New MWs anointed in Italy and US
The Institute of Masters of Wine (IMW) has welcomed two new members, taking the numbers holding the coveted title globally to 414.
Erin Jolley MW (US) (pictured) and Andrea Lonardi MW (Italy) are the latest to be admitted to the fold this year, following Wojciech Bońkowski MW and Joshua Granier MW, who passed muster in February 2023.
Jolly lives in Miami, where she has her own French wine importing company, Drink the Rent, an importer of French wines, and also manages wine portfolios and direct imports for Maverick Beverage Company of Florida.
• Read more: Looking Back, Forging Ahead Q&A: Matteo Furlan, The Dorchester London
Lonardi, meanwhile, is chief operating officer within Angelini Wines and Estates, having had an impressive and varied career in the Italian industry, with an eye on innovation.
The MW exams, comprised of three parts – theory and practical exams taken at the end of stage two and a research paper submitted at the end of stage three – are notoriously rigorous and hard to pass, with only 502 people having passed the exams since its inception in 1953.
An oft quoted parallel as to the exclusivity of becoming an MW is that more people have been into space (656, according to the FAI definition) than passed the Institute’s exams.
Nonetheless the reach of the IMW has been growing, with MWs now based in 31 countries around the world, with the UK (205) topping the bill, followed the likes of the US (59), Australia (27), France (18), New Zealand (15), Canada (10) and Germany (10). Asia, Africa, the wider Americas and the Middle East, however, have all seen numbers increase.
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