WSET marks 50th birthday with worldwide Wine Education Week

By Mathew Lyons

Published: 14 May, 2019

The Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) has announced its first global Wine Education Week as part of the organisation’s 50th anniversary celebrations.

The week, which will run from 9 to 15 September, will begin with a 24-hour global food-and-wine tasting session comprised of launch events at 6pm local time in 24 locations worldwide, beginning in New Zealand and ending in California.

The UK launch event will include an attempt to break the Guinness World Records for the largest recorded sommelierie lesson, which currently stands at 271 people.

The WSET’s global network of brand ambassadors for the week include Olly Smith in the UK; Terry Xu in China; and Alyssa Vitrano (grapefriend), Kelly Mitchell (The Wine Siren) and Chelsie Petras (Chel Loves Wine) in the US.

There will be more than 450 events hosted worldwide by WSET course providers in 45 countries, including consumer-focused sessions ranging from ‘Finding the Perfect Match’ to ‘World Wine Monopoly’ to ‘Mastering Maturation’.

Ian Harris, chief executive of the WSET, said: “Wine Education Week is an inspiring initiative that promotes the WSET’s mission to inspire and educate wine consumers as well as trade professionals. It is reaching out worldwide through our network of course providers to engage with consumers across every continent, from New Zealand to Thailand to Mexico.

“I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the WSET’s 50th anniversary and to demonstrate the progress we have made with wine education over the last 50 years.”

The UK launch event, hosted by Olly Smith and Virgilio Gennaro, wine director at Giorgio Locatelli Consultancy, will take place at The Kia Oval in London. Tickets will be available on Eventbrite from 21st May, priced at £20.

Founded in 1969, the WSET is the largest provider of wine- and spirit-related qualifications in the world. In 2017/18, 94,822 candidates sat for one of its exams.

More information about the events of Wine Education Week can be found on its dedicated website here.

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