A FORMER Tavistock student is celebrating being named the youngest Master of Wine in the world.

Liam Steevenson, 29, recently passed the Institute of Masters of Wine highest diploma course, which culminated in a tough final examination, half of which involved a blind tasting session.

Liam, who attended Mount House School and Kelly College, said he was ?pretty chuffed? to have made the top grade, an internationally recognised qualification held by only 242 people in the world.

?Because it was a blind tasting, it was very difficult to know how I?d done, but I?m very happy, it was a very difficult exam,? he said.

Liam grew up in the world of wine ? his father owns Charles Steevenson Wines. Although he originally intended to go into teaching after leaving university, he now works for the family business, based with his wife and two children at Kingsbridge.

?I kind of got sucked into the business. Now I do the restaurant and hotel sales and a proportion of buying as well,? said Liam, who has travelled to all the main wine producing countries in the world, such as France, Australia, Italy and Chile.

He said as far as his trade was concerned, France was entering an exciting period in wine producing terms.

?If you go back five or ten years, Australia was breaking all the boundaries. But from our point of view, France is again starting to do well.

?The supermarkets are going down broader roads with the Australians, the Chileans, and that?s great for most people, but as an individual wine importer you have to sell what the supermarket doesn?t.?

Liam said Californian wine was also taking off again.

?Historically it was either cheap and horrible or really expensive, but now you can get very good wines for £6 a bottle,? he said.

Despite his highly trained palate, he does not have a favourite wine above all others.

?There are wines for every occasion and it depends what you are doing and what you are eating,? he said.

The way the product is marketed is changing too. The big producers, like Jacob?s Creek, for example, have spent huge amounts on TV advertising and sponsorship, such as the hit American comedy series, Friends, and the consumer is paying for that, said Liam.

?I?m sure Friends has done a lot for Jacob?s Creek ? but I know there are better wines for 50p less.?

Liam said although trade is good, wine drinkers tend to be ageing.

?The fact is, in the UK we are drinking less than we were five years ago.

?Those who aren?t drinking it are the 25-year-olds and that?s a problem for the wine trade.?

Liam blames the popularity of alcopops, beer-by-the-neck and cocktails ? ?Anything you can drink with a straw!?

He said another attitude the trade was challenging was the belief that the best wines must come out of a bottle with a proper cork.

?For years, people have just accepted that one out of every 15 bottles could be tainted, but I think for the first time the message is getting through that this just isn?t acceptable.

?I reckon we are going to see an increase in different types of closure ? why not cans or wine boxes?? asked Liam.

He said the South West, and particularly Devon and Cornwall, was an exciting area to live at the moment, with flourishing top class restaurants springing up throughout the two counties.

?It?s fantastic ? whereas it was just buckets and spades ten years ago, now there are Porsches and Range Rovers heading down here, people who are happy to spend more money on food and wine.

?It?s definitely a very exciting time for us,? he said.