Institute of Masters of Wine
The Institute of Masters of Wine (IMW) is a non-profit organization founded in 1953 and based in London , Great Britain. It was originally set up to promote the qualifications of employees in the British wine trade through additional specialist training . Since then, the IMW has been a well-known private and paid educational institution for the international wine industry. Successful completion of the non-academic examination is linked to the award of the title Master of Wine (MW).
History of the institute
The first Master of Wine exams were held in 1953 under the auspices of the Worshipful Company of Vintners and the Wine and Spirits Association . Six candidates met the requirements and received the title of Master of Wine for the first time . The institute itself started its work in 1955.
In the first 30 years of its existence, the exams were reserved for British “traders in wine”, i.e. wine traders (and more precisely defined by the Institute as importers, traders and retailers). In the 1980s, the admission requirements were initially relaxed to the extent that, for example, wine authors could also take the exams. It was not until 1987 that access was made available to candidates resident outside the UK.
education
The Master of Wine training offers comprehensive wine training in the form of seminars with a high proportion of self-study. This is training outside of the academic higher education sector. It ends after two years with a written elaboration, although the training in Europe and the USA as well as Australia can differ. Preparatory seminars are offered in Great Britain, the USA, Australia and, since 2004, also in Austria. For the training to become a Master of Wine there are costs at the Institute of Masters of Wine, which in Europe, depending on the chosen training modules, can amount to over 5,000 euros. The exam is considered to be very demanding, only about 30% of the candidates have recently passed all exams (1993-2000) and thus became the “Master of Wine”.
There are currently around 300 members of the Institute of Masters of Wine. Members of the IMW have the abbreviation MW (Master of Wine) after their name . Eight Germans, three Austrians and five Swiss currently hold the title Master of Wine.
exams
Qualification and final exams for the courses are held annually simultaneously in London, Sydney and California . The final exam consists of a theoretical and a practical part. The main topics are viticulture , cellar technology and business management knowledge, especially in corporate management, quality control, marketing, sales. A general part also requires knowledge of social aspects such as politics and wine, dealing with alcohol or the influence of wine on art and culture. In the practical part, twelve wines have to be tasted , described and identified blindly in half an hour .
cooperation
Due to a cooperation agreement between the Austrian Wine Marketing Society (ÖWM) and the IMW, the pre-training can also be completed in Austria at the Wine Academy in Rust since 2004.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ List of Masters of Wine at www.mastersofwine.org, accessed on February 24, 2019