Italian Wine Scholar

Meet Christophe Mercier, founder of Wine & Spirit IQ in Bangkok, first wine school to launch the French Wine Scholar and Italian Wine Scholar programs in Thailand! Their first FWS and IWS sessions are scheduled to begin September 3 (FWS), August 17 (IWS Unit 1) and January 4 (IWS Unit 2), more information and registration HERE. Could you give us a bit of background on your personal and/or professional history in wine and what made you decide to create your own wine school: Wine & Spirit IQ?

Meet Gina Marano, founder of Wine Academy of Las Vegas, our new program provider in Las Vegas!  Their first French Wine Scholar and Italian Wine Scholar sessions are scheduled to begin in September, more information and registration HERE. Could you give us a bit of background on your personal and/or professional history in wine and what made you decide to move into wine education?

Massimiliano Guerra, IWS, FWS, Wine Enthusiast We have our first ever perfect score on the Italian Wine Scholar exams!

Meet Rebecca Christophersen, founder of the Italian Wine Institute in Florence, first wine school to offer the Italian Wine Scholar® program in Italy! Their first IWS session is scheduled to begin March 3rd 2020 (Unit 1), more information and registration HERE. Could you give us a bit of background on your personal and/or professional history in wine and what made you decide to move into wine education?

 Sharon McLean is a Certified sommelier, DipWSET and Approved French Wine Scholar Program Provider at her firm Cru Consultancy, which she owns and operates with her partner, Treve Ring.She is also the Lead Instructor for the Wine Scholar Guild’s Live Online French Wine Scholar course series, an MW candidate, freelance wine writer and international consultant!  Sharon, given that we couldn’t fit all of your accolades and projects into that introduction it’s safe to say you are one incredibly busy woman! How do you fit all of this in? And... how did you start your wine journey? 

ITALIAN WINE SCHOLAR PROGRAM RECEIVES ENDORSEMENT FROM THE ITALIAN TRADE COMMISSION The Wine Scholar Guild’s Italian Wine Scholar Program received official endorsement from the Italian Trade Commission (ITA).The Italian Trade Commission is a governmental body whose role is to promote the internationalization of

Wine Scholar Guild is pleased to provide its readers with vintage and harvest reports for some of Italy’s most famous regions, from 2010 onward. We felt it was time that we expand our assessment of vintages and harvest reports outside of France and Italy was first on our list. To compile this in-depth report, we reached out to Italian wine specialist Tom Hyland. Tom seemed like the perfect fit for this project, as he has been reporting on and promoting Italian wines for more than twenty years as a journalist, educator, and photographer. He has made more than 75 trips to wine regions throughout all of Italy from his home in Chicago. In that time, he has written for numerous publications, including Decanter, wine-searcher.com and most recently Wine Spectator. He has written two books on Italian wine: Beyond Barolo and Brunello (2013) and The Wines and Foods of Piemonte (2016). Tom has conducted seminars on Italian wine for the trade and public; over the past year, he has led more than two dozen webinars with Italian producers; among these were several for Wine Scholar Guild. He also served as US ambassador for Consorzio I Vini del Piemonte for five years. He is also an accomplished photographer, having been named Wine Photographer of the Year (Category: Places) in 2020 at the prestigious Pink Lady competition in England. Andrea Eby, Italian Programs Director, asked Tom to provide a short blog article describing how he went about compiling this fantastic resource. We hope you enjoy the article and find the vintage charts as useful as we do. As always, we look forward to your questions and comments!

The Wine Scholar Guild announces its worldwide launch of a new study and certification program on the wines of Italy.

For as long as Italians have eaten good food, they have enjoyed good wine. The country is the world’s second-largest wine producer and besides a few hiccups after the fall of Rome, has been a consistent leader in viticulture for centuries.

Congratulations to Leslie Nguyen, IWS, for passing the Italian Wine Scholar exam with highest honors! About Leslie: After being a respiratory therapist for almost 20 years and feeling burnt out, I wanted to venture into a new career path.  A

Vineyards on the shores of Lake Garda Did someone say Lake Garda? You had me at Lake! Those were my first thoughts when asked to visit the area close to Italy’s largest lake and home of the Lugana DOC.

Congratulations to Marc-André Alain, IWS, for passing the Italian Wine Scholar exam with highest honors! About Marc-André: I have been a wine enthusiast for many years, but my real interest to learn more about this subject, including the

Congratulations to Mark Annett, IWS, for passing the Italian Wine Scholar exam with highest honors! About Mark: I am “officially” retired but for the past 5 years I have worked at wineries pouring wine for people, listening to their stories and

Vineyard landscape in Marsala Marsala, the fortified wine hailing from the sun-soaked hills of Sicily. A wine that embodies the rich tapestry of history and culture of an Island just a stone’s throw from mainland Italy. Having recently returned from visiting the region here is a brief introduction and exploration of one of the world’s most underrated wines.

“Andreeeeea! There is no plane from Napoli to Ancona!” This was the incredulous cry that I heard from my Campanian friends when I told them how I was leaving their beautiful region to visit Marche. They were sure that when I arrived at the terminal, that what I thought was going to be a plane would, in fact, turn out to be a bus. They were so adamant that no such flight existed that even I began to doubt the authenticity of the travel itinerary I had received. My relief was therefore clearly visible when I was able to check in for my evening flight to Ancona. 

For much of the wine history of Abruzzo, large cooperatives established a perception that the region’s wines were pleasant and technically correct, but offered little in the way of excellence. Today, the image of Abruzzese wine has taken on a new light, as dozens of smaller producers are crafting more sophisticated offerings that not only display superior complexity, but also offer greater elegance and aging potential as compared with the typical wines of the past.

Post–World War II, global wine production underwent a rapid and profound transformation. New developments in wine science from Montpellier, Geisenheim, and Bordeaux helped clean up wine,

As part of a partnership between Wine Scholar Guild and Decanter, we are pleased to share with our readers this article pulled from Decanter Premium. Try Decanter Premium for 4 weeks for just $1! More information HERE Robert Parker says a 100-point wine should be ‘as exceptional as a particular wine can be: a perfect blend of power, richness, texture, depth, length, balance, freshness, and of course a reflection of its vintage and terroir or origin’. Here are Parker’s most memorable 100-point wines.

The Etruscans were the first to produce wine in northern Italy; beginning with wild varieties, they cultivated vines in Piedmont centuries before the Romans arrived. Nevertheless, it was the Romans who advanced commercial winemaking, significantly increasing the area under vine and using props, trellises and ‘Greek presses’ to dependably supply the empire’s domestic and trading needs.

Congratulations to Saroda Kyung, IWS, for achieving highest honors in the Italian Wine Scholar exam with WSA Wine Academy, Seoul. About Saroda: Hello, I’m Saroda, but please call me “Salad”!My job is a brand manager, and I love wine as much