Dear D, This isn’t going to be easy, for either of us. You and I, we’ve been through so much together. There’s no good way to say this … D, I’m so sorry, but I’m leaving you....

With three months to go before my dissertation is due, I am locked in battle with certain problems that threaten to derail my chances. Many of my fellow sufferers are experiencing similar crises,...

Last month, several dozen MW students went to Bordeaux for their second-year seminar week, just as I did in 2011 (see parts 20 and 21 ). As I watched the week unfold on Twitter – featuring...

Last week, I unleashed my survey, the research cornerstone upon which my dissertation will be built. My concern now is gathering sufficient responses. Within the first week, I had roughly one...

I managed to have an entire conversation the other day without mentioning the d-word once. It was quite a revelation. Usually I always end up blurting it out, like a sort of MW...

Freelance writers are used to bulking up their copy. It really, really, really helps hit the word count. Sorry, that’s an old joke. A really, really, really old joke. Anyway, the reverse is...

The 2012 examiners' report has just been published. This year, the tasting exam recorded its highest number of passes for a single year ever, with 18 candidates finding success. However, there was...

How long does it take to make a 10-minute phone call? In my case, it’s currently averaging at around 45 minutes. Gathering the data for the first phase of my dissertation research involves a...

For the first time since enrolling on the MW course three years ago, I now, finally, truly believe I can gain the qualification. This is not to underplay the difficulty of the dissertation, but...

If studying for the MW qualification were a religion, it would be good old Catholicism. The communion is global. There is the holy trinity of exams: practical, theory and dissertation. There is...

To mark the official commencement of my dissertation studies, I created a shortcut folder on my desktop. Here now was an indelible reminder of my new project, visible every time I fired up the...

See also the three 2012 MW practical papers , with answers. MW students share many things as they proceed through the rigours of the qualification. One of my favourite side-effects is the...

Reproduced below are this year's Master of Wine practical examination papers, which occupied my time for most of last week - and for most of the last six months too. A report on my travails last...

Very, very best of luck on Wednesday, Richard! from all your colleagues on JR.com With 36 instalments of this diary behind me, there is little about studying for the MW that I haven’t said...

‘Duh-duh-durr-durrrrr; duh-d-duh-duh-durrrr;   ‘duh-duh-durr-durrrrr, duh-d-duh-duh-duh-duh-durr.’  - The Final Countdown, Europe. Epic Records, 1986.  Five...