Curious about Wine Scholar Guild trips, dear reader? I’m no expert on wine tourism, but I have been fortunate enough to go on five (!) WSG trips: Alsace, Champagne, Languedoc-Roussillon, Loire, and Rhône. Below I share my thoughts on why these trips were so great and why I keep coming back for more.

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In Zen, there’s something called "Beginner’s Mind". It’s a state of mind where you aren’t hemmed in by your judgements. You are able to see the world fresh--without pre-conceptions. That’s an apt description of how I was feeling as I began a weeklong deep-dive into Bordeaux with twenty Wine Scholar Guild compatriots.

On a blistering June day, my suitcase rattling over the hot cobblestones, I made my way by through the village of Amboise in the Loire Valley, where my tour with the Wine Scholar Guild was about to begin. That night, in an 18th century hotel decorated in a style my spouse describes as “manic grandma,” the group toasted our safe arrival and talked about what had brought each of us there. Though we were a diverse set—with wine professionals from all over the map, and a handful of enthusiasts outside the industry—we all seemed to agree on one thing

From April 16-21, 2023, Wine Scholar Guild will land on the shores of southern Spain to host a special session of our internationally-recognized Spanish Wine Scholar® study and certification program in the beautiful coastal town of Málaga. If the spectacular weather and roughly 112 miles/180 kilometers of coastline are not enough to entice you, then consider some of the other top reasons to visit and study in one of Spain’s most beautiful cities. See more about this unique opportunity to study Spanish wines with WSG in Spain here.