Monday, February 13, 2012

Patrick Farrell, MD, MW and... #winelover


In 1977, Patrick graduated from the University of Rochester with an honors degree in biology, magna cum laude and phi beta kappa. As an undergraduate, Patrick did research in both microbiology and biochemistry, two subjects that he taught as a teaching assistant. He then enrolled in the University of Rochester School of Medicine, graduating in 1982 with a medical degree. During the 1979-80 academic year, Patrick studied community medicine at the University of Cambridge. He completed complete residencies in internal medicine and ophthalmology at Cornell's teaching hospitals (New York-Presbyterian and Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center) in New York City. Patrick finished his medical training at the University of Southern California, where he was a fellow.

Upon moving to California in 1988, Patrick purchased his first wine book and began visiting California wineries. This led to more book purchases and winery trips to regions outside of California. In 1993, he attended the annual Society of Wine Educator's Conference, his first formal wine education experience. Having caught the "wine bug", Patrick passed the Society's "Certified Wine Educator" credential in 1994 and served as the 1995 conference's program chairman. This involvement and certification in wine education helped gain Patrick admission into the master of wine program in 1995. In 1998, he completed the master of wine credential, being the first physician in the world to gain this distinction.


 
Since passing the "MW", Patrick has been actively involved in the Institute of Masters of Wine as an educator, examiner, mentor and board member of the Institute's North American entity. He has taught master of wine seminars on three continents and has traveled throughout the world of wine to all the major wine regions. He has judged wine competitions and written chapters in wine texts. Patrick has lectured extensively on a range of wine topics including wine tasting, blind wine tasting, quality control, and wine and health.

Patrick has co-invented and patented a consumer device that decreases the bitterness and harshness found in tannic beverages, such as red wine and whiskies. He is CEO of the BevWizard Company. Patrick also serves as a consultant to wine importers, wholesalers and retailers in Southern California.


Well, Patrick was kind enough to accept me as his men-tee a couple of years ago. He is being great helping me on the pursue of my MW credentials and, today, he became a  #winelover.
Not that he didn't love wine before, but today he becomes a true one by joining twitter and including #winelover after his honorable #masterofwine credentials.


Make sure that you follow him - winedocMW - He will certainly have some stories and facts to share with us about this thing that we love so much: WINE


Cheers,
LA #winelover










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3 comments:

Amy said...

Nice story - from personal experience I will add that Pat is a terrific MW mentor!

Debra Meiburg MW said...

Agreed! Pat's a great guy! His support and guidance were key to my getting through those nasty - I mean interesting - exams. Even this morning, while leading a session during MW educational week, I heard the echo of his words and tried to emulate his forthright style.

Luiz Alberto, #winelover said...

Thanks Amy and Debra!

Pat has being a great mentor and a source of inspiration while I follow this long and rocky road... :)

Cheers!

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