The Wine & Spirit Education Trust, the UK-based organisation which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year –is running a series of profile-raising events in Australia during March.
Ian Harris, chief executive of the Wine & Spirit Education Trust, and David Wrigley MW, International Development Director of WSET, will be holding PR events in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth, as well as holding individual meetings with senior figures from the Australian wine industry.
Commenting on the visit, Harris stated, “Over the last decade, the number of international students who have taken a WSET qualification has grown exponentially, and we have developed from a small team of lecturers educating the burgeoning UK wine trade in 1969, into a global organisation with a network of centres around the world delivering WSET programs”.
Wrigley added, “We now have a network of over 300 external providers, spread across 47 countries, delivering WSET courses in 13 different languages. Although still predominantly teaching people who work in the industry, or whose jobs involve selling, buying or serving wines and spirits, around 20 per cent of our students have no connection to the industry, but just want to increase their knowledge, and get a certificate to prove it”.
WSET is already represented in Australia, with five centres delivering WSET programs, which currently range from a one-day Foundation level Wine Certificate up to the Advanced Certificate in Wines & Spirits.
The WSET’s flagship qualification – the Diploma in Wines & Spirits, the equivalent in UK terms to the first year of a university degree - has been run in the past, and the goal is to lead students up the educational ladder up to Diploma level, and beyond. Harris and his team see Australia as an opportunity to widen even further the reach of WSET programs.
Harris said, “We feel that Australia offers a bigger potential for us because there is already a strong wine culture, and many multinational wine and spirits companies are based in, or have regional offices in Australia.”
WSET are being supported for this visit by leading national distributor, Fine Wine Partners, who are co-ordinating the visit and organising the logistics on the ground.
Fine Wine Partner’s Chairman, Rob Hirst said, "These qualifications; Master of Wine, Master Sommelier and the WSET Diploma Graduate are the three most highly regarded qualifications globally in the world of Wines and Spirits. “
WSET has been creating the trade professional for 40 years - and is the largest global provider of education and qualifications in the field of wines & spirits in the world. In the last academic year, over 24,000 candidates in 47 countries sat a WSET examination.
In Australia currently the three major WSET Approved Program Providers are, in New South Wales – Sydney Wine Academy, in Victoria – Prince Wine Store, and in South Australia – Stuart Barrie.
More information about WSET is at the website www.wsetglobal.com
