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Blind Tasting

Summary: This session focuses on techniques you can use to enhance your blind tasting skills. Justin will discuss some of the tips and tricks he employed to pass the Master of Wine; the most challenging wine tasting exam in the world. Justin will share some exercises that you can try at home to build your own tasting skills, as well as discussing the most effective ways of writing

#WineScholar Instagram Contest

Where is your wine journey taking you? Diving into your study materials, tasting a memorable wine, enjoying an exquisite meal, attending a tasting or touring wine country? Put your Wine Scholar Tag on the picture and share your experience on Instagram with #WineScholar hashtag!

10 Ways WSG Study Tours Have Changed My Wine Life

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.

1st WSG Educator Trip to Italy - June 2018

Deep dive into Trentino, Franciacorta & Lugana Who could have imagined there would be so much to know about these three wine regions! Maurizio Broggi, along with the Consorzia of Trentino, Franciacorta and Lugana took us, a group of Italian Wine Scholar® educators, into a deep dive to discover what these wine regions were all about. We had the opportunity to discover in detail the elements contributing to their uniqueness in styles and in quality along with the challenges they are facing.

2017 Instructors and Program Providers of the Year Announced!

The Wine Scholar Guild is pleased to annonced the winners of its Instructor and Program Provider of the Year Awards. Instructor of the Year is an award of excellence recognizing creative and effective classroom instruction for the French or Italian Wine Scholar study & certification programs. The recipient is selected based upon outstanding presentation skills, organization and conviviality —all talents reflected in

2018 Wine Scholar Guild Awards

The Wine Scholar Guild takes great pride in its high-caliber program provider network. Our instructors are consummate and extraordinarily educated wine professionals. They stand out among their peers.   Each year, we honor the best of the best in recognition of their stellar accomplishments as teachers and program providers. The Wine Scholar Guild is pleased to reward the best Instructors and Program Providers with WSG Awards for each category: French Wine Scholar® and Italian Wine Scholar®.     Cru Consultancy(Vancouver, Canada)INTERVIEW Tanya Morning Star Darling(Seattle, WA)INTERVIEW AWSEC (Hong Kong)INTERVIEW Jimmy Smith(London, UK)INTERVIEW  

2019 Wine Scholar Guild Awards

Wine Scholar Guild is proud to honor those who set themselves apart by their extraordinary professional accomplishment in 2019. We take great pleasure in announcing the WSG Program Provider Awards, WSG Top Scorers Awards and WSG Master of Wine Candidate scholarships.

50 Shades of Pink: Trends, Tastes, and Terroir of Provence Rosé

Synopsis: An opportunity to look at the reasons behind the incredible success of Provence rosé and how it has become the leader in quality rosé wine, we’ll discuss how the region’s unique heritage and terroir combined with the expertise of its winemakers have created - and continue to create - a style thathas become the global benchmark in rosé wine. Understanding the three sub-regions; Côtes de Provence, Coteaux d’Aix en Provence and CoteauxVarois en Provence,

Alsace: Don’t Miss a Trick

How did that happen? Call it what you want (fashion, peer-group pressure, herd instinct, a historical hangover) but somehow or other Alsace has ended up as France’s most neglected and misunderstood wine region.
Regenerative Viticulture

An Introduction to Regenerative Viticulture

Summary: Regenerative agriculture is a conservation and rehabilitation approach to food and farming systems. It focuses on strengthening the health and vitality of farm soil, increasing biodiversity above and below ground, improving the water cycle, enhancing ecosystem services, supporting carbon sequestration, and increasing resilience to climate change. Regenerative viticulture is farming vineyards based on the understanding that the health and

And the Water in All This...

Water: the source of life Since our return to Alsace ten years ago, my wife Céline, my daughter Zoé and I never tire of walking the countless hiking trails that crisscross the Vosges, often offering breathtaking panoramas of the mountains and the Alsace plain. On the days when the sky is at its purest, even the snow-covered summits of the Alps can be seen in the distance on the horizon.

