Four Brits on list of new MWs

By Jo Gilbert

Published: 04 September, 2017

A list of 14 new MWs includes four Brits, comprised of a former investment banker, a modern languages graduate, and two marketing managers.

The Institute of Masters of Wine announced 14 new members have been through the rigorous MW examination process to earn their MW initials.

The four Brits included on the list are Alastair Cooper MW (UK), Philip Harden MW (UK), Tim Jackson MW (UK), and Catherine Petrie MW (UK).

After studying English literature at university, Petrie’s wine career began as a cellar hand in the Mornington Peninsula in 2010.

Since then, she has gone on to work in Friuli, Martinborough, Bordeaux, Burgundy, and Sancerre before settling at Burgundy and Bordeaux fine wine merchant Goedhuis & Co where she works as buying and marketing manager.

Meanwhile, Alastair Cooper MW’s passion for wine and Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American languages has taken him to Chile and Argentina where he worked for several years for wineries as an export manager.

Since returning to the UK, he has managed and consulted for wine bars and retail shops, and was persuaded to enroll on the MW course after being awarded the Derouet Jameson Scholarship for his WSET Diploma.

Tim Jackson MW’s journey with wine goes back over 20 years, to Chablis in July 1994.

Since then he has completed the WSET Advanced then WSET Diploma, winning the McNie Tasting Trophy and Hors Concours prizes in 2010.

The marketing director for a specialist mortgage business also runs corporate wine tastings, and has launched a new website, winebook.co.uk.

From investment backing to wine, Philip Harden MW turned his back on the corporate world in order to trade and invest in fine wine and now consults on cellar creation and wine investment portfolios.

By completing theory and practical exams, and the submission of a final research paper, the 14 members now bring the total number of MWs worldwide to 369 across 29 countries.

The 14 new Masters of Wine:

Nova Cadamatre MW (USA)

Julie Chene Nyheim MW (Norway)

Alastair Cooper MW (UK)

Philip Harden MW (UK)

Ashley Hausman Vaughters MW (USA)

Sarah Heller MW (Hong Kong)

Tim Jackson MW (UK)

Andreas Kubach MW (Spain)

Fernando Mora MW (Spain)

Aina Mee Myhre MW (Norway)

Billo Naravane MW (USA)