five new MWs to the organisation this morning, including its first Czech, Malaysian and Israeli members.
The new Masters of Wine (MWs), who have all been told the good news today, include a winemaker, two wine buyers, a marketing manager and the owner of a hospitality training business, and come from four countries: along with the countries mentioned above, two of the new members hail from Switzerland.
Following last year’s record crop of new MWs, the number worldwide now totals 345.
The Masters of Wine Examination consists of three stages, including Theory and Practical Exams, and culminates in the submission of a final Research Paper, an in-depth study on a wine-related topic from any area of the sciences, arts, humanities, or social sciences.
db wishes all the new MWs, who can be viewed over the following pages, its warmest congratulations.
Ivan Barbic MW (Switzerland)
Ivan Barbic MW was born in Zagreb, Croatia and grew up and completed his education in Switzerland. He graduated as a food technology engineer at the
ETH Zurich with a diploma thesis at the Research Station for Viticulture, Agroscope in Wädenswil, about wine flavour analysis. He has been working
for almost twenty-five years in the wine business. First, in wine research at Agroscope in Wädenswil, then as sales manager for oenology products. After
that he has worked as wine buyer for Coop, Head of the purchase department for Bataillard, Head of Product Management wine for Denner and now as
strategic buyer for Bataillard.
His independent activities include consulting for different wine producers in Switzerland, Spain and Croatia, acting as chairman of the Maître Conseil en Vins de France 2006 – 2008, and writing for magazines including Schweizerische Weinzeitung, Vinum and the Croatian food and wine magazine Ice & Pice.
His Research Paper was titled: An assessment of the sensorial, economic and analytical impacts of fining agents without allergen compounds on a commercially important red wine on the Swiss market.
Jan Schwarzenbach MW (Switzerland)
Jan Schwarzenbach MW graduated in Viticulture from Charles Sturt University in 2001 and in Oenology from the University of Adelaide in 2003.
He then worked in wineries in Australia and Switzerland, before starting a career in wine retail.
After having worked for four years in specialist wine retail and teaching courses at the WSET accredited Academie du Vin wine school in Switzerland, he started to work for Coop, where he is responsible for the en primeur sales of Bordeaux, Burgundy and Rhône and the online wine club Mondovino.
His Research Paper was titled: Buying behaviour of multi-channel retail wine consumers in Switzerland in store and online – using the market leader Coop as an example.
Lenka Sedlackova MW (Czech Republic)
Lenka Sedlackova MW was born and raised in the Czech Republic but her love of languages took her to Germany and subsequently the UK, where she lives
today. Lenka’s interest in wine started over a decade ago at a wine tasting organised by London wine merchant Theatre of Wine, which resulted in a job.
In her current role as Marketing Manager for renowned UK importer Fields, Morris and Verdin (part of Berry Bros & Rudd), Lenka works with some of the
greatest wine producers in the world including those from her favourite country, Spain. In her spare time Lenka writes for the Wine Monkeys blog and
is a regular judge at wine competitions.
Her Research Paper was titled: An evaluation of the market position of Reserva and Gran Reserva Cava in the London On and Off-trade.
Eran Pick MW (Israel)
Eran Pick MW was born in Kfar Sava, Israel, and today lives in Tel Aviv. Between 2004-2006 he travelled and trained in several wineries, including in Napa, Sonoma, Barossa, and Bordeaux.
In 2006 he graduated from U.C. Davis with a B.S. in Viticulture & Enology, with Highest Honors and since then hasworked as a wine maker in Tzora Vineyards, Israel.
He is married with three children and has a great passion for “normal wines”, especially from Bordeaux, Champagne, and the Northern Rhone.
His Research Paper was titled: The Quantification of the Variability of Meso-climates among Important Vineyard Regions in Israel.
Stephen Wong MW (Malaysia / New Zealand)
Malaysian-born Chinese, Stephen Wong MW moved from Borneo to Singapore and finally to New Zealand to read Law at the University of Otago.
While studying, he worked part time in cafés and as a club DJ. He moved to Central Otago in 2000, and his journey into wine progressed rapidly from vineyard worker to hospitality. Shortly after completing his Barrister examinations in Wellington, he picked up his first fledgling sommelier role and started teaching himself on the job.
After seven years as a sommelier, Stephen moved into a consulting role, helping restaurants and hotels in New Zealand and Singapore with their wine programs. He now runs a small hospitality education and support business based in Wellington, Wine Sentience, training staff and managing wine lists around the country as well as hosting tastings and organising wine events for the public.
His Research Paper was titled: The coincidence of a global financial crisis and oversupply – an analysis of Marlborough’s controversial 2008 vintage and its consequences.