In April 2024, James achieved the prestigious Italian Wine Ambassador qualification. IWA is the gold standard of Italian wine education.
The academic side of the course covers the history of winemaking, grape growing and wine drinking in Italy since the time of the Phoenecians. It also teaches the movement of grapes and seeds from the east, and from there into the Italian peninsular and islands. Finally, it is an in-depth study of the complex genetic relationship between Italy’s 300+ wine grape varieties.
The practical component consisted of a three-day course in Verona, during which three Masters of Wine delivered a masterclass tasting of 150 wines. Every corner of Italy was covered.
There were four exam components. The first was a video project answering a set question, which applicants have to submit before the course starts. James’s group was spread across time zones between Italy, Australia and Kazakhstan. He edited and produced the video, and his group’s was the winning project.
The second part was a blind tasting, in which applicants have to provide a detailed tasting note and support a conclusion as to their guess of the wines. After that was a short-answer essay question, in which James scored highest. The final exam was a 100-question multiple choice paper.
The exam is famously difficult, with only a 35% pass rate. James is delighted to say that from his intake of 65 applicants of high-flying wine professionals from around the world, he was the top-scoring applicant.
