July 01: In what could be a momentous occasion for the wine fraternity, the Gerard Basset Foundation-sponsored four ‘Dom Pérignon Golden Vines Master of Wine & Master Sommelier Scholarships’ were announced earlier this week, along with 10 Golden Vines Wine Scholar Guild Scholarships one of which was won by Amrita Singh DipWSET, Bordeaux based Indian business woman, writes Subhash Arora who feels this could be a boon for Indian wine professionals choosing wine as a career goal, winning many more scholarships, especially after meeting her at Vinexpo India Mumbai at her Stand ‘Selezione Vini Italiani’ or at a Masterclass on 19 August
The scholarships are awarded by Liquid Icons, a fine wine research and content production company founded by the late Gérard Basset OBE MW MS and his friend Lewis Chester DipWSET. The recipients of The 2022 Dom Pérignon Golden Vines Master of Wine & Master Sommelier Scholarships were announced earlier this week along with the recipients of The Golden Vines Wine Scholar Guild Scholarships 2022 funded by the Gerard Basset Foundation.
The Dom Pérignon Golden Vines Master of Wine & Master Sommelier Scholarships are each worth £12,500 (Rs. 120,000) and will cover the full costs of tuition, examination and tastings incurred by the student studying for these programmes. The scholarships are being funded by the Gérard Basset Foundation from monies raised at The Golden Vines Awards Ceremony & Dinner to be held in the Palazzo Vecchio Salone dei Cinquecento in Florence on 16th October 2022.
The judging panel was chaired by the Grand Dame of Wine, Jancis Robinson OBE MW, Nina Basset FIH, our star PIO winemaker Rajat Parr who owns Sandhi Wines in California, Angela Scott and Clement Robert MS.
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There were 47 applications from 18 different countries this year for the Golden Wines Scholarships. The applicants comprised more than 20 different nationalities and ethnicities.
One such successful applicant has been Amrita Singh, DipWSET, Founder of amritasinghstudios.com and alumnus of KEDGE Business School, Bordeaux, France where she pursued MSc Wine and Spirits Management (2018-2019). She is fortunate to be mentored by Jérémy Cukierman MW (the fifth Master of Wine from France) who is also the Director of Kedge Wine School. Amrita is originally from Patna but mostly lived in New Delhi and Bangalore. She is also an alumnus of National Institute of Fashion Technology, Hyderabad, Masters of Fashion technology batch of 1999-2001.
After having significantly contributed to the evolution of women’s fashion in INDIA clubbed with experience in launching and establishing Global Luxury, Designer, Lifestyle and Beauty brands for 17 YEARS, she decided to pursue her Passion for Wine. She has worked at leadership positions with the Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited and Jabong.com. She was also shortlisted for the MW Scholarship and was one of the successful candidates for the Golden Vines Wine Scholar Guild Scholarship.
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Amrita is participating along with Bordeaux- based Mattia Antonio Cianca, Best Sommelier of Australia 2017 and Best Sommelier of Italy 2019, at Vinexpo India Mumbai being held at Hotel Leela on 18-20 August with an array of mouth-watering wines, mostly from Italy. The duo plans a Masterclass of top appellation Italian wines like Barolo, Brunello, Amarone and Gavi docg on 19 August at 3-4 pm. For registration and more details, contact vinexpoindia@delwine.com. Visit their Stand even if you cannot find a spot in the Masterclass which is expected to fill up shortly after the slot is opened. You may also visit the website www.liquidicons.com
This is an invitation for the serious connoisseurs and students who want to pursue their education further, including the goal of becoming a Master of Wine. Come and meet Amrita Singh at the Stand on 18-20 August and get a scoop on how to crack the door open for the scholarship, sponsored by Gerald Basset Foundation.
Gerald Basset was a name to reckon with in the word of wine. A modest man and gentleman to the core, wrote a couple of Articles for delWine and was a very approachable, friendly and helpful person. I had the honour of meeting him several times and interviewing him, besides spending quality time with him at Funchal, Madeira where we were together for a couple of days. He was snatched a few months after that on 16 January 2019 but this legend’s name lives on through the Gerard Basset Foundation.
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Gerard Basset Wine Education Charitable Foundation was set up to honour the legacy and memory of Gerard Basset OBE MW MS. It aims to address the most pressing issues of the wine industry through education, training & mentorship. It comprises a multidisciplinary team of industry-leading professionals as its Trustees-Nina Basset FIH, Romané Basset, Lewis Chester DipWSET, Ian Harris MBE DipWSET, and Jancis Robinson OBE MW.
Subhash Arora
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