Mary Ewing-Mulligan

Mary Ewing-Mulligan, Master of Wine, is a leading wine educator, columnist, and author. She was the first woman in America to become a Master of Wine, a title that represents the highest level of knowledge and proficiency in the wine trade. She is currently one of only 51 Masters of Wine in the U.S., and 390 in the world.

Ewing-Mulligan is president of International Wine Center in New York, an independent wine school founded in 1982. At International Wine Center, Ewing-Mulligan runs the academically rigorous programs of the Wine & Spirit Education Trust® (WSET®), the world’s largest wine-education organization. These programs offer Americans the traditional pre-Master of Wine education. The ranks of U.S. MWs now include fourteen former students of International Wine Center.

Ewing-Mulligan is author of "Wine Style — Using Your Senses to Explore and Enjoy Wine" and co-authored (with her husband, Ed McCarthy) "Wine For Dummies" and ten other wine books in the …For Dummies series. With well over one million copies sold since it was published in late 1995, and translations into thirty-eight languages, Wine For Dummies ranks as America’s fastest-selling wine book ever and one of its most enduring.

Ewing-Mulligan is a popular columnist for Wine Review Online. She was a wine columnist for The Daily News and the Nation’s Restaurant News. She frequently judges at major national and international tasting competitions and is also a regular leader of seminars at major wine events across the U.S. Ewing-Mulligan has been the recipient of numerous awards, most recently she was recognized as a Wine Leader by the Italian Wine & Food Institute in 2016. Other awards include the Italian Trade Commission’s Distinguished Service award in 2009, the NYIT Gold Coast Classic Professional Excellence Award in 2009, the Champagne Pommery ‘Wine Muse’ Award in 2005, the 2003 European Wine Council Distinguished Achievement Award, and the Peter M.F. Sichel Award for Wine Education in 1994.

After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, Ewing-Mulligan began her career at the Italian Trade Commission, where she was responsible for educating consumers across the United States about Italy’s wines. After eight years with the Italian government, she moved to the private sector, where she worked as a winery agent and held a senior position at PepsiCo Wines & Spirits before dedicating her career to wine education.