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Dublin, Ireland
Hi, I'm Dermot Nolan, and I became a Master of Wine (MW) in 1997, and resigned from the Institute of Masters of Wine in 2023 after being an MW for exactly 26 years. I opened a wine shop in Dún Laoghaire, Ireland, called The Wine Library, which closed in 2018, and this is my personal wine blog. I will do my utmost to be fair and responsible in my posts – please read my Who Pays article in re the ethics of wine trips and writing. I have worked in wine education, retail, and consultancy since 1990. I was a Director of the Institute of Masters of Wine (IMW) from 2008 to 2014 and was also a member of the Events Committee, founder of the Trips Committee, and member of the Governance Committee. Having had problems with potentially libellous comments from unidentifiable posters, I now require that if you post a comment, you must identify yourself properly or it won't be published. Please note that I do not review products or services on request so kindly don't ask. I value my independence and I believe my readers (few that they may be) do so also.

Sunday, May 18, 2014

From past to future via the present…



The next three sessions covered a huge range of topics. The first, moderated by David Gleave MW covered the changes in Italy over the past 60 years. Marchese Piero Antinori started by giving us the background to the revolution which occurred in the 1960s and ‘70s (largely due to his pioneering spirit). Alberto Tasca d’Almerita and Maurizio Zanelli explained how changes have occurred in Sicily and Franciacorta respectively. The latter region is only about 50 years old, even wine has been made there for centuries (by the way, Piero let slip the first night that his family had been living in Florence for only 900 years so we were getting a really broad perspective). Gaia Gaja then gave an excellent viewpoint on how to move forward, based on her father’s determination to change the perception of Piemontese wines.
The next session was geek heaven (I was happy!) as it was about wine research. Some of the best wine researchers in the world gave an overview of their work – Peter Godden of the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) (and also ace nebbiolo producer); Hildegard Heymann of University of California Davis (UCD) and a long-time friend; Hans-Reiner Schultz of Geisenheim University, who has taught a number of Irish students; and Cesare Intrieri, Professor of Viticulture at the University of Bologna). The subjects are too technical to cover but there is a remarkable degree of work being done on a huge range of topics.
The final session of the day covered aspects of wine business with an impressive panel comprised of Christian Seeley of AXA Millesimes, Rajeev Samant of Sula Vineyards in India, Rowald Hepp from Schloss Vollrads and Oscar Farinetti of Eataly. Again, time constraints meant we barely got into the meat of the discussion but overall it was thought-provoking.

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