A winemaker’s eulogy for Angela Muir MW: 1948-2025
Following the death of Angela Muir MW at her home in Cyprus on 14 July aged 76, we have reproduced the eulogy given by Marcos Zambartas, who flew in from his family’s winery in Cyprus to address attendees at her memorial service in Surrey last week.
With Angela, the wine world lost a brilliant mind and my family lost a true friend. For many of us in the wine trade, from winemakers to buyers, and from colleagues to MW students, Angela was a force of knowledge and advice – always honest and kind and never without humour.
She worked in the wine business for over 45 years, breaking boundaries in an industry dominated by men. She received the Vintners’ Scholarship in 1977, and became a Master of Wine in 1980. After many years as a wine buyer, she set up her own consulting business with her husband Peter. She moved on to help producers in Europe and South America to make their wines more attractive on the export markets.
Angela’s contribution to the Cypriot viticulture and winemaking began in 2000. Exactly 25 years ago, Cellarworld International, Angela’s wine consulting business, was hired by my late father, Akis. It was a time when Cyprus needed a new narrative, single varietal wines, vineyard-first winemaking, and Angela with her international experience and wit, was the right person to challenge old habits and even the most stubborn growers.
She introduced to the island ‘flying winemakers’ from New Zealand and Australia, to steer the harvest, while she visited frequently to check the progress. A friend from the industry, recalls: ‘A week before Angela would come to the winery, it was always red alert for everyone working there. The winery had to be cleaned, the floors scrubbed, reports prepared and even the flying winemakers had to tidy their accommodation – because Angela checked everything!’ It showed her sense of responsibility and thoroughness.
Angela and my father quickly became good friends. When my father founded Zambartas Winery, he immediately reached out to Angela and without any hesitation, she was there to help. She offered her consultancy free of charge, a gesture of generosity that spoke volumes about her character.
Angela would spend entire weekends tasting every single vessel in the winery—even the forgotten 200-litre stainless steel tank, because, as she would remind us, “it might be useful as a blending component and will help pay the bills.” She would pause only for a ‘flat white’ and unripe bananas while still taking notes and crunching numbers.
Without Angela, Zambartas Winery might not have stood the test of time. In 2006, just weeks after my father had lost his brother, she insisted : Akis, you need to make wine this year. You need to start! She was the anchor that kept him focused especially in the early days when everything seemed futile.
From vineyard to wine, from blending to marketing, Angela was a driving force. Her charisma to transform different wines in tanks, to quick-selling blends with international appeal was extraordinary. I still remember her words telling my father: “Akis, you ask me to write tasting notes about a wine I have not even tasted yet!” She taught me how to dissect the wine into its components, imagine the final blends and most importantly she taught me to be strict with my wines.
She was kind to everyone, from the cleaner to the most senior staff. Yet she never offered praise lightly.
As she slowly stepped back into retirement, she continued to visit us, taste barrels together and more importantly joined us for a good glass of wine and Cypriot meze. She was always a source of unusual stories and a good laugh during those wine-filled dinners. From her experiences consulting in Eastern Europe to her travels in South- America, a book could have been written.
From all the places she had visited, Cyprus came to mean so much to her and to her late husband Peter, that they retired on the island in 2020.
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They bought a house overlooking the beautiful Paphos bay, and quickly became part of the active British community; playing bridge, guiding wine tastings and attending cooking classes. She marveled at the beautiful sunsets over the Mediterranean witnessed from their veranda, and enjoyed the fresh fruit & veg from the local markets.
Unfortunately, after barely two years of enjoying the Mediterranean life together, Peter passed away suddenly. I still remember Angela calling me late afternoon on 27th December 2022 to ask for help. A big loss for Angela, who with Peter, lost her life partner and companion. She slowly picked up life again, and despite her ongoing health issues, she was determined to enjoy the little things, like a meal by the sea or even a tai-chi lesson.
I know only a few people here today but I am sure all of us have learned from Angela, have shared meaningful moments and bottles of wine with her. Perhaps we have even argued with her. And we are all grateful to her. She has touched so many lives in the wine world.
Once she told me: “Marcos, I made the mistake of not connecting my name with the wines I made throughout my career.”
Well, if she could see us today, she would know that we will never forget her name.
I am certain Peter was glad to see her again, they were a devoted couple and shared a life together. He would say though: ‘It was too soon’. And on that, I could not agree more.
Farewell, Angela Muir.
The eulogy above was given by Marcos Zambartas, winemaker at Zambartas Wineries, in the UK on 3 September. For more about Angela, please scroll down to read a brief account of her achievements from the Institute of Masters of Wine.
Angela Muir MW: 1948–2025
With more than 45 years in the wine trade Angela worked the first 8 years in the Wine Merchant division of John Harvey and Sons in Bristol. The following 10 years was spent overseas as buyer for Grants of St. James’s and Victoria Wine and the remaining time running her own business with husband, Peter Muir. Most of this last period was spent as a wine consultant, primarily helping producers in Europe and South America to make their wines more saleable on the export market. This involved spending around 9 months of each year outside of the UK with clients.
In 1977 Angela travelled around Europe for six months thanks to the Vintners’ Scholarship. She became a Master of Wine in 1980 and was elected a member of the Gran Orden de Caballeros de Vinos de Espana in 1988. In more recent years Angela reduced her work commitments deciding to remain with some favourite clients and friends, keeping in touch with the wine world by helping with their winemaking and helping to educate the next generations of MW students.
• Her memorial service was held at 11.30 am on Wednesday 3 September at St Michael and All Angels Church, Thursley, Surrey, with drinks afterwards at The Three Horseshoes pub.
In my early days at Grants of St James, I was a lowly training officer, with no reason for Angela to even know me. But she did, just acknowledging me by knowing my name made me feel good, she was already a legend in the wine trade, travelling the World and held in high esteem in the company a formidable force of nature and she found time to show interest in me. She was an inspiration.