Professional Biography – Marie Cheong-Thong

“Marie is a gold mine of information on beverages, dishes and indigenous ingredients of many different cultures and regions!’

Current Activities

Food & Beverage Educator conducting private group seminars, tastings, masterclasses and trips on wine, sake, armagnac, food and olive oil in London and across Europe. WSET-certified educator conducting public WSET courses in the UK. Preferred educator for the UK sake distributor Sam SAKE.

Wine/Sake Judge for over the past 10 years. Most recently, judged at International Wine Challenge (UK, Japan) in both wine and sake categories; International Wine and Spirits Competiton (UK) in both wine and sake categories; Les Grands Concours du monde (France); Berliner Wein Trophy (Germany); and Mondial des Pinots (Switzerland).

Speaker/Lecturer at public events and educational institutions including the Abergavenny Food Festival, York Food Festival, Expo Milano and the University of Gastronomic Sciences (Italy).

Social Media Writing and Photography on wine, sake, food, travel and fly fishing via Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and own website: www.thelarderat36.co.uk

Qualifications and Educational Background

  • Member of the Association of Wine Educators, British Sake Assocation, Circle of Wine Writers and the Japanese Culinary Academy.
  • Certified Sake Educator, Wine & Spirits Education Trust (WSET), trained in Japan.
  • Level 3 Certificate in Sake, Wine & Spirits Education Trust (WSET).
  • Armagnac Diploma, Bureau National Interprofessionel de l’Armagnac (BNIA).
  • Diploma in Wine and Spirits, Wine & Spirits Education Trust (WSET).
  • Diploma with Distinction, Le Cordon Bleu London.
  • Diploma in Market Research, Market Research Society (UK).
  • Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing, Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK).
  • BSc (Hons), ARCS in Botany, Imperial College London.