Liquid Icons announces recipients of 2022 diversity scholarships

By James Bayley

Published: 20 September, 2022

Liquid Icons, the fine wine company founded by the late Gérard Basset OBE MW MS and his friend Lewis Chester DipWSET, have announced the recipients of The 2022 Taylor’s Port Golden Vines Diversity Scholarships.

A total of 47 applications were submitted from 18 countries, comprising more than 20 nationalities and ethnicities.

In addition, more than half of all applicants this year were women.

READ MORE: The Drinks Trust partners with Equal Measures to promote diversity

The scholarships are each worth £55,000 and will cover not only the costs of the Scholars’ MW and MS studies but will also enable the winners to advance their careers at some of the world’s finest wine and spirit estates.

The winners were chosen by a panel of: Nina Basset FIH, Rajat Parr, Angela Scott, Clément Robert and head of the judging committee, Jancis Robinson OBE MW.

Jancis Robinson OBE MW, head judge, said: “Judging these awards is one of the most rewarding things I do. So many candidates had truly inspiring stories, and the standard of applications this year was even higher than last year. It was extremely difficult to choose these scholars, but it’s definitely a job worth doing if we are to widen the range of those who work in wine, spirits and hospitality. There is such talent and enthusiasm out there, in people of all hues and ethnicities.”

The Gérard Basset Foundation is funding the scholarships from monies raised at the Golden Vines Awards Ceremony & Dinner to be held in the Palazzo Vecchio Salone dei Cinquecento in Florence on October 16, 2022.

The 2022 recipients:

Jarrett Buffington, an African-American, Fine Wine Merchant at Dan Murphys Double Bay, Australia (MS pathway)

Sandeep Ghaey, an American of South Asian heritage, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Vinic Wine Co., USA (MW pathway)

Carrie Rau, an Indigenous lady, Wine Educator, Chef and Sommelier, Canada (MW pathway)

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