Austria as a Centre of Wine Knowledge
Masters of Wine Symposium 2002 in Vienna
(AWMB,
April 2001) - From 11–13 July 2002, the wine city of Vienna will
be the venue for an international expert forum of particularly high quality.
At a two-day symposium called “The Changing Face of Wine” leading
wine experts from around the world will be discussing the future of the
global wine industry. Before the symposium there will be an official “Master
of Wine Tour” to all of Austria’s wine-growing regions, and
the 300 other participants will also have the opportunity of visiting
these areas.
The symposium is being organised by the British Institute of Masters of Wine, which offers what well may be the world’s most demanding wine-education programmes. Those who successfully “run the gauntlet” of the various seminars and sit the examination receive the title of Master of Wine (MW), putting them among the elite in the world of wine.
The Austrian wine industry is supporting this event as a matter of primary interest: “It took a lot of work and is really quite an honour for Austria as a wine country that Vienna was chosen”, says Dr. Josef Schuller, himself a Master of Wine and director of the Austrian Wine Academy. The Academy is the only institution in Central Europe offering all the preliminary examinations that entitle one to take the Masters of Wine course. In addition, the Austrian Wine Marketing Board expects the event to provide a further strong impetus for the local wine scene: “A visit by such a large group of influential experts from around the world is bound to have an extremely positive effect on international trade and the image of wine from Austria”, says AWMB head Dr. Bertold Salomon. He cites the example of Australia, which greatly profited from a similar Masters of Wine Tour held there about 10 years ago.
Wine expertise and its dissemination have a long tradition in Austria. Back in 1865, the world’s first school of oenology was founded in Klosterneuburg. It has been responsible for the creation of some of the most successful domestic varieties, such as the Zweigelt grape in 1922. Other such schools followed, including those at Silberberg and Krems. Since 1985 the Austrian Economic Chamber has been successfully training restaurant personnel and wine experts at sommelier courses offered by its institute, WIFI. In 1991 the Austrian Wine Academy was founded, and since then it was been working to deepen the wine knowledge of both experts and aficionados. At present, there is talk of introducing a course of study in oenology at the University for Agricultural Sciences in Vienna so that international developments will also be reflected in Austrian science.
Contact:
Dr. Josef Schuller MW, Weinakademie Österreich
phone: +43/2685/6853
E-Mail: josef.schuller@weinakademie.at