The Institute of Masters of Wine

Last Updated on Friday, 20 January 2012

The Institute of Masters of Wine (IMW) was founded in 1955, in London; interestingly, the first examinations for the IMW had already been held in 1953! It is a widely held opinion that this examination is the toughest in the world of wine and, while it does not qualify a successful candidate to be a viticulturalist or oenologue, it allows students to demonstrate knowledge of the whole world of wine to a great depth, as well as testing a candidate's tasting skills in the extreme.

Current MW students can log in at the MW student log-in page to go to the MW student page for file downloads relating to the course. If you don't have a log in for this site, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

As of November 2011, only 351 people have passed this examination (apparently fewer than the number of people who have been in outer space - 518!) and there are currently only 300 active Masters of Wine (MWs) around the world.

For more information, please go to the IMW website; also, please visit the Forging Links website to find out about the IMW symposium which was held in Bordeaux in June 2010.