It is almost here. That wonderful day in March that wine lovers all over the world anxiously wait for every year. Thousands gather for jubilant festivities of the wines of Beaujolais. No, my calendar does not need adjusting. November’s annual harvest fete known as Beaujolais Nouveau Day is a...

The Wine Scholar Guild’s French Wine Scholar (FWS) Program received official endorsement as an approved wine certification program from Skillsfuture Singapore! The Skillsfuture is a national movement that encourages individuals to take ownership of their skills development and lifelong learning....

The Wine Scholar Guild is excited to announce the list of 2016 top exam scorers from around the world! Bravo! French Wine Scholar Program 1. Lillian Lim (California, USA) - Score: 100% ''My certifications include: Certified Sommelier with the Court of Master Sommeliers, Certified Specialist of...

As everywhere, it is the nature of the geography that most influences the food and drink traditions of the Jura and Franche-Comté. The diverse landscape of mountains, dense forests, high meadows, vineyards, lakes and the river plain have all shaped what the local population ate and drank....

Autumn in Champagne is a spectacular time to explore the region. The countryside and vineyards are abounding in rich palettes of color and the intoxicating fall fragrance instills a unique sensorial experience. Champagne is like laughter as it fills my senses with joy, especially when the cork...

The 6th Edition of the French Wine Scholar program has just been released! The FWS manual has been fully updated and reformatted into a perfect binding (no more spiral!) with: New, custom-designed maps New charts, graphics and rich imagery Need-to-know icons now mark all AOCs that count as test...

Sadly, time has marched on, since the fantastic Bourgogne Immersion Trip I took with the Wine Scholar Guild lead by Andrew Jefford, October 23 – 28, 2016. Everyone on the trip was definitely a “wine nerd” but the group was composed of a mix of wine industry professionals, wine students of all...

Meeting Andrew Jefford today could easily lead one to believe that he was born knowing enormous volumes of information about the wines of the world, and has always been able to explain them in the manner of a poet laureate. As the leader of a 2016 Wine Scholar Guild study tour of Southwest France,...

Lonely Planet has released their Best in Travel 2017 guide about THE places to visit in the next year…and Bordeaux tops their list as the No. 1 city destination in the world! Bordeaux contains more preserved historical buildings – such as Place de la Bourse – than any city in France aside from...

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...

Top Italian Wine Scholar student at IWEG Drinks Academy in Toronto will WIN a Study Trip Scholarship to Italy! IWEG, our exlusive Program Provider in Toronto, is pleased to announce the Italian Trade Commission in Canada as its first Gold Sponsor with the sponsorship of the new Italian Wine...

Glera is the principal grape of Prosecco sparkling wine. Originally the grape was known as Prosecco (more precisely Prosecco Tondo). The variety has an unclear origin and an even more complicated ampelographic history due to the fact that several distinct varieties have been called...

A BIT OF WINE CHEMISTRY: Lessons from Champagne Day one of the Champagne study trip initiated a discussion which continued throughout the week of factors impacting aromas and flavors in champagne. Broadly, aromas can be categorized into the impacts of grape variety, terroir, vinification, and...

Italian red wines may get all the attention, but insiders know that Italian whites are as varied and interesting as the country’s reds. Italy’s multitude of mountains and hills ensures wines with bright acidity—the hallmark of Italian whites. Acidity is what makes a wine food friendly, and Italian...

The Super-Whites of Friuli In the late 1970s, the producer, Jermann, created Vintage Tunina, a complex blend of native and international white grapes that became iconic among Friuli’s superior white blends. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Jermann inspired several other Friuli producers,...

Collio (or Collio Goriziano) DOC Collio’s vineyards date back to pre-Roman times; they were of renown then and are held in high esteem now. Their impressive whites are considered the finest in Friuli and are among the finest in Italy.

Friuli Grave DOC Friuli Grave was previously called Grave del Friuli but is often simply referred to as Grave. This is the largest DOC, both in terms of area under vine and in production. It accounts for more than one-third of Friuli’s total wine production.

Veneto’s grape varieties are almost equally divided between white and red. More than 60% of the cultivated varieties are native or Italian grapes. Among them, the indigenous Glera, Garganega and Corvina Veronese account for almost half of Veneto’s total plantings. The western Veneto is largely and...

Nebbiolo-Based Appellations of Langhe Hills in Piedmont Barolo DOCG Barolo is one of Italy’s greatest wines and is considered to deliver the highest and most powerful expression of the Nebbiolo grape. Although its origin is shrouded in mystery, its rise to stardom is not. Supposedly, the red wines...

The geologic evolution of the Italian landscape has always been characterized by strong volcanic activity. Italy is one of the few winemaking countries with a considerable number of vineyards growing on the slopes of ancient and extinct volcanos. Vineyards are also cultivated around active...