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The brief signing ceremony took place at the Esterházy Winery last week. The Institute of Masters of Wine (IMW) was represented by Penny Richards, Executive Director of the Institute. Also present was Pepi Schuller MW, the first Austrian Master of Wine and first non-British Chairman of IMW who started the trend of admitting the non- English Masters of Wine to the prestigious IMW.
AWMB has thus restated its long-standing commitment to the Institute of Masters of Wineby signing for a renewed 3-year period as a Principal Supporter.
Willi Klinger, the dynamic Managing Director of the Austrian Wine Marketing Board, under whom the programme was initiated, said at the signing, ‘We at the Austrian Wine Marketing Board are very happy to renew our successful cooperation with the Institute of Masters of Wine as a Principal Supporter. Our relationship is characterized by mutual respect and a deep understanding for the necessity of high standards in wine education for the promotion of wine culture in the world. Our campus in Rust will continue to be the perfect hub for MW Study Programme Stage 1 students. We are also extremely happy that our Austrian Wine Academy has recently joined forces with another major supporter of IMW - Istituto Grandi Marchi - to offer the WSET Diploma between Austria and Italy as a stepping stone to the MW programme.”
The Austrian Wine Marketing Board has supported the Institute since 2004. The organisation hosts the Stage 1 European Education Seminar each January at the Weinakademie Österreich (Austrian Wine Academy) in Rust, Austria. In addition, it provides speakers for a number of education seminars annually and provides resources for the Institute at trade events around the globe. Incidentally, AWMB owns a 50% shareholding in the Austrian Wine Academy.
Penny Richards reportedly said “The Austrian Wine Marketing Board has been an outstanding partner to the Institute over the last eleven years. They have been an exemplary Principal Supporter, enabling us to amplify our message and extend our reach not only into Austria, but the wider region as well. Their belief in the importance of our work, which is underpinned by their practical support, is very important to us.”
The Austrian Wine Marketing Board has also, since 2009 sponsored the Outstanding Achievement Award for the best overall student in the Master of Wine Examination. This year’s award was presented to wine writer Rebecca Gibb MW. Past winners included Peter Richards MW, Susie Barrie MW, Antony Moss MW, and Anne McHale MW, with Andreas Wickhoff MW being the first Austrian to win this Award.
The Institute’s other Principal Supporters are AXA Millésimé, Berry Bros. & Rudd, the Madame Bollinger Foundation and Waitrose.
There are 340 Masters of Wine today from 24 countries. The Membership encompasses winemakers, buyers, journalists, shippers, business owners, consultants, academics, and wine educators. The IMW stands for excellence, interaction, and learning. Headquartered in London, it runs courses, events and examinations in four continents.
There are currently 324 students, from 32 countries, in the Master of Wine Study Programme. Sonal Holland of ITC Hotels group, who is in the final stages of getting the recognition, is one of the two students from India-Ajoy Shaw, Chief Winemaker of Sula Vineyards being the second one.
After passing the Institute’s exams one has to join the Institute and is required to sign the Code of Conduct before being entitled to use the initials ‘MW’. The Code of Conduct demands that Masters of Wine should act with honesty and integrity, and use every opportunity to share their understanding of wine with others. The Institute is within its rights to ask the MW to leave the Institute and strip a member from using the title of MW in case a member is perceived to have violated the code.
The Austrian Wine Marketing Board
Based in Vienna, the Austrian Wine Marketing Board (Österreich Wein Marketing GmbH) is a national service body for the Austrian wine industry. The organisation was founded in 1986 after the infamous scandal of 1984 with the aim to strategically support, coordinate and maintain quality and sales. Its main goal for the domestic market is to strive for an increased market share of Quality Wine, along with the export of bottled quality wine, with particular focus on the continued increase in value. It is supported by law by the producers as well as the regional bodies and is considered one of the top professional bodies in the world, which have been successful in increasing the exports successfully.
The AWMB's strategy is to create a balanced mix of marketing activities that are individually tailored towards their respective markets, including sales support and point of sale materials as well as proactive public relations supported by an ongoing advertising campaign with a special focus on the local characteristics of the wines and their wine-growing regions with the regional wine committees. This is a body that ought to be in the wish list of every wine producer in India making quality wine and who is interested in creating Brand India to help increase import. Indian Grape Processing Board (IGPB) was created by the Ministry of Food Processing Industry for the similar objective but it fell by the wayside due to unavailable financial support from the government. The rather rudderless institution is in a state of limbo and the job of creating Brand India has once again fallen on the shoulders of APEDA.
Subhash Arora |