I have to remind myself every time I’m sitting in an airport at 3am wondering how on earth I got there! Sarah: It’s certainly a bit of a juggling act, but one that’s of my own making. How do you manage to combine everything at the same time? What are your favourite parts? But unless you take responsibility for structuring your own time and identifying and rectifying your own weaknesses, you won’t progress.Īlexia: You work on a lot of different things at the moment. Too many people (myself included) start out the program expecting everything to be handed to us. This is something that is woefully lacking from a lot of our school systems internationally.
Probably the most important was how to learn. Sarah: It was a very rewarding experience that taught me a number of things. How was your experience? What do you retain from it? It helps that a lot of the same people who love wine tend to have an interest in art.Īlexia: You quickly achieved the WSET Diploma and Master of Wine title at age 29, making you the world’s youngest MW. But it has become an increasingly important part of what I do (for example, my glassware collection, coming out in 2020, is partially based on the art series). I’ve felt so lucky to be able to bring the two together in my visual tasting note series.
It was a bit out there for the market, so I put it to one side. However, when I moved to Hong Kong there was so much work to do in the wine industry and the art I was doing: a lot of installation, performance and wearable sculpture. Little knowing that the wine industry isn’t the most lucrative either. Sarah: Thanks so much – very kind of you to say! Funny enough, I actually thought I would work in the wine industry to support myself as an artist. Why did you finally opt for a career into wine? How do you combine your two passions? My first lucky break was getting a job as executive director of Meiburg Wine Media (Debra Meiburg MW’s media and education business).Īlexia: You first studied the arts and are obviously talented, based on your Visual Tasting Notes. So there were tons of opportunities once I got there. Luckily for me, Hong Kong’s wine market was taking off. However, while I was on a stage over the summer at a winery in the south of France, I fell into a wine tank and fractured my spine (before you ask, I hadn’t been drinking) and so I had to go home to Hong Kong to recover. I assumed I would work for them after graduating.
Once I got back to the US, I started interning at an importer in New York City that specialised in Italian wine. After all, driving around the countryside tasting wine was much more fun than peeling potatoes! After arriving, I quickly got seduced by the wine. So I decided to take a semester off to go work as a cook in a restaurant in Piemonte, Italy. In university, I really got into cooking. Sarah: It all started with my love of food. Sarah Heller MW’s Visual Tasting Notes Now let’s chat with Sarah on how to become a MWĪlexia: Sarah, could you walk us through your journey? What made your love for wine? Finally, Sarah is a wine advisor in her own company and a great writer for both local and international publications. She is a partner and buyer for the Almásy Collection, a brand ambassador and design collaborator with Lucaris Crystal, a member of the faculty of the Vinitaly International Academy, the wine editor for Asia Tatler and Chairman of WINE100, China’s largest wine competition.
She also makes educational wine videos that millions of people have seen and produces a series of wonderful Visual Tasting Notes.Īfter graduated from Yale University with a fine art degree, Sarah started to work in the wine industry between New York, Hong Kong, France and Italy. Sarah Heller, based in Hong Kong, is a Master of Wine (Asia’s youngest one), visual artist, television host and wine expert. Click here to subscribe! ?ĭo you want to know how to become a MW? Keep on reading then ? A little bit about Sarah Heller, Asia’s youngest MW Welcome to .Alex! As it's not your first time here, you may want to subscribe to my newsletter to receive my latest news.