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Waitrose Wine & Spirit Buyers
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We pride ourselves on having some of the best people in the industry buying our wines and with only 251 Masters of Wine in the world, we’re proud to have 3 of them in our wine buying team. With their wealth of knowledge and expertise we can rest assured that Waitrose offers an exceptional range of wines.

The Master of Wine (MW) qualification is the highest within the wine industry. The MW education consists of two years of blind tastings, essay writing and exams. Since the first Master of Wine passed the examinations in 1953 only 251 people representing 18 different nationalities have successfully qualified.


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Dee Blackstock MW
Dee's career in wine began at Gerard Harris Fine Wines, attached to a Relais et Châteaux hotel in Aston Clinton. She progressed through her trade examinations with distinctions and scholarships along the way before moving to Waitrose in 1991. The following year Dee became a Master of Wine at the first attempt, while also picking up the top prize in the Diploma of Grocery Marketing . Dee is one of four Masters of Wine on the Government Hospitality Advisory Committee for the purchase of wine. Dee Blackstock

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Julian Brind MW
Julian has 40 years' experience in the wine trade. In 1967 he won both a Bourse de Voyage Scholarship and the Vintners Scholarship. He passed his Master of Wine examination in 1970 and joined Waitrose the following year. Julian has been Vice Chairman of the Institute of Masters of Wine and was Chairman in 1993. He was also Chairman of the Institute's Examining Panel for many years and President of the Wine and Spirit Association in 2002. Julian is now a consultant for Waitrose. Julian Brind

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Nick Room
Nick joined Waitrose in 1987, initially buying beers and spirits before moving into wine. Nick's speciality is Spain and Portugal, and he is responsible for an award-winning list of sherry. He also sources wines from South America and buys all of Waitrose’s fortified, rosé and sweet wines. He is currently studying for his Master of Wine. Nick Room

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Andrew Shaw
Andrew Shaw began his wine career in an English vineyard in Somerset when growing up and has been hooked ever since. He has made wine in Burgundy, the Languedoc and New Zealand between gaining valuable retail experience with Oddbins and latterly learning his buying skills with several independent UK wine merchants. He joined Waitrose in January 2007 and is responsible for Rhône, South of France, Australia and Italy. Andrew Shaw

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Ken Mackay MW
Ken has worked in the wine trade since graduating from Oxford in 1999. He joined the Waitrose buying team in March 2008, prior to which he worked for 5 years as a wine buyer for an independent merchant. Ken became a Master of Wine in 2006 at the age of 28, winning several scholarships in the process, and remains the youngest MW in the world. He has taken on the responsibility for sourcing wines from Bordeaux, Germany, Loire, Alsace, USA, Austria, South Africa and England. Ken Mackay MW

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Matt Smith
Matt joined the Waitrose wine team in 2007 and is currently responsible for sourcing wines from Burgundy, Beaujolais, Eastern Europe as well as Kosher wines. He entered the wine trade in 2001 via the Majestic Wine graduate training scheme, after completing a BSc Hons degree in Biochemistry at the University of Manchester. He also holds the WSET Diploma in Wine.

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Neil Whelpton
Neil joined Waitrose in February 2008 as Beer and Cider Buyer. He is now responsible for our spirits range. Neil has extensive knowledge of the drinks category after previous roles in the beer and water industry.

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