Andrea Eby joins Wine Scholar Guild as Italian Wine Programs Director

Andrea E. Eby comes to the Wine Scholar Guild from a background in wine and education. Andrea is excited to join the WSG team to oversee all aspects of WSG's Italian Wine programs. Andrea earned the Diploma in Wine and Spirits (with Distinction) from the Wine &

Andrew Jefford joins the Wine Scholar Guild as Academic Advisor

The Wine Scholar Guild is starting 2019 with a bang. Andrew Jefford, award winning author and columnist for Decanter, has joined the WSG education team as Academic Advisor. This marks an exciting new chapter in the Guild’s evolution and growth. Julien Camus, WSG President, comments, “We are thrilled to have Andrew come on board and are looking forward to his contribution towards our goal of becoming the preeminent provider of specialized wine study programs.” 

Behind the Scenes of Wine Scholar Guild Membership

We recently caught up with Justin Martindale MW, our Membership & Community Manager, to find out what’s happening in the WSG Membership program and how it all gets put together.
Beyond the Basics

Beyond the Basics: Alcohol with Benoît Marsan PhD

Summary Join Benoît Marsan PhD, Professor of Science and Wine at the Université du Québec à Montréal as he explores one of wines most crucial components - alcohol. Often over-simplified and regularly misunderstood, the affect of alcohol on our experience of tasting a wine as well as the stability of a wine should not be ignored. We're delighted to be able to offer such an insightful event from one of the world's leading experts on the subject, exclusively to

Beyond the Basics: Carbonic Maceration

In this webinar we will take a deep dive into the fascinating world of carbonic maceration, from early origins to present-day variations and applications. We will compare ‘conventional’ aerobic fermentation of crushed grapes with anaerobic intracellular fermentation of whole berries, and examine the differences between carbonic maceration, semi carbonic maceration, and fractional carbonic maceration. We will identify some of the “Old World” regions
Old Vines
Photo by Villa Bogdano

Beyond The Basics: Old Vines

Summary: Join us for a fascinating and thought-provoking exploration of old vines and old-vine wine. Master of Wine and co-founder of The Old Vine Conference, Sarah Abbott will explore the genetic, cultural, ecological and qualitative value of old vines and heritage viticulture, and will explain why the old-vine-wine category has gathered so many influential advocates in recent years. Abbott co-founded The Old

Beyond the Basics: Reduction and Oxidation

Summary:  Oxidative, oxidized, reductive, reduced...what do they all mean? Join winemaker Nova Cadamatre MW, as she dives into the Oxidation/Reduction spectrum, what it is, what it means, and how it impacts wine flavors throughout a wine's life.   Presenter: Nova Cadamatre MW  A winemaker with a broad and diverse background, Cadamatre started in wine on the East Coast as a winemaking apprentice with Stargazers Vineyard in 2003. After graduating from Cornell
Sweet Winemaking

Beyond The Basics: Sweet Winemaking

Summary: Join us for the latest in our ever-popular 'Beyond the Basics' series. From Ice Wine to Botrytis, Passerillage Pantelleria, there is a plethora of different styles and methods involved in producing these heavenly nectars. We are delighted to welcome back Nova Cadamatre MW to lead this session for a deep-dive into the processes and potential pitfalls involved in making great dessert wines.  About the Speaker: A winemaker with a broad and diverse

Beyond the Textbook: Rosé Greatness, ageabilty and cheesy wotsits with Clos Cibonne

Summary: In this video, Justin and Chris explore ageabilty in rosé wines by tasting two vintages of the esteemed Clos Cibonne winery in Provence. They discuss ageabilty, quality, oak and how to spot aged characteristics in this style of wine. About the Speakers: Justin Martindale is the Wine Scholar Guild Membership Manager and one of our in-house Masters of Wine. Justin passed the notoriously challenging MW tasting exam with the Madame Bollinger Award,