In this On The Road Special Edition, Stevie Kim sits down with Andrea Lonardi MW, Gabriele Gorelli MW and Pietro Russo MW, experts in the field of Italian wine who embarked on the difficult and grueling journey to achieve the prestigious title of Master of Wine.
They discuss the physical, mental and practical demands of becoming a Master of Wine, the areas of competence, and the importance of collaboration and teamwork. They also consider the particular challenges of the MW exam compared to other wine qualifications, and the satisfaction of achieving such a prestigious award. Describing their story can be of inspiration not only for other professionals engaged in the study of wine, but also for anyone who has an ambitious goal and is looking for an effective approach to achieve it. What matters in this story is not so much the goal, but how the protagonists chose to approach the journey. These same choices earned the three protagonists the nickname “The Three Musketeers of wine”: let us discover together the meaning of their personal “One for all, all for one.”
The Institute of Masters of Wine (IMW) is a membership organisation with an exceptional international reputation. For 70 years, its members – the Masters of Wine (MWs) – have been at the forefront of leadership and expertise in the world of wine. MWs must prove their comprehensive understanding of wine by passing the MW exam, recognised worldwide for its rigour and exacting standards. Today, there are 417 Masters of Wine based in 31 countries. The membership encompasses winemakers, sommeliers, buyers, journalists, shippers, consultants, academics, educators and more.
P.S.: these interviews have been recorder on June 2022.
ITA
In questa edizione speciale di On The Road, Stevie Kim intervista Andrea Lonardi MW, Gabriele Gorelli MW e Pietro Russo MW, esperti nel campo del vino italiano che hanno deciso di intraprendere il difficile ed estenuante percorso per conseguire il prestigioso titolo di Master of Wine.
Insieme, discutono delle esigenze fisiche, mentali e pratiche per diventare Master of Wine, delle competenza richieste e dell’importanza del lavoro di squadra. Considerano anche le particolari sfide che l’esame MW porta con sé rispetto ad altre qualifiche enologiche, e la soddisfazione di ottenere un riconoscimento così prestigioso. Descrivere la loro storia può essere d’ispirazione non solo per altri professionisti impegnati nello studio del vino, ma anche per chiunque abbia davanti a sé un obiettivo ambizioso e stia cercando un metodo per raggiungerlo. Quello che conta in questo racconto, infatti, non è tanto la meta, bensì il come i protagonisti abbiano scelto di affrontare il tragitto. Queste stesse scelte hanno valso ai tre protagonisti il soprannome di “I tre moschettieri del vino”: scopriamo allora insieme il significato del loro personale “Uno per tutti, tutti per uno”.
L’Institute of Masters of Wine (IMW) è un’organizzazione associativa con un’eccezionale reputazione internazionale. Da 70 anni, i suoi membri – i Master of Wine (MW) – sono all’avanguardia per leadership e competenza nel mondo del vino. Chi intende diventare MW deve dimostrare di avere una conoscenza completa del vino superando l’esame MW, riconosciuto in tutto il mondo per il suo rigore e i suoi standard esigenti. Oggi ci sono 417 Masters of Wine in 31 paesi. I membri comprendono enologi, sommelier, buyer, giornalisti, importatori, consulenti, accademici, educatori e altri ancora.
P.S.: queste interviste sono state registrate in giugno 2022.
——————————————–
MammaJumboShrimp is a podcast, a book and a wine school – and so much more!!
We love to eat, drink and travel, seeking out the very best that Italy has to offer!
Check out our “On the Road Special Editions” hosted by Stevie Kim, as well as our regular conversations with some of Italy’s most interesting wine personalities and producers.
Find out more at:
www.italianwinepodcast.com
https://www.italianwineacademy.org/
https://justdothework.it/
What does it mean to become and be a MW I personally started from an extremely specialized education, only viticulture and oenology very limiting to the world of wine. This has always been a challenge education-wise to understand how the wine world is doing and have more stimulus and see different aspects
To expand my personal knowledge. My core business, what I like to do, is production and expand to other aspects like sales or communication and I don’t have Gabriele’s gift in this. But closing the circle of the wine world as a whole. You mean by staying in Italy? I can’t exclude that. Why not?
