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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 DĂșn 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.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Forging links

This is a short but important post. Next June (right in the middle of the World Cup, which is what happens when you let the women run the show!) the Institute of Masters of Wine (IMW) will hold a Symposium in Bordeaux, entitled Forging Links.


IMW holds a Symposium every four years and they are excellent opportunities for anyone interested in wine to get together and listen to some amazing speakers. The last symposium, Lateral Vision, held in Napa in 2006 had some fantastic sessions (it too was right in the middle of a major football championship!!) and was very, very good.

If you're interested in going you'd want to buy your ticket soon - as of IMW's AGM last week, 106 tickets had been sold, which is just about half of those available. Please use any of the links in this post to find out more.

A lot of people outside IMW often say that we are elitist, unfriendly and don't do anything useful - well, they've never attended a Symposium. While we may well be arrogant (on one trip we decided that the collective noun for a group of MWs should be an arrogance as opposed to a nose!!!) we do our best to bring everyone in the world of wine - producers, consumers, educators and anyone else - together to learn from each other. Give it a go, you'll enjoy it.

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