Emerging Talent in Wine 2024 shortlist

We are thrilled to reveal the shortlist for our 2024 Emerging Talent in Wine, sponsored by London Wine Fair. With some of our other Emerging Talent Awards focused on communications and on-trade, this is one of our broadest categories – recognising fresh, exciting voices across sales, marketing, winemaking, viticulture, education and much more.

With over 30 strong entries from across the globe, selecting a shortlist was not an easy task for our judges. The panel included IWSC Wine Judging Committee member Sarah Abbott MW, IWSC Judge Cat Lomax, our 2023 Emerging Talent in Wine winner Alex Brogan, as well as Hannah Tovey, Director of London Wine Fair.

 “Some fantastic entries this year! We were humbled and amazed to read through these applications, and the choice was unbelievably tough – as all of these people have achieved so much,” shared our judges.

When deciding on the final shortlist, the judges were looking for individuals who were going above-and-beyond their day-to-day role, demonstrating professionalism alongside their dedication and passion for wine.

The shortlist for the IWSC Emerging Talent in Wine award 2024 is:

Emily Brighton

As the Technical Manager at North South Wines, Emily is responsible for managing the quality, safety and legality of all wines imported and distributed. In addition, she runs blind tasting sessions for MW students and writes for Académie du Vin Library.

The judges appreciated Emily’s commitment to sustainability. She dedicated her MW research paper to B Corp accreditation for UK wine distributors, as well as running training sessions for Assistant Buyers from one of UK’s major supermarkets. “People with a technical role in the industry can really go unrecognised, but their contribution is often invaluable,” said our judges. “Emily has been taking a huge leap forward in her career every couple of years; she is exceptionally intelligent, driven and accomplished – and she is on track to becoming, perhaps, the youngest female Master of Wine”.

Anjali Douglas

Having taken a career leap from contemporary art to wine, Anjali now works as an Events manager and Wine Educator at WSET School London. Among her many achievements is bringing back the WSET careers series in a revamped, mindful way this year – focusing on broader themes, such as writing, tech and design. "Anjali is changing how WSET is engaging with the next generation – a great step for this industry," said the judges, who also appreciated Anjali’s engagement in supporting women in wine, and the collaborative nature of her efforts. Having noticed that women in the industry are underrepresented on Wikipedia, Anjali created a list of incredible women in wine, wrote a guide to creating wiki pages, and encouraged the WSET Global audience to get involved and write biographies.

“Anjali’s energy is boundless. We’d all do better as an industry if we thought of a broadest level of engagement with the public, and she’s really doing it and it’s a mindset we could all learn from,” said the judges.

Charlotte Gordon

Brand & Business Development Manager at Moët Hennessy UK, Charlotte is responsible for seven global wine brands, as well as working as a wine educator. Acknowledging that people are interested in experiences more than products, Charlotte’s team has been putting the consumer at the heart, of what they do. They have been involved in festivals, chef partnerships and even bespoke ‘at home’ wine experiences.

Charlotte shares that the most inspiring part of her work is helping others come into the industry, as well as talking about wine. The judges admired how much Charlotte managed to accomplish in the male-dominated Champagne world. "She has real super woman vibes," noted the judges. “She is very accomplished, very much a self-starter and she’s going to go on to become a really inspiring figure in the industry.”

Daria Kholodilina

Having moved from Ukraine to Georgia in 2013, Daria developed an interest for Georgian culture, food, and wine, working in tourism at first and then gradually moving into the wine business. The list of things she accomplished in just a few years is truly impressive – co-writing a book on Georgian wine, completing her wine education, starting her own oenotourism company – Trails and Wines, as well as learning the Georgian language to the level that she was able to host a podcast and a radio show on Georgian wine. In addition, she prepared and organised several trainings on wine tourism development for professional associations in Georgia and Ukraine. Daria has also been running multiple tasting events in Georgia and abroad.

The judges were impressed by how Daria is “driving an entire country forward” noting that, “she’s got endless energy and enthusiasm, and it is hard to find anyone else so young who had such a big impact across the whole landscape in the industry.”

Jessica Summer

Our judges admired how much Jessica has accomplished in a very short time. Having started her journey in the wine industry only three years ago, she achieved her WSET Level 3 qualification, completed the wine educator training, obtained her Academy of Cheese certification - and launched her own business, Mouse & Grape, specialising in wine and cheese hampers and tasting events. “This is entrepreneurship at its best. My eyebrows were raising higher and higher as I read Jessica’s entry form,” said one of the judges. Since the launch of Mouse & Grape, Jessica’s work has been featured in major publications; she was shortlisted for Harper’s Drinks 30 under 30, appeared on television as a wine and cheese expert and a finalist for the Young Cheesemonger of the Year Award in 2022.

Our judges appreciated Jessica’s approach to mentorship noting that she reached out to many senior people in the industry looking for mentors to help her succeed. “I can’t wait to see what she does next. An incredible amount of work in that period of time, and a real authenticity. She genuinely seems to love every bit of what she does and that’s why she does it so well,” said one of the judges.

Congratulations to the shortlisted entrants. The winner of Emerging Talent in Wine 2024 will be announced on 20 February.