Members of the Institute of Masters of Wine have elected Roderick Smith MW as the new chair of the organisation. Rod, the 57th chair of the IMW, will head up the IMW’s Council.
The IMW Council is a board of 13 international Masters of Wine who are responsible for the governance and strategic direction of the IMW. There are currently 421 MWs working in 30 countries.
Rod became an MW in 2006 and is an enthusiastic and committed educator, marketer, judge and public speaker on wine. He is currently based in the south of France where he established the Riviera Wine Academy.
Speaking on his appointment as IMW Chair, Rod said, “I am immensely proud and privileged to have the opportunity to build on the hard work of Cathy van Zyl MW, my predecessor, in implementing the IMW’s Strategy 2030, on which we have been working for the last two years. In a changing wine market and against a backdrop of global uncertainty, our goals will be to foster engagement with the wine world at large and strengthen the wider MW family.”
His career began at Oddbins in London before moving to Seagram as a brand manager for a number of wines before establishing his own consultancy business that included wine education and marketing. In 2005 he joined the fine wine importer, Mentzendorff, a company largely owned by Champagne Bollinger, as its French Wines Manager. At this time, he completed his Master of Wine dissertation, taking as its subject ‘Chenin Blanc in Anjou-Saumur’. He was awarded his Master of Wine title in 2006.
Rod moved to the South of France in 2007 to lead the wine team for Vins Sans Frontières, the leading supplier of wine to the superyacht industry. The idea for the Riviera Wine Academy was born when he started organising wine tastings, events and dinners for some of the most prestigious and discerning clients on earth as a result. Rod continues to enjoy living and working in the Côte d’Azur.
Rod has also been extensively involved in judging wine competitions. A current Panel Chair for the Decanter World Wine Awards, he has been a panel chair for the International Wine Challenge, and judged for the Moscow Russian Wine Fair, the Balkans International Wine Challenge, the Shanghai International Wine Challenge, Texsom (Dallas), Shanghai Wine100, Guangzhou Golden Bottle Awards and Guest International Judge at the prestigious Sydney Royal Show.
Rod takes over the role of chair from Cathy van Zyl MW, whose two-year tenure officially ended at the IMW’s annual general meeting on the 24 September.
Out-going Chair Cathy van Zyl MW thanked the IMW’s supporters, council members, the executive office team led by the IMW’s ‘indefatigable Executive Director, Julian Gore-Booth’ and her fellow MWs for all the work they had put in to contribute to the milestones achieved during her two-year tenure as Chair.
“It has been an exceptionally busy 24 months for all of us on so many fronts and, while we have faced and overcome several challenges, we’ve notched up many more successes. I am confident that incoming Chair Rod Smith MW and the IMW’s Council are ‘fighting fit, ready and able’ to grow the IMW and its influence within the global wine world, and I look forward to celebrating their success in the months ahead.”
About the Institute of Masters of Wine (IMW):
The IMW is a membership organisation with an exceptional international reputation. For more than 70 years, its members – the Masters of Wine (MWs) – have been at the forefront of leadership and expertise in the world of wine. The IMW’s mission is to foster excellence, interaction and learning across all sectors of the global wine community. MWs prove their comprehensive understanding of wine by passing the MW exam, recognised worldwide for its rigour and exacting standards. In addition to passing the exam, members must sign the code of conduct before they are entitled to use the initials MW. This requires them to uphold the highest standards of commercial conduct within the industry. Today, there are 421 Masters of Wine working in 30 countries. The membership encompasses winemakers, sommeliers, buyers, journalists, shippers, consultants, viticulturalists, academics, educators and more. There are 367 students from 40 countries in the 2023-24 MW study programme. The IMW works with 36 supporters and four research and industry associates, who help promote the IMW’s mission. The five principal supporters are Austrian Wine, AXA Millésimes, Champagne Bollinger, Constellation Brands and VSPT Wine Group.