Winners of the 2023 Golden Vines® Wine Scholar Guild Scholarships

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I am thrilled to be announced as one of the ten winners of the 2023 Golden Vines® Wine Scholar Guild Scholarships! I applied for this scholarship to aid my study for a Master of Wine.

Liquid Icons and the Gérard Basset Foundation are delighted to announce the 10 winners of the 2023 Golden Vines® Wine Scholar Guild Scholarships. Offering Scholars the opportunity to undertake their choice of the Wine Scholar Guild’s extensive courses specialising in some of the world’s most interesting wine regions, these allow winners to deepen their expertise as they continue their career progression. Scholarship winners have the opportunity to specialise in the country of their choice, by selecting enrolment in one of the Wine Scholar Guild’s advanced French, Spanish or Italian Wine Scholar Certification Programs. These Scholarships are awarded at the discretion of the Taylor’s Port Golden Vines® Diversity Scholarship Judging Panel to outstanding applicants who the Judges wish to recognise, encourage and aid on their educational path. The Judging Panel for the 2023 Scholarships comprised: Angela Scott as Head Judge, one of 2021’s Taylor’s Port Golden Vines® Diversity Scholarship winners; Nina Basset FIH; Rajat Parr (Sandhi Wines); Clement Robert MS (The Birley Clubs / Annabel’s); and Jancis Robinson OBE MW.

About Ina:

Ina's journey started more than 20 years ago when she was just 12. She was flicking through her mother's magazine and read a four-page article about wine. It was a short article, describing the colours of wine and which foods to pair with them.

Ina immigrated to New Zealand when she was 13 with her family. She kept pursuing her dream in the wine industry and studied a Bachelor of International Hospitality Management and a Bachelor of Business. She also had the opportunity to study in Bordeaux, France for a semester after winning the International Exchange Scholarship awarded by AUT University business faculty.

She furthered her wine studies and completed the WSET Level 3 certificate and WSET Level 4 diploma at the New Zealand School of Wine and Spirit, taught by Jane Skilton MW.

Ina is a savvy wine professional and has worked at various companies in the field, including Wine-Searcher.com, Pernod-Ricard, Glengarry Wines, and Flowerzone International (export). She now runs her own wine business, New Zealand Wine Boutique – an online specialist store offering premium New Zealand wines to customers worldwide, including New Zealand, South Korea, Australia, and Europe. She also shares her wine journey through her blog – The Wine Kiwi – (www.thewinekiwi.com) and Instagram (@nzwine_ina).

She is currently preparing for the Master of Wine entry exam and is the first winner of the Golden Vines Guild Scholar Scholarship from New Zealand.