Future 50 up-and-coming drinks stars announced

By Mathew Lyons

Published: 29 November, 2019

The final selection for the Future 50 awards was revealed at an International Wine & Spirit Competition event last night.

The Future 50 is a list of 50 individuals under 40 years old in the global drinks trade who will shape the industry in years to come. It is a joint venture between the IWSC and the Wine & Spirit Education Trust to mark the 50th birthday of both organisations.

The UK winners – pictured above left to right – were – Amelia Singer, Dr Anne Brock, Hannah Lanfear, Joel Harrison, Lora Henry, Michael Vachon, Natsuki Kikuya, Oliver Hilton Johnson, Rebecca Gibb, Regine Lee and Will Lowe.

To be eligible for the award, recipients must have made a significant contribution to the industry in the last three years, whether that be in academia, social responsibility and innovation, or a number of other categories.

The finalists come from a wide range of backgrounds and countries and their current roles include distiller, viticulturalist, historian, bartender and food and beverage activist.

The competition received more than 600 nominations for the first round, which was then whittled down to 200 in the second round. Judges included Stephanie Macleod, and Richard Paterson, master blenders at Dewar’s and Whyte & MacKay respectively; restaurateur Xavier Rousset MS; Harpers columnist and presenter of The Wine Show, Joe Fattorini; WSET chief executive Ian Harris; (WSET) and IWSC managing director Allen Gibbons. The judges were supported by a regional advisory panel covering 17 countries worldwide.

Ian Harris said: “We are delighted with the final Future 50 list. It offers a genuine reflection of the young talent we have in the wine, spirit and sake categories globally. Each of the winners should be very proud their achievement. We look forward to seeing them making their mark and shaping the future of our industry.”

The final 50 are:

Wine

Agnes Herczeg, Hungary

Amelia Singer, UK

Christian Zhang, China

Christina (Wanyi) Lee, China

Christine Clair, USA

Emilie Steckenborn, China

Fernando Mora MW, Spain

Gus Zhu MW, China

Heidi Mäkinen, Finland

James Forsyth, USA