Liquid Icons – the fine wine research and content production company founded by the late, great Gérard Basset OBE MW MS and his friend Lewis Chester DipWSET – announced the opening of the application window for the 2022 Taylor’s Port Golden Vines Diversity Scholarships.
Applicants can apply online at: liquidicons.com/work/the-taylors-port-golden-vines-diversity-scholarships
42 applicants from 23 countries applied for the 2021 scholarships, which saw Angela Scott, USA and Dr Erna Blancquaert, South Africa, scoop the prized scholarships. This year will see an additional scholarship being funded. The application window is open until Friday 8 April 2022.
The Taylor’s Port Golden Vines Diversity Scholarship, Internship and Mentorship Programme is for aspiring black and ethnic minority students wishing to undertake the Masters of Wine (MW) and Master Sommelier (MS) programmes – open to candidates from all over the world. These scholarships, worth up to £55,000 for each scholar, will cover the entirety of their course and examination costs, as well as loss of earnings during their work placement internships.
The Internship programme includes a set of diversified work experiences with some of the world’s top wine domaines and spirit distilleries: Bodega Catena Zapata, Castiglion del Bosco, Château Cheval Blanc, Château d’Yquem, Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte, Lapostolle Clos Apalta, Colgin Cellars, Dom Pérignon, Domaine Arnoux-Lachaux, Domaine Baron Thénard, Domaine des Lambrays, Domaine Laroche, Klein Constantia, Lawrence Wine Estates (Heitz Cellars, Stony Hill Vineyard, Ink Grade Estate and Burgess Cellars), Liber Pater, Marchesi Antinori, Opus One, Ruinart, Symington Family Estates, Taylor’s Port, The Macallan Distillery, Vilafonté, Vina Vik, Weingut Egon Müller. In addition, Amorim Cork, Annabel’s Private Members Club, the Kedge Wine School, Octavian Wine Vaults, the OIV, UC Davis Department of Enology and Viticulture, and the WOW Wine School (Porto) will also provide academic courses or work experience opportunities for the winning scholars.
Adrian Bridge, Managing Director of Taylor’s Port, added: “The Golden Vines Awards fundraising programme, which launched in 2021 to honour the legacy of Gérard Basset, is a remarkable programme with global reach. It shows how the wine industry can take an important leadership role in many areas, but particularly around diversity and inclusivity. Taylor’s Port is a proud sponsor of the Golden Vines Diversity Scholarships which we are delighted to see is uniting the entire global wine industry around this worthy cause.”
In addition to the 3x Taylor’s Port Golden Vines Scholarships, 4x Golden Vines Master of Wine and Master Sommelier Scholarships will also be awarded by the judging panel. The Master of Wine and Master Sommelier Scholarship Programme is also for aspiring black and ethnic minority scholarships and are worth £12,500 each to cover the entirety of their course and examination costs for the Master of Wine or Master Sommelier programmes.
Finally, the Wine Scholar Guild (WSG) will continue sponsoring 10 Golden Vines WSG Scholarships in 2022, awarded by the judging panel from students applying for the Taylor’s Port Golden Vines Diversity and Golden Vines Master of Wine and Master Sommelier Scholarships.
The judging panel for the 2022 scholarships includes Angela Scott, the 2021 Taylor’s Port Golden Vines Diversity Scholarship winner, Nina Basset FIH, Rajat Parr (Sandhi Wines), Clement Robert MS (The Birley Clubs / Annabel’s) and, head judge, Jancis Robinson OBE MW. The judges will also provide ongoing mentorship to The Golden Vines Diversity Scholars during their academic journey.
Lewis Chester DipWSET, the Chief Executive Officer of Liquid Icons, honorary president and head of fundraising at the Gérard Basset Foundation commented: “Following the success of last year’s Golden Vines event, where we raised over £1.2 million for the Foundation, we are able to offer 3x Taylor’s Port Golden Vines Diversity Scholarships and 4x Master of Wine and Master Sommelier Scholarships for the coming year. We are also pleased to be able to continue to offer 10 Golden Vines WSG Scholarships, all to be awarded by our expert judging panel. Nina Basset and myself know how proud Gérard would have been to see the efforts being made in his name to help change the face of the wine, spirit and hospitality industry by offering these incredible opportunities to persons of colour wishing to reach the very top of the industry.”
The winners of The Taylor’s Port Golden Vines Diversity Scholarships will receive their awards at The 2022 Golden Vines Awards Ceremony to be held in Florence, Italy from Friday 14 until Monday 17 October 2022. At the ceremony, The Golden Vines® Awards will be awarded to the world’s best fine wine producers as voted by leading members of the global fine wine industry in the Gérard Basset Global Fine Wine Report produced by Liquid Icons, with polling opening on 7 March 2021.