New Masters of Wine for US and Australia include double Master
We are delighted to announce today that three new Masters of Wine have joined the Institute. Alison Eisermann Ctercteko MW, Eric Hemer MW MS, and Adam Lapierre MW have all successfully passed the three parts of the Master of Wine examination and have now been admitted to the Institute as members.
Alison Eisermann Ctercteko MW, of Sydney, Australia, is a wine educator and winemaker. She began her career in the wine industry 18 years ago whilst working as an agriculture educator. Alison established and managed the 110ha Monument vineyard in Central New South Wales and later produced wines in their boutique winery for 6 years. Alison has been a Panel Chair at the International Wine Challenge (IWC) for the past 6 years, and lectures at the Sydney Wine Academy, the Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Institute, Sydney, and at the Asia Wine Service and Education Centre (AWSEC) in Hong Kong.
The title of Alison’s successful dissertation was “Monitoring the incidence and nature of screwcap closure damage, its effect on aromatic wine quality and the implications for storage and handling: an investigation of Sauvignon Blanc.”
Eric Hemer MW MS, of Lake Worth, Florida, becomes the fourth person in the world to be awarded both the Master of Wine (MW) and Master Sommelier (MS) qualification. The three other double Masters – Gerard Basset MW MS (Hampshire, UK), Doug Frost MW MS (Kansas City, Missouri), and Ronn Wiegand MW MS (Napa, California) – also became Master Sommeliers before going on to achieve the title of Master of Wine.
Eric is Educational Director for Southern Wine & Spirits (SWS) in Florida, and teaches the Wine Certificate Course at Florida International University (FIU). In addition to his full time profession, Eric also organises and conducts wine seminars at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival and judges competitions run by the Guild of Sommeliers.
Eric’s dissertation was entitled “What’s next for Argentina: can Bonarda achieve success in the United States on-trade market?”
Adam Lapierre MW, of San Francisco, is National Sales Manager (Fine Wine Division) at Frederick Wildman and Sons. Adam began his career working for a large winery in New York’s Finger Lakes Region. Time spent in the cellars and on the street ignited a deep interest in wine, eventually leading him to California, where since his arrival he has risen through the ranks at his employer to his current position.
Adam wrote his dissertation on “Factors affecting brand loyalty among sommeliers in San Francisco, California”.
Penny Richards, Executive Director of the Institute, said:
“We are delighted to welcome Adam, Alison, and Eric as the first new Masters of Wine of this, our 60th Anniversary Year. We are intensely proud of the commitment and application they have shown in achieving their success, and we hope to able to celebrate with them at our Annual Reception and Awards ceremony in London later this year. Well done to all of them.”
Results for dissertations submitted to the Institute are released in Spring and in Autumn. The Institute therefore expects to announce more new Masters of Wine later in the year. The success of Alison, Eric, and Adam brings the total number of Masters of Wine to 304 in 28 different countries. There are now 19 Australian MWs and 32 from the US.
Ends (20.05.13)