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 2009, only 327 people have passed this examination (apparently fewer than the number of people who have been in outer space!) and there are currently only 277 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.

IMW Forging Links Symposium