mistress

/ˈmɪstrəs/

noun

1. A woman who has mastered a skill or branch of learning
2. A woman schoolteacher

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Click Play to Meet The Mistress!

About the Mistress of Wine

Sam Caporn - Winner of The Madame Bollinger Medal

Winner of the Madame Bollinger Medal

Institute Masters of Wine logo

Member of the Institute of Masters of Wine

I entered the wine trade, knowing absolutely nothing about wine. Zilch. Nada. Not a sausage. But, fast forward over twenty years and I think it's fair to say that I know a lot more about wine than I did then. I am extremely proud to not only be one of 415 Masters of Wine worldwide (of which there are only 149 female MWs) but when I passed, I was also the recipient of The 2011 Madame Bollinger Medal for Excellence in Tasting. This medal is awarded to the student who has shown outstanding achievement in the practical (tasting) papers and over the 30 years that it has been awarded (1988-2018), it has only ever been awarded to 16 women. In the whole world. And I am one of them!

Sam Caporn - Winner of The Madame Bollinger Medal

Winner of the Madame Bollinger Medal

I have also learnt that wine is to be enjoyed. It's not Holy Water but it can be magical. Apart from tasting delicious it really does speak of another place and for anyone who likes travel and food as much as I do, I think that's pretty brilliant. Captured in a single bottle is the toil of a number of different people, from a different place and culture, using different grapes grown in a different climate and amazingly that can all be tasted in your glass. If you just know what to look for. And that is what I love the most, sharing those all-important signposts to show how to get the most out of your glass of wine simply by knowing what to look for. A little bit of learning really does go a long way so join me if you too want to learn to love wine.

The Mistress of Wine on BBC's Saturday Kitchen

TESTIMONIALS

Sam's wine expertise is an invaluable asset to Clarion. Amongst other things, she provides trusted consultancy and supports the team to host press and consumer wine tasting events. Here she does a fantastic job of inspiring and informing attendees about the wonderful world of wine, taking away any pretentions and making it really accessible to all.

Clarion

Thanks so much for last night -- everyone had such a brilliant evening, I hope you did too.

Ami Davis

Newstraid

Thank you so much for hosting last night. We heard some great feedback from the guests who really enjoyed learning a bit more about the different champagnes and how helpful you were with any questions they had.

Sophie Mayall

JPES Partners

Thank you so so much for bringing such knowledge and entertainment into our lives. You ROCK!!

John de Chane

Webb de Vlam

What a delight! To be fair, I’d heard good things but you can’t always believe what you hear.

James McMurtry

Libra Drinks Wholesale Ltd, part of The Society of Vintners

Thank you so much for a fab evening. I don't think I had ever known how to really taste wine before. The flavours hit me in a totally new way I will remember for a long time.

Kate Llewellyn

Thank you so much for a fantastic evening! Very insightful and we really enjoyed all the wines.

Thomas Wilkes

Thank you so much for coming today, everyone was saying the wine portion of the day was absolutely excellent and the Birthday Girl was very happy indeed.

Teresa Khoo

I wanted to write to thank The Mistress of Wine for a fantastic wine tasting evening. Interesting facts interspersed with swigs of delicious wine, what more could one want from an evening.

Alex Pocock

Sam, many thanks for your erudite and colourful contribution... It was an excellent evening.

Simon Bushell