Fiona Morrison MW – also known by her married name Fiona Thienpont – runs Pomerol estate Le Pin with her husband, Jacques. She was Sarah Abbott’s mentor for the MW.
When I was studying for the MW, Fiona was assigned to me as a mentor. At first, I found her terrifying. Her energy, positivity and relentless focus on “what works” are uncompromising.
Studying for the MW is an exercise is self-knowledge. I was letting myself off the hook in some areas of my study and indulging myself in imaginary crises.
Fiona is not afraid to have difficult conversations, and her honesty and directness shocked me into just “getting on with it”.
She was incredibly generous with her time and contacts, both during and after my studying years. She, and her husband, Jacques, run Le Pin. You can imagine that they have many requests to visit, but they made time for me to visit, stay and be there during harvest. They took me to extended visits at the great properties of Bordeaux. You can imagine how powerful that was for a young(ish) student of wine.
Fiona is a do-er: she wants to get things done and make things better. She was one of the key initiators of the Masters of Wine endowment fund auction, which raised over a million pounds to secure the future of the highest levels of wine education and knowledge.
Her energy, directness and generosity are inspiring. She shows just how much difference one strong woman can make.
