Congratulations to our very own Arlene King!
Liquid Icons, founded by the late Gerard Basset OBE MW MS and Lewis Chester, has announced a series of new scholarships for BAME/BIPOC students.
They [Liquid Icons] have also launched a new partnership with the Wine Scholar Guild, in which 10 BAME/BIPOC students will be awarded the newly-formed Golden Vines Wine Scholar Guild Scholarships.
The scholarship winners will have the opportunity to specialise in the country of their choice, by enrolling in one of the Wine Scholar Guild’s advanced French, Spanish or Italian Wine Scholar Certification Programs.
A total of 42 BAME/BIPOC students from 23 countries applied for The Taylor’s Port Golden Vines Diversity Scholarships.
Due to the high level of interest this year, two new scholarships – The Golden Vines Masters of Wine and The Golden Vines Master Sommelier Scholarships – were created.
The winners were chosen by the same judging panel that is responsible for awarding the two Taylor’s Port Golden Vines Diversity Scholarships, the winners of which will be announced on 7 October at the Golden Vines awards ceremony. The panel included: Nina Basset, Rajat Parr of Sandhi Wines, Carlton McCoy of Lawrence Wine Estates, Clement Robert of the Birley Clubs and Annabel’s, and lead judge Jancis Robinson.
The Golden Vines Masters of Wine and Master Sommelier Scholarships are each worth £12,500 and will cover the full costs of tuition, examination and tastings incurred by the student studying for these programmes. The scholarships are being funded by the Gerard Basset Wine Education Charitable Foundation from money raised at the awards ceremony.
The winner of the Golden Vines Masters of Wine Scholarship is Mags Janjo, the British founder of MJ Wine Cellars and bamewineprofessionals.co.uk; while the winner of the Golden Vines Master Sommelier Scholarship is Winnie Toh, an Advanced Sommelier Certificate holder and sommelier from Singapore working for Aman in the Turks & Caicos Islands.
Thanks to the Wine Scholar Guild, 10 applicants to the Taylor’s Port Golden Vines Diversity Scholarships were awarded Golden Vines Wine Scholar Guild Scholarships, allowing them to enrol on one of the Wine Scholar Guild’s advanced French, Spanish or Italian Wine Scholar Certification Programmes.
The 10 winning Scholars are:
Aki Sudo
Alec Merkt-Caprile
Arlene King
Emma Ogiemwanye
Jai Singh
Nikan Jooyani
Olufikayo Ifaturoti
Oscar Marulanda
Shalva Khetsuriani
Tanmay Rathod
Chester said: “We are delighted that the Wine Scholar Guild have decided to offer these most generous scholarships to BAME/BIPOC wine students chosen by our incredible panel of judges. Our aim is to make the world of wine more diverse and inclusive, and to do this, we need to find and promote a new generation of role models who can attract students from these communities globally to the wine industry. These new scholarships will certainly help in achieving that objective.”
Julien Camus, chief executive and founder of the Wine Scholar Guild, said: “The Wine Scholar Guild is honoured to support the Golden Vines Scholarship initiative for BAME/BIPOC wine students by offering 10 Scholarships for our specialised Wine Scholar Study and Certification programs. We share the same vision and look forward to a long-term partnership with Liquid Icons and the Gerard Basset Wine Education Charitable Foundation to ensure that vision turns to reality.”
For our readers in the BAME/BIPOC community looking to get into the Wine & Spirit industry – or to further your career and qualifications, head over go to the Wine & Spirit Education Trust website. WSET.
WSET is a great starting point to learn about wines and the wine industry.
If you have any questions about getting started in the wine industry, please feel at ease emailing us at the office and we’ll be happy to reply.
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