The International Wine Education Centre (IWEC), Africa’s leading provider of the internationally-recognised Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) wine courses hosted a stellar graduation awards ceremony on Thursday 24th October at Grub & Vine Norval in Cape Town. At the event, the top students of the year were announced in the different categories, culminating in the naming of Stephanie Cartwright DipWSET as the top graduate in 2024.
Stephanie Cartwright DipWSET, the top graduate in 2024.
The WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wines is the flagship qualification for WSET and is widely considered to be the entry requirement for the world’s toughest wine exams – the Master of Wine. This year’s graduates have studied modules covering viticulture and vinification, fortified wines, sparkling wines and still wines of the world, all with a strong business focus to better prepare graduates for leading roles within the wine industry. Students must complete all exams and assignments before being awarded their Diploma with global pass rates being notoriously low.
At the awards evening, graduates, lecturers, media and guests enjoyed delicious food from Matt Manning’s team at Grub & Vine as well as a range of outstanding wines from event sponsors and importers. Cathy Marston, owner of the IWEC, thanked the importers – not only for their support for the graduation with some incredible prizes for the top graduates, but also for their ongoing support of all WSET courses throughout the year.
“Their WSET studies make our graduates fully-prepared to take their places in the international world of wine, but the icing on the cake is always tasting the wines they’re learning about. I’d like to give my sincere thanks for the generous support of these top wine importers, who ensure that our students get to taste as many classic wines as possible, enabling them to shine in a variety of wine and hospitality roles around the world.”
Representatives from headline sponsor, WCellar, attended the event along with team members from Wine Cellar, Great Domaines, Reciprocal and Riedel, Premier Cru Wines and Radford Dale.
Awards list
- The WCellar Award for Outstanding Achievement in Wines of the World Tasting (D3): Malu Lambert
- The Radford Dale Award for Outstanding Achievement in Wines of the World Theory (D3): Stephanie Cartwright
- The Great Domaines Award for Outstanding Achievement in Sparkling Wines (D4) : Malu Lambert
- The WCellar Award for Outstanding Achievement in Wine Business (D2): Kerry Sutherland
- The Premier Cru Award for Outstanding Achievement in Wine Production (D1): Stephanie Cartwright
- The Reciprocal Award for Outstanding Achievement in Fortified Wines (D5): Malu Lambert
- The Wine Cellar Award for Outstanding Achievement for Independent Research Assignment (D6): Heleen Rabe
- The Woolworths & Riedel Award for the IWEC Top Diploma Graduate 2024: Stephanie Cartwright
The 2024 WSET Diploma Graduation Ceremony is presented by WCellar and would not be possible without their generous support.
Full list of 2024 WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wines Graduates via the IWEC.
Stephanie Cartwright
Madison Keyser
Malu Lambert
Heleen Rabe
Clarise Sciocatti-Langeveldt
Kerry Sutherland
