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5 Trending Italian White Grape Varieties

While Italian red wines still garner much of the attention, there are, without doubt, many outstanding white wines that deserve consideration. While white wines like Soave, