Sommelier Passes Initial Two Stages of Masters of Wine Exam
Mollie Battenhouse, First American Woman to Succeed on First Attempt
Mollie Battenhouse, Tribeca Grill’s sommelier, is the first American woman to pass the initial two stages of the Masters of Wine (MW) exam on her first attempt. Mollie has been studying wine intensively for the past five years, and has just passed the notoriously difficult four-day examination composed of blind tasting and essay writing. Only about 13% of students taking the examination each year pass on the first attempt. The Masters of Wine have a select 257 members worldwide. When Mollie has completed her dissertation and been formally inducted, she will be one of the few Masters of Wine working on the floor of a restaurant.
The Institute of Masters of Wine was established in London in 1953, and the Master of Wine qualification is achieved by passing three examinations: a Theory Examination, a Practical Examination and a Dissertation. In addition to the U.K., the Education program is now run annually in Napa Valley, California; Melbourne, Australia; Rust, Austria and Bordeaux, France.
Mollie is originally from Atlanta, Georgia, where she began her culinary career at Indigo Restaurant and Partners Restaurants. She graduated at the top of her class at the Culinary Institute of America before moving to New York and working under chef Philippe Bertineau and Daniel Boulud at Payard Bistro. “I grew up helping my mother in the kitchen, which led to an apprenticeship. It was there that I had my first taste of Kistler Chardonnay, Spottswood Cabernet and the Zinfandels from Storybook Mountain, Turley and Ridge.” Mollie began her wine career at Best Cellars in 1998, where she was most recently the Wine and Training Director, before joining the wine department at Tribeca Grill to work with Wine Director David Gordon. She teaches wine classes for the WSET (Wines and Spirits Education Trust) at the International Wine Center and the Natural Gourmet Cooking School.
Tribeca Grill, the classic downtown restaurant co-owned by restaurateur Drew Nieporent and Robert De Niro, is one of only 6 restaurants in New York to have the Wine Spectator Grand Award. The wine list features over 1,800 selections, including the world’s largest selection of Châteauneuf du Pape (over 300) as well as many rare California Cabernet verticals. “We are all extremely proud of Mollie for her accomplishment, and excited to have someone with her expertise on premise at Tribeca Grill,” says Nieporent.