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 Invited to collect his Diploma by the Wine and Spirits Education Trust, Sumedh Singh Mandla was one of the 460 students who passed the exam, considered a stepping stone to the coveted Masters of Wine title. But he was not one of the 190 who were physically present at the London Guildhall to collect their diplomas due to pre-engagement that included hosting the producer members of the Asian Wine Producers Association of which he is the current President.
Sumedh appeared in the Final exam for WSET 4 (DipWSET) in November 2016, after passing his WSET 3 in 2013 and preparing for the Diploma in 2014, while he has been the CEO of Grover Zampa Vineyards (GVL). He had gone to Hong Kong where he was tutored by AWSEC since WSET Level 4 is not conducted in India. One has to go to centers like Hong Kong or London etc to appear for the exam. WSET 3 level was also initiated in India in2011 by Hong-Kong based Asia Wine Service & Education Centre (AWSEC) in June 2011 when Stephen Mack, CEO and then Asia's only WSET Level 4 Diploma course tutor, had personally conducted such a course in Delhi, when I met him again at Maurya Sheraton, venue for the course undertaken by the staff of ITC Hotels.
With Sonal Holland becoming a Master of Wine from India a couple of months ago and thus qualifying herself to be a tutor for WSET4, it is likely that she may prepare students for DipWSET at Sonal Holland Wine Academy or through any of the other organisations willing to enrol for the program. Since last year the Diploma (Level 4) has been renamed as DipWSET.
Sumedh joins the elite rank of Sonal Holland MW, Ajoy Shaw (Senior Wine Maker at Sula), Gurjit Singh Berry and Gagan Sharma (educators) and Rajesh Swarnakar are the other Indians residing in India  known to have achieved the level, considered the springboard to the ultimate in wine title- Master of Wine. Sonal Holland became India’s first MW last September.
Mandla has been obviously elated with his results. When asked whether he aims to become a Master of Wine, the soft-spoken CEO of GZV says, ‘why not! But only if I can find a sponsor.’
Decade of Women Monopolising Vintner’s Cup broken
Besides the graduates, there were 49 others who were honoured with special Awards-including the most coveted Vintner’s Cup and Scholarship Award which was awarded to Jason Millar, wine buyer and retail director at Theatre of Wine a London-based importer and retailer specialising in emerging regions and the supplying wine to some of the UK’s leading restaurants and corporate clients.
The top recognition is given to the student who achieves the highest aggregate mark across all units of the WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wines and Spirits. For the last 10 years the Top Award was bagged continuously by women who are generally considered better tasters because of their superior nosing prowess.
Wine Educators of the year
Three companies involved in carrying out WSET programs like AWSEC were jointly awarded The Riedel Trophy for the WSET Educator of the Year – Dragon  Phoenix Consulting in China, the Hakkasan Group and the Napa Wine Academy. Dragon Phoenix is a Beijing based company run by the Canadian-Chinese Fongyee Walker who also became a Master of Wine last year. She has been a fellow Judge at the Hong Kong International Wine and Spirits Competition (HKIWSC) which she could not attend during the past couple of editions due to prior commitments. The company conducts the courses in Chinese and as Fongyee says, there is a huge potential for promoting WSET as a wine education programme. China is currently the third biggest market for WSET with about 6,600 students enrolled in the programme in 2015. UK continues to be the biggest market followed by the US.
New WSET Chairman
Steven Spurrier, the well known wine specialist, now a sparkling wine producer and the Chairman of the Jury of Decanter Awards took charge as the fifth Honourary Chairman of WSET from Gérard Basset MW MS OBE and the Best Sommelier of the World in 2010 and his Co-Chairman of the Jury. He took over the charge at the end of the ceremony held on 23 January. Jancis Robinson MW, Hugh Johnson and Michael Broadbent have been the other Honorary Chairmen.
We at delWine raise toast with a glass of Desi Fizz to Sumedh Sing Mandla and say Jai Ho!! Congratulations to all the Awardees and the graduates many of them will now vye to become Masters of Wine.
Subhash Arora |