Wine is sexy, wine is fun, it’s all-glamorous…. right?

Wrong! says Sarah Heller MW, the international wine industry’s mint-new super-achiever and Asia’s newest, youngest Master of Wine. It’s also a lot of slog, so if you want to be part of the wine industry (in India or elsewhere), be willing to handle the rough with the smooth.

In India to hold a masterclass for Lucaris on how wine glasses can alter your wine drinking experience, she takes a few moments in the sidelines to give me her frank views on all that buzz about wine and shares a few tips on how a little attitude adjustment can be the key to success.

 

You are the world’s youngest MW at 29 years, that’s quite an achievement given the number of hours of study and commitment required to get to this stage. You are also a Yale graduate and a mum, with your own company. Give us a sense of what it took to get there, and any ups and downs you specifically recall.

It’s certainly had lots of ups, and some downs. The wine industry is very glamorous from the outside, but as those on the inside know it can be gruelling, hard on your body and let’s just say none of us is in it for the money. I’ve been lucky enough to have the full support of my family, notably a husband willing to take up the slack with our baby when I’m not home.
I also had the good fortune to be able to take a pause in my career to focus on studying; for about 10 months, I turned down most work to focus on my studies. At that point I wasn’t a mother yet, so I could make it work, but during the last couple of weeks of writing my research paper I was up all night feeding my newborn son and had just opened a pop-up wine bar, so I was getting by on 2 hours of sleep a night and fighting the extreme guilt of hearing him scream while I was writing up an index about conjoint experiments. On the other hand, having him with me in London when I graduated was so special.

You also got the highest aggregate mark across all units of the WSET Level 4, winning the Vinter’s Cup 2913. Do you need to be a super-wiz or wine virtuoso for this? For those struggling through their WSETs, do give some perspective and some tips.

To be honest, it was a surprise. I’ve always been pretty geeky, but because I was working full-time at that point (late nights, weekends, holidays), I had to jam studying into 2-week bursts each time an exam was approaching. One thing I did that I wouldn’t recommend is spending too long creating your notes – I went through the Oxford Companion and flagged every entry I needed to read, and then probably only ended up reading about 1/3 of them properly. Similarly, I advise against tasting too much without a structure; you’re not studying, you’re just drinking! However, the whole WSET program is designed so if you read the materials thoroughly and internalise their tasting system, you will pass – it isn’t meant to trip you up.

Four years later, you are an MW. The Master of Wine is a very tough exam even for those who have spent a number of years working in wine. Many drop out or just give up. What helped you get through the process?

No doubt, it can be discouraging. The roughly 15% pass rate means that almost everyone fails at least something once (including me). However, I think knowing that even some of the super bright people around me (I had a cancer researcher and an MIT/Stanford-trained computer scientist in my graduating class) had a similar experience kept me from giving up.

You are also a designer. What drew you to this part of the wine industry? Do throw some light on what and how you design, especially packaging and stemware, and why this is important for the world of wine? (more…)