Why closing the door to collaborations abroad? What about you, Andrea? Life has already changed. Maybe he can tell us how it will change next and I still haven’t thought about that. Today, I have change so much thanks to this journey. I had two turning points in my life.
The first during a Master’s Degree in Montpellier between 1996 and 1998. Before graduating from college I was lucky to land in this French call which was the first turning point in my life. This second booster by the MW and by the experience with these two guys was one of a kind.
I believe we cannot ask what will change. I changed myself, so many things can happen tomorrow. If there’s one thing, I would like this journey to have a legacy so that other people can become a MW. I would like to make this available to others not only in this sector.
I believe this journey could help many other things. People who are facing challenges, people who want to embark on a new journey, or build an ambitious project. In reality, for us it was a desire, a project that is now a reality. It is natural for me
To make it available in the wine world and in the company where I work. I’d like to have it available also for people that need to do something. The biggest change is strategic. What is strategy? It is what you don’t have to do and not what you have to do. First,
Is the don’ts. Strategically, for me today it is deciding what I don’t want to do. And this does not preclude what you can do. Chronology of the “Three Musketeers” team We’re on the crest diving two valleys: the Tramigna Valley, reaching the area of Soave, and to the other side the Illasi Valley.
It is a beautiful place and it divides the areas of Soave and Valpolicella. It is a magnificent location and quite inspirational as it divides two geological eras which are completely different. Soave formed over those beautiful ridges, those are volcanoes. Here there’s a completely different geological origin with limestones, especially white ones. Here,
My wife Alberta owns a family house in the country side where mobile phones don’t work. It was a unique place for us for various reasons. First, we were isolated and could work together in an isolated place where no one could reach or disturb us especially during crucial phases of the exam we needed
To be isolated. Also important were spaces. This house has very large spaces where we could place our material, discuss and plan ourselves. And least but not less important it is an ideal location to do sports. Being healthy was very important to achieve this result. The day typically ended with a walk
Where we made plans for the next day. Most of the times we repeated together. One explained the other what one had done and how one planned to do it. With Andrea we sat down in April 2018 and said, “This will work only if this becomes our job”. From 8 a.m. until 8 p.m.
We are doing this. We are not finding time to study during our work days. No. The opposite. In London, we found time to work during our study day. Which is completely different. This is the job, this is the task, the real one. And when one does this everyday for almost two months
Before the exam there’s a new awareness and this is what comes out. They come out incorporating them with what others tell you, see and think. Not MWs only but other students also. The impact on the diet March 2016, the first bootcamp with Maria Gerari, Riccardo Gabriele and Yiannis Karakasis MW in Livorno.
I was coming back from California from the seminar and from ProWein we took a selfie together with my very long arm. I checked the selfie and said, “No, this in not good”. I was all swollen. Let’s start a journey that makes it sustainable to do the MW
With an eye on our body also. I went to a homeopath who told me to stop drinking coffee, stop eating meat, except for white meat, and other similar things. Combine well pasta with beans, eat plenty of vegetables and others. I stopped eating cold cuts, doing aperitifs and this was the first day
Of Vinitaly 2016 where you get food samples, cheeses, which are highly banned and small sausages and others. In June I was already another person. I was sleeping better and waking up earlier in the morning and had more energy. In a nutshell, we prepared a diet as far as possible from junk foods.
We eat plenty of legumes, pasta, fish always, very little meat. We also pay attention to what we drink. We don’t drink spirits. Our wine consumption has changed also. I drink way less than before. Tasting a wine in 30 seconds to a degree of precision which is extremely high requires you to be fit
In each part of your body. It’s almost a physical movement like an athlete. Even when tasting with taste buds, nose and head, in reality, everything must work in the body. In those 30 seconds it’s like sprinting. And what comes out of that sprint has to be exactly what’s in the glass.
I started a routine, from 2018, when we started our sessions in the morning. Waking up at 5 a.m. for a joint call. I’m not an avid sportsman, or better, I used to be one. I can’t keep a rhythm in sport and I will have to handle this for the exam
And I am already working on it. I quit coffee from almost a year. I used to drink plenty and Gabriele told me about his experience with coffee and I was in a moment of change, getting ready for the exam in August, it was still March and I felt the benefits of that.
I try to avoid excesses. I eat meat and don’t limit myself too much on cheeses and other dairy products. I try to control quantity. Vegetables and fish are always in my diet. The impact on the MW students’ families Katia and I are together since 2007. A long journey. We are not married.
It is quite challenging to be the partner of an oenologist. During harvesting, when everyone is on vacation, we are still there with loads of work. It’s a passion and I do it easily. On the other side, there’s a lot of patience. I entered the program unconsciously I did not know
What I put myself into. From the beginning it was her pushing me to study. Then with the guys we started from the very beginning with organizing bootcamps and start as the schedule was more and more demanding. Having a permanent and full time job you need to set something aside
If you want to reach your goal. I work during the week then on weekends I’m at home. Let’s say I’m not a master at organizing myself. Fine tuning there is not my strength. We received many slaps in the face in this program. It’s a program that puts you in front of many difficulties
And you need to be humble to continue. I had many moments when I wanted to give up. At the end 2017, after a long period away from my family and work, we took an apartment in London for a month to prepare the exam. Then in 2018 after a long period of preparation
The results did not arrive as expected. It was the Stage Two exam and she already knew that I had to carry on. She, together with the guys, understood and chose the right moment to intervene. Let’s say that my family endured this. Mainly. At work I had a huge support from my colleagues
And the company that foresaw and had respect on what I was doing. With Azzurra there’s a story dating back to many years ago, almost 20 years, from high school. It was initially a great friendship. The beauty is that she never limited me on anything and she knows that,
Even if our connection is really deep and intimate, I will always do what I believe. She respects and acknowledges that. Getting back to our professional lives, they have not set us apart, but placed us at a level where everyone was pursuing its objectives. A couple’s objective was more stimulating as everyone had
Its own things to do. And here is her will to push me over, pushing me forward in things she would never do but acknowledged I could do. The MW was one of those. She was fundamental and instrumental in bringing me in and in low moments she was really, really close to me
In the way it was supposed to be. If you could go back, what would you change in the MW journey… I would have done the WSET. Not necessarily the Diploma but at least Level 3 to include that part of oenography and approach to tasting required and technical English. For me,
What I would change, I wouldn’t waste time on that, as I told you before, the exam and title don’t change anything, you’re always a student. Today you study to get the title but then you have to study to maintain that. Sooner or later you have to do it. The order can change
But it does not impact that much. What about you Andrea? Maybe, I would change the initial background. At first, I was also struggling with English and I will also through the final stages. It is clear that for those with a more international education it does help. During our journey
I believe we were lucky to meet and I believe not in many other occasions we would have this unique mix. If the result has arrived it is also thanks to this which is quite unique. This spark that ignited, this fire that is still on which needs to be maintained.
It does not keep burning for pleasure. It needs to be maintained. We know each other more and know how to stay together. We learn to accept the changes within us now and in the future. I wouldn’t change much. I would have liked to be there as more “British”. The wine maps
And the journey to “The Italian way to become a MW” wouldn’t be there. What disappoints me a little, where the MW should think more is that the MW is much more difficult in the tasting part than in the theory. The theory is left a little bit… it is not as much
Stressed and forced as for the practical part. For the training of a future MW, I found out for my experience, the theoretical part to be amazing. It is the part that gives a real change. It teaches you to analyze a topic, to write about something, to present, to communicate, to analyze following
Classic analytical models like 4 Ps or SWAT. Things that, especially for Italian wine, most of the time, are quite distant and difficult. If you present those analyses to the large companies they are understood. But how could those models be important for consortiums, for medium-sized and family-owned businesses. This is something that
The MW should consider to push and structure more in the future. It is there were you make a real professional leap. Why choosing the MW? I would suggest it because it creates professionalism, discipline and when you get there self-awareness also. I am starting to feel it and self-esteem also. Other times
For different reasons in your private and professional life you can also get lost and lose those talents that never express themselves. I believe that a journey like this can enhance those things through two things: first professionalism and second a lot of discipline.