by Andrew Chalk
ANNOUNCING THE LAUNCH OF THE BORDEAUX MENTOR WEEK
September 26-30 2022
Applications now open, closing date April 30
Applications for an innovative mentor programme for the wine industry are now open. Due to take place during the Bordeaux harvest in September 2022, this free immersion week is being offered by a major wine critic, together with industry partners, and is the first of its kind.
It is aimed at young sommeliers, or anyone starting out in the wine trade who would like to get behind the scenes of a region that is key to the global wine market. The intention is to open up knowledge and access of Bordeaux wines, winemaking, methods of distribution and the potential of the sector.
This is a subscriber benefit for members of janeanson.com, who can either nominate themselves or a team member or friend who they believe would benefit from attending.
The week will be offered to six participants in year one, and will be hosted by Jane Anson, author of the groundbreaking Inside Bordeaux book and founder of janeanson.com, together with Chinedu Rita-Rosa of Vines by Rosa consulting and industry partners including Quo Global, Wine Services, Château La Lagune and Bernard Magrez Grands Vignobles.
All accommodations and transport within the region (on the official programme) will be covered for attendees. There will be several travel bursaries available for those who are not able to fund travel to the region.
‘I know how important mentors have been in my own career,’ Jane Anson says of the week, ‘not just in opening up access but in gaining confidence. I also know that Bordeaux is a region that can be difficult to penetrate, and yet offers real potential for career advancement for those interested in working in the wine industry. I hope this week can offer a way to discover that potential in a fun, inspiring way’.
Example Programme Accommodation Château La Lagune, Haut-Médoc 1855 4ième Cru Harvest work in vineyard and cellar Meeting startups and wine innovators Masterclass on The Place de Bordeaux, how it works, how it is evolving. Focus on organic, biodynamic farming. Olfactory development, with focus on older wines. Personal development/mentoring.
How To Apply Open to all subscribers of janeanson.com - or as a nomination by a subscriber. Applications are open from March 31- April 30, 2022. Simply send your details, with information about your current role and why you would be interested in attending the week, to hello@janeanson.com, clearly marked The Mentor Week.
All applications will be carefully considered by a panel including Anson, Rosa and industry partners, with the successful candidates announced by mid May 2022.
For further information, please email hello@janeanson.com Or call Paula LIMOL +33 760 852252
About Jane Anson
Jane Anson is author of Inside Bordeaux (BB&R Publishing 2020, called a ‘category buster’ by Wine Anorak and ‘the Bordeaux bible’ by Le Figaro), Wine Revolution (Quarto 2017), The Club of Nine (Katz Publishing 2016) Angélus (Editions de la Martiniere, 2016) and Bordeaux Legends, a history of the 1855 First Growth wines (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2013), as well as co-author or translator of over a dozen wine and travel books. She has won several awards for her writing, including Louis Roederer Online Communicator of the Year 2020, and Born Digital Best Editorial 2020. Jane was the first woman to deliver the André Simon lecture for the Wine and Food Society since the lecture series began in 1971, speaking in June 2020 on the subject of terroir in Bordeaux. After almost 20 years as Bordeaux correspondent and columnist for Decanter magazine, she has now launched her own website, www.janeanson.com. She is a graduate of the DUAD tasting diploma with the Bordeaux Institute of Oenology and an accredited wine teacher at the Bordeaux Ecole du Vin.
About Chinedu Rita Rosa
A Banker turned wine export consultant with over 22 years of experience in Retailing and wholesale of fine wines in Lagos, Nigeria, her native country. Chinedu now runs her own consulting firm “Vines By Rosa” in Bordeaux, working with wine importers and exporters on both continents. She specializes in methodical wine selection, Exporting, Wine branding, and marketing strategy tailored for Africa.
Standing as a "bridge between the wine world and Africa", Vines by Rosa” is the first Nigerian and female-owned Wine Export consulting firm in Bordeaux. Her sense of tasting and being a natural cook inspired a sub-brand “Wining and Dining with Chichi” in her monthly Column in Highbrow Lifestyle Magazine, she writes about food and wine pairings, Undiscovered notes of tastes from the African point of view, and the need for inclusion and diversity in the International Wine world. She has just concluded the First ever Nigerian food and French Wine pairing event in Paris, with plans for more to come in different locations in Europe and Africa, with the intent to highlight the importance of Africa and its Cuisine in the wine World.
She is President of the French Chapter of Circle of Global Business Women and also founder and President of the Bordeaux business Network.
About janeanson.com Launched in October 2021 by Jane Anson, long-term Bordeaux wine critic for Decanter magazine and author of Inside Bordeaux, janeanson.com is a subscription site that covers Bordeaux and the international wines that are sold through the Bordeaux merchant system. It is aimed at those who drink, collect, buy, sell or just want to learn about Bordeaux and its related wines, and also offers membership to a community with real world benefits, from NFT wine books to exclusive travel to the region, and now the Mentor Week.