By Amy Looker, editor National Liquor News
The prestigious International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC) named Neil McGuigan as its president for 2015 at a gala event in London on Wednesday.
The McGuigan winery has a long history with the IWSC, having been named its International Winemaker of the Year in 2009, 2011 and 2012, making McGuigan the first winery globally to be named ‘world’s best winemaker’ three times in the competition’s history.
McGuigan told TheShout he is thrilled and honoured to be selected by the IWSC to take on the 12 month stint as president and he’s looking forward to promoting Australian wine to the world.
“It’s a great honour for the McGuigan brand, Australia and, of course, for me personally. In 2015, I will be an ambassador for wine globally, as well as for the IWSC – quite an honour for a guy from the Hunter Valley,” McGuigan said.
“When you get such a presidency you shouldn’t just be sitting there and saying ‘oh, I’m the president, aren’t I wonderful?’ You should be out there saying, look this is a great opportunity to expose wine and wine and food to not just the wine industry, but also to the consumers. Winning the presidency comes with an obligation to get out there and talk about up how wonderful wine is, especially Australian wine.”
IWSC events and tastings hosted by Neil McGuigan are planned throughout 2015 taking place in London, Dusseldorf, Hong Kong and Vancouver.