Recap: Day three of the symposium

This month, we will be looking back at the daily events of the recent international symposium which was held in Wiesbaden June 29 – July 2. The symposium was hosted by the Federal State of Hessen, Deutsches Weininstitut (DWI) and Wiesbaden Congress and Marketing.

On day three of the symposium, delegates had in store two seated tastings, two pop up tastings, two invigorating debates and waiting for them at the end of the day, a gala evening at the Schloss Biebrich.

The first session of the day was moderated by Prof. Dr. Hans R. Schultz, president of Geisenheim University, a leading university with a number of programs dedicated to oenology. On his panel was Prof. Melané Vivier from South Africa, Dr. Ignacio Belda based in Spain and Prof. Isak Pretorius from Australia. This global panel aided a varied and insightful discussion on the future of wine research, breakthrough discoveries, and the potential and limitations of these developments and advances. Ann Dumont of Lallemand Oenology introduced the session as a representative from the session sponsor, who have long been a supporter of the Institute.

Directly following this session, delegates entered a unique Pinot Noir tasting moderated by none other than Jasper Morris MW, where producers presented two examples of Pinot that grown in two different countries. On show were wines from France, Japan, Australia, the U.S., South Africa, New Zealand and Germany. Jane Eyre, who presented her wines, insisted delegates tasted their wines straight away rather than hear her story, to let the wines speak for themselves. Alongside the speakers who were present, delegates heard from CP Lin who made a digital appearance, about his journey into winemaking.

Symposium major sponsor and Institute of Masters of Wine principal supporter, Austrian Wine, hosted the day three lunch, with a line-up of 27 wines selected by Roman Hovarth MW, Andreas Wickhoff MW and Josef Schuller MW. Chris Yorke, Managing Director of Austrian Wine, introduced the lunch explaining that each table will have different wines, bringing an element of diversity and a unique experience amongst delegates.

Lucky delegates entered the next session with a surprise of two wines provided by Ruffino sat at their desks to enjoy during the Wine Retailer session, which Ruffino sponsored. Richard Bampfield MW moderated the session, tackling the relationship between retailer and consumer in the context of a heightened awareness of sustainability goals and price. Richard’s panel consisted of Judy Chan from Grace Vineyards, Doug Bell from Wholefoods, Prof. Dr. Simone Loose from Geisenheim University and Marcus Ihre from Systembolaget.

From one insightful session to another, we were delighted to have Hollywood and Broadway giant, with a career in film, stage, fashion and now wine, John Malkovich join Susie Barrie MW and Peter Richards MW, event em-cees, as they interviewed him about his range of wines Les Quelles de la Coste. John discussed his love for winemaking, his proudest achievements, and what the relationship is between winemaking, fashion and acting, to which he proclaimed are all intrinsically about detail.

The day ended with a pop-up tasting from Schlumberger, who distribute Malkovich’s wines, surprising guests with a taste of Roederer Cristal Brut 2015, Kühling-Gillot Pettenthal Großes Gewächs 2021, Gaja Rossj-Bass 2021 and Lungarotti Rubesco Riserva Vigna Monticchio 2005.

To close off the evening events of the symposium, Wines of Germany organised a stellar final evening at the magnificent Schloss Biebrich, featuring wines from every region of Germany, food, entertainment and even an exclusive taste of rare wines from Kloster Eberbach.

Want to find out more about the speakers at the event? You can see all speaker biographies on the symposium website. See what wines were tasted in our digital tasting booklet, provided by Bottlebooks. Keep up to date with symposium news and other IMW events by following us on socials: @mastersofwine. Join our mailing list to be the first to find out about new events and latest news.