Congratulations to Gianfranco Massa, SWS, for achieving highest honors in the Spanish Wine Scholar exam with West London Wine School.
About Gianfranco:
I am a big wine enthusiast. On a friend's recommendation 4 years ago I attended a very basic wine-tasting course in Milan (my hometown). I really enjoyed that experience and immediately understood that the wine world could become something important for me. Since then, my passion for wine has grown exponentially, also thanks to the time I have dedicated with infinite pleasure to studying, which I consider one of the best ways to nourish this passion. Every time I can, I also love to go visiting wineries, especially in the places I visit most often: Italy and Spain. Last year I also made my first harvest and wine always in the Murcia region: I bought 200 kilos of monastrell grapes from a trusted vigneron and I made a natural monastrell with natural yeasts (I will bottle it at the end of this summer). For this upcoming 2022 harvest my winemaking project will be enriched with new grapes and new experiments too: I have just bought 3 tinajas and I have in mind to use new varieties (and monastrell again) so it will be all about amphorae wines!!
I have also completed WSET level 2 and 3.
The Spanish Wine Scholar program was a fantastic opportunity for me to take a deep dive into Spanish wines and the Spanish territory. I consider some of the best DOs (Rias Baixas, Ribera del Duero, Priorat, Montsant, Utiel Requena, Bullas, Jumilla, Yecla) and varieties (Bobal, Garnacha, Trepat) in the world to come from Spain.
I would like to start soon with the Italian and French Wine Scholar Program. I would also like to develop my wine-related scientific skills. A course focusing on wine chemistry would be great !!!
My desire is progressively to turn this passion into a job. Courses such as the Spanish Wine Scholar program are a perfect match in this sense because they allow the development of solid knowledge and this is crucial for those who, like me, want to think about making a transition to this world.
