Winners of Barca-Velha Golden Vines MW scholarships announced

By Oliver Catchpole

Published: 15 October, 2025

Liquid Icons, the Gérard Basset Foundation and Casa Ferreirinha have announced the winners of the 2025 Barca-Velha Golden Vines MW scholarships – Leila Killoran (pictured) and Sera Svitlana Karamshuk.

The scholarships offer each winner the opportunity to support their Master of Wine (MW) studies, along with creating an internship programme specific to them, with the help of a panel of mentors – giving them a chance to learn from some of the worlds best fine wine and rare spirits estates.

Each scholar will receive £35,000 in funding and travel on a visit to SOGRAPE's wineries in Portugal.

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Killoran was born in Iran and raised in the UK after fleeing with her family at age three. She spent her childhood growing up in a small Manchester council house and faced the isolation of being mixed-race – eventually changing her name from Ahmadzaheh-Tehrani to Killoran, to escape bullying.

In 2019 she made it into the MW programme however was made redundant in the pandemic and was forced to withdraw. She then completed a postgraduate diploma in viticulture and oenology at Plumpton College. This scholarship will allow her to return to the MW pathway.

Karamshuk was born in Ukraine and is now based in the UK. She came to wine through her love of food and hospitality, after completing a PhD in chemistry. She went on to complete the WSET Diploma and now teaches at the WSET School in London. She is also a Ukrainian Wine ambassador and a digital educator.

Her aim for her MW studies is to use them to make the wine trade more approachable and representative for the next generation, by modernising how wine is taught and communicated.

The winners were selected through a rigorous application and interview process by judges including:

Richard Bampfield MW, Nina Basset FIH, Gérard Basset Foundation, Joana Pais, Head of Prestige, SOGRAPE, Clement Robert MS, Liquid Icons, Jancis Robinson OBE MW, Luís de Sottomayor, Head Winemaker, Barca-Velha, and Neil Tully MW, The Institute of Masters of Wine.

Nina Basset FIH, co-founding trustee of the Gérard Basset Foundation, said: “Leila and Sera exemplify the passion, resilience, and curiosity we aim to support through the Barca-Velha Golden Vines MW scholarships. Their journeys are inspirational, and we are proud to help them take this next step toward becoming Masters of Wine.”

Casa Ferreirinha is part of the SOGRAPE family, while Liquid Icons is a fine wine research and content production company founded by Lewis Chester DipWSET and Gérard Basset OBE MW MS.

Basset's wife Nina also founded the Gérard Basset Foundation, a charity dedicated to using the wine, spirits and hospitality industries as a vehicle for change – it funds education and mentorship programmes focused on opening up these sectors for talented individuals regardless of background.

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