Emily Brighton MW, Christopher Martin MW, Robert Mathias MW and Dror Nativ MW, who are based in the UK, and Pietro Russo MW, based in Italy, have today been welcomed to the membership of the IMW. There are now 417 active Masters of Wine based in 31 countries. The top countries where MWs are based around the world are Australia (26), Canada (10), France (18), Germany (10), New Zealand (15), the UK (208) and the US (58).
The first MWs of the 2024 vintage of Masters of Wine are introduced below.
Emily Brighton (UK – England)
Emily Brighton is head of technical at North South Wines, the first UK wine importer and distributor to achieve B Corp accreditation – the subject of Emily’s research paper. Emily’s passion for wine began while reading law at Bristol University, where she joined the wine society and discovered blind tasting. Emily embarked on the MW programme having won the Derouet Jameson scholarship for her WSET Diploma results in 2018. She also received the Lallemand Prize 2021, and the Vintners’ Company Davies Langton Award 2017. Most recently, Emily was shortlisted for the IWSC Emerging Talent in Wine Award 2024. Emily becomes the current youngest female MW, and, with dual-citizenship, the first Latvian MW.
Research paper: Sustainable accreditation for UK wine distributors – investigating the impact of B Corp certification on wine distributors: a case study of North South Wines.
Christopher Martin (UK – England)
Chris has a background in education, with over 18 years of teaching a range of students from primary school to graduate-level courses. His love of wines flourished while he was living in Austria for several years. Finally, in 2013 he started to formalise his interest, taking the WSET Level 3 course. This followed quickly with the Diploma finishing in 2016. Chris later developed a multi-part wine course at the university he was working for, which led to him joining the WSET in the business development team, where he spent time teaching and growing WSET in the Asia Pacific region. In 2018, he became head of educator development, leading the team responsible for training future WSET educators. Chris is also a wine judge, hosts masterclasses at trade shows and teaches regularly.
Research paper: Developing effective wine educators: integrating the theory of pedagogical content knowledge into wine educator train-the-trainer programmes.
Robert Mathias (UK – England)
Robert is a wine buyer with a particular specialism in the wines of Bordeaux, Burgundy and the Rhône. His journey into wine began at the University of Cambridge, where he studied an MA in musicology and social theory. It was at this time that he started studying WSET courses and working at Cambridge Wine Merchants alongside his degree. Finding a number of transferrable skills between the worlds of music and sociology and wine, he started working at Bibendum. It was here, through travelling widely and working alongside many wine-trade greats, that he quickly became a fine-wine buyer, and later took a role across the group buying all French wine. In 2023, Robert joined the buying team at Bordeaux Index. Based in London, he continues to travel, taste, and explore the growing world of wine.
Research paper: Sparkling assets? An analysis of the contributing factors behind the growth in value of the secondary market for investment level champagne from the 2002, 2008 & 2012 vintages.
Dror Nativ (UK – England)
Dror is a wine buyer at Marks & Spencer, responsible for champagne and sparkling wine, England, Bordeaux, Burgundy and South America. Dror’s career in the world of drinks started in the hospitality industry, opening and running the first Irish pub in Tel Aviv. His love of wine developed when he worked for a fine-wine importer in London, and his retail wine-buying career in the UK spans SPAR, Sainsbury’s and M&S. Dror has a passion for the growing English wine industry. He lives in Hertfordshire with his wife and three children.
Research paper: An investigation into the development of English tank method sparkling wines.
Pietro Russo (Italy)
Pietro is an Italian winemaker who grew up in Sicily, surrounded by the aroma of Marsala ageing in his grandparents’ garages. His first degree was in viticulture and oenology in Conegliano, followed by a Master’s in Montpellier and Bordeaux. He accumulated hands-on experience by working harvests in France, Spain, New Zealand, Piedmont and Sicily. From 2010 Pietro has held the role of the senior winemaker at Donnafugata, a successful and dynamic Italian wine brand. He crafts unique wines from the most compelling viticultural areas of Sicily: Etna, Pantelleria, Vittoria and Contessa Entellina. Technical expertise, a market- and consumer-led approach and a profound commitment to preserve typicality informs his career in the wine industry. He speaks Italian, French, English and Spanish, and regularly judges at international wine competitions. Pietro lives in Marsala with his family and, when not travelling, he loves gardening, spearfishing and taking care of his two children.
Research paper: Comparative analysis of different tartaric stabilization techniques, including the impact of new ingredient labelling rules, for Grillo and Nero d'Avola wines from Sicily.
