Why learn
with us?

Why learn with us?

Before choosing a course, understand what makes our approach different. Learn about our teaching philosophy.

Learning to think like an MW

There is no single formula for passing the Master of Wine examination.

Every student arrives with a different educational background, different experience, different strengths and weaknesses — and a different way of learning. That means teaching everyone in exactly the same way simply doesn’t make sense.

Our approach is highly individual. We help you understand where you are already strong, identify what is genuinely holding you back, and develop the skills and ways of thinking that you need to progress.

Because, ultimately, preparing for the MW isn’t about learning somebody else’s method.

It’s about finding the method that works for you.

There is no recipe for passing the MW

Students sometimes expect an MW to be able to tell them exactly how to pass the exam. The reality is more complicated: every MW found their own way through it.

Natasha likens it to making minestrone soup.

Ask an Italian for the definitive recipe and the answer will depend on where they grew up, how their mother made it, what was available at the market that day and whether they prefer borlotti beans or cavolo nero.

There are broad parameters. There are principles. There are things that work and things that don’t.

But there is no single recipe.

The same is true of the MW. Our role isn’t to give you our recipe. It is to help you understand the principles well enough to develop your own.

From knowing facts to understanding why

Before beginning the MW, much of wine education is necessarily about acquiring knowledge.

The MW demands something different.

It asks you to move beyond what happens and understand why.

Why did the grower make that decision? Why did the winemaker choose that technique? Why does that wine occupy that particular position in the market?

The answer might lie in climate, vineyard location or the challenges of a particular vintage. It might be economics. It might be something the producer learned at university or inherited from their parents. They might be naturally conservative, relentlessly experimental or simply responding pragmatically to the circumstances in front of them.

There are rarely neat, universal answers.

Learning to recognise those possibilities, weigh the evidence and reach a reasoned conclusion is at the heart of thinking like an MW.

An honest approach to your weaknesses

Good preparation also requires honesty.

It is human nature to want to practise the things we enjoy and these tend to be the things we are already reasonably good at. But those aren’t necessarily the things standing between you and passing the examination.

If you can’t complete a 12-wine practical paper within the allotted time, for example, tasting another 45 New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs at a trade tasting might feel productive.

But it probably isn’t the problem you need to solve.

You need to practise time management.

That may be less enjoyable, but effective MW preparation means identifying your real weaknesses and working on them deliberately.

We help students distinguish between doing more work and doing the work that will actually make a difference.

Practical isn’t about getting the wine right

Blind tasting at MW level is not simply an identification exercise.

Correctly identifying a wine is a relatively minor part of the task. You also need to demonstrate a broad understanding of the world’s major – and minor – wine-growing regions, viticulture and winemaking, market trends, quality and style, and the wine’s position within global markets.

And then you need to communicate that understanding.

The same principle applies to theory.

Whether you’re sitting a practical or theory paper, the underlying objective is remarkably similar:

Answer the question directly, support your conclusions with relevant evidence and communicate your understanding with clarity, precision and confidence.

This principle is something we return to again and again in our teaching.

The MW is bigger than the examination

Preparing for the MW can fundamentally change the way you think about wine.

You begin to question assumptions. You become more comfortable with complexity. You learn to look for evidence, consider alternative explanations and understand that there may be several perfectly reasonable approaches to the same problem.

And perhaps most importantly, the more you learn, the more you realise how much there still is to know.

Your journey doesn’t end with the examination.

Whether or not you ultimately put the letters MW after your name, the process of learning to think in this way stays with you.

Our aim is not simply to help you prepare for an exam. It is to help you become a more thoughtful, analytical and confident wine professional.

Natasha Hughes MW & Cathy van Zyl MW

Two experienced Masters of Wine.
Two different perspectives.
One shared approach to teaching: helping every student develop the knowledge, judgement and confidence to find their own way forward.