Scholarships in honour of Gerard Basset awarded

Two different scholarships were awarded this week. Both in the name of Gerard Basset, the well known and much loved late Sommelier.

The first was the 2021 Gerard Basset Travel Scholarship, this £5,000 award is given to two candidates to explore the wine scene. The scheme is the creation of Nina Basset and Romané Basset, along with Ronan Sayburn MS and Tim Atkin MW. Daniel Stojcic of The Raby Hunt in Co Durham is the winner of the main travel prize while a second bursary will go to Josie Phillips of The Macallan Estate in Aberlour.

The second scholarship is the 2021 Golden Vines Diversity Scholarship, designed to help diversity in the fine wine industry which was awarded last week at an exclusive event in London. The two winners of the £55,00 scholarship to study the Master Sommelier or Master of Wine course were American Lawyer Angela Elizabeth Scott, and Dr Erna Blancquaert, a lecturer and researcher in Viticulture at the Department of Viticulture & Oenology at the South African Grape & Wine Research Institute at Stellenbosch University.