WSET hosts first alumni evening

The Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) has held its first Insight Series for Alumni, an evening event gathering together diploma holders.

WSET’s first Insight Series for Alumni is the largest ever gathering of the Trust’s diploma graduates.

Held last night (7 September) at Vinopolis in London, the evening comprised short talks, drinks and networking, in order to “inspire and inform the industry’s best and brightest”.

The London event – the first in an initial series of three, taking in San Francisco on 21 September and Toronto on 28 September – was the largest gathering of WSET Alumni in the Trust’s history.

Michelle Cherutti-Kowal MW hosted the evening, with presentations and discussion from Clem Yates MW, sourcing and supply director, Off-Piste Wines; Troy Christensen, chief executive officer at Enotria Winecellars; Gerard Basset OBE MS MW MBA, Hotel Terravina owner and founder of Hotel du Vin; and Laura Jewell MW.

Speaking at the event, Ian Harris, WSET chief executive, said he wants the alumni body to “continue to learn, continue to come to events like this”.

Previously known as the Institute of Wine and Spirits (IWS) the WSET Alumni body is for individuals who have completed the WSET Level 4 Diploma. There are currently over 8,000 diploma holders worldwide.

Alumni represent a community of “highly accomplished individuals many of them shaping the future of the wine and spirits industry”. The IWS is being officially retired on 1 October, to be replaced by WSET Alumni.

WSET is calling upon all diploma graduates who are no longer connected with WSET to reengage with the Trust, by contacting alumni@wset.co.uk, in order to take advantage of the events and content on offer for alumni.

A record number of candidates completed WSET wine and spirits qualifications in the last academic year, with more than 61,000 completing courses around the world.