Photo Credit: Mark Mitchell Photography
Over 600 people have flown in space missions yet only 319 people hold the Master of Wine qualification.
The Institute of Master’s of Wine was established in1953 and the qualification is one of the most rigorous and difficult to achieve with an extremely low pass rate.
Now yachting can boast of having one of these highly qualified professionals among its midst.
Louise Sydbeck (head of wine department at Riviera Yacht Support now known as Riviera Wine) became the 100th women in the world ever to be awarded Master of Wine, the most prestigious wine qualification available and is the only such person working full time in the yachting industry to hold one.
In addition to this qualification she also received the Bollinger Medal, which is awarded to the candidate who has shown the most outstanding results in the three day blind tasting examination.
For sixty years the Institute of Masters of Wine has been promoting professional excellence and knowledge of the art, science and business of wine. It began with an exam held for the first time in 1953 for the trade, known as the Master of Wine examination. Two years later the Institute of Masters of Wine was formed by the people who had passed the inaugural exam.
Louise said, “I am so overwhelmed and relieved that I finally have achieved my goal of becoming a Master of Wine. I started on the program back in 2007 and it has indeed been a long journey. Already then I had a very profound knowledge of wine but as we supply the finest wines available to charter guests and yacht owners I felt there was a need to go further, I wanted to make sure that we were able to provide the highest quality of service and knowledge to our clients.”
Riviera Wine is the only company in yachting to have a full time Master of Wine on its staff.