There are now 343 Masters of Wine around the world after five more students passed the rigorous entrance exams for the exclusive club.
The Institute of Masters of Wine announced five new members on 29 February.
They include a winemaker, two wine buyers, a marketing manager and the owner of a hospitality training business, it said.
The new Masters of Wine are:
- Ivan Barbic MW (Switzerland)
- Eran Pick MW (Israel)
- Jan Schwarzenbach MW (Switzerland)
- Lenka Sedlackova MW (Czech Republic, currently based
in the UK) - Stephen Wong MW (Malaysia, now living in New Zealand)
MW hopefules must complete both theory and practical Exams before submitting a final research paper on a wine topic of their choice.
It is notoriously difficult to pass, but that does not appear to deter applicants. The institute said that 74 students from 14 countries were accepted on to stage one of the programme in September 2015.
The new Masters of Wine (MWs) announced this week:
Ivan Barbic MW: born in Croatia but grew up in Switzerland and graduated as a food technology engineer at ETH Zurich, with a diploma thesis in wine flavour analysis. He is currently strategic buyer for importer Bataillard.
Research Paper: An assessment of the sensorial, economic and analytical impacts of fining agents without allergen compounds on a commercially important red wine on the Swiss market.
Jan Schwarzenbach MW: Studied viticulture at Charles Sturt university and oenology in Adelaide, Australia, before working in wineries in both Australia and Switzerland. More recently, he spent several years teaching at the WSET accredited Académie du Vin in Switzerland, and is currently head of en primeur buying for Bordeaux, Burgundy and the Rhône at the Co-op retailer in the country.
Research Paper: Buying behaviour of multi-channel retail wine consumers in Switzerland in store and online using the market leader Coop as an example