An all-female line-up of graduates are celebrating their success in 2024.
The International Wine Education Centre (IWEC), Africa’s leading provider of the internationally recognised Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) wine courses is celebrating with the announcement that 6 students have completed their WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wines qualification – and they are all women! The graduation ceremony will take place on Thursday 24th October at Grub & Vine Norval in Cape Town.
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.
Owner of the IWEC, Cathy Marston, says “I can’t tell you how proud I am of these 6 women who have reached this significant milestone. The journey has been long and arduous for them all with several students’ learning and exams almost derailed by Covid. Despite this, they have been incredibly tenacious and resilient, and their success truly deserves to be celebrated with more than one good glass of wine!” She continues “Diploma is hard for everyone and all graduates thoroughly-deserve their success, but as well as spending time on their studies, this particular group of women also managed to start new businesses and jobs, travel the world representing their brand, win various international awards, get married and cope with young families of both kids and 7 beagle puppies! These are amazing women, operating in a wide range of wine industry roles and totally excelling in them all.”
The diversity of jobs open to Diploma students and graduates is particularly well-illustrated by the 2024 graduates. Kerry Sutherland DipWSET and Stephanie Cartwright DipWSET continue to put their Diploma knowledge to good use, working for top international wine importers, Reciprocal Wine Company and Great Domaines respectively. At just 22 years of age, Stephanie is also the youngest Diploma graduate on African soil. Heleen Rabe DipWSET travels the world for Hartenberg Wine Estate as their Sales and Marketing Manager whilst Madison Keyser DipWSET also has a sales and marketing focus, working for Creation Wines, The High Road Wines and De Toren Wine Estate in a range of digital marketing roles. Malu Lambert DipWSET is an award-winning wine writer, taster and judge who writes both locally and internationally for some of the most prestigious wine titles in the world. And Clarise Sciocatti-Langeveldt DipWSET is a highly-decorated winemaker, now running her own Cap Classique-focussed brand, Il Geco.
The 2024 WSET Diploma Graduation Ceremony is presented by WCellar and would not be possible without their generous support. WCellar has further invested in WSET wine education for many of their staff as they roll out their exciting, new stand-alone wine stores across the country.
In addition to WCellar, prizes and wines for the graduation ceremony have been donated by leading import partners Wine Cellar, Great Domaines, Premier Cru Wines, Radford Dale and Reciprocal Wine Company. The top student in each unit will be rewarded for their efforts with overall winner announced
on the night.
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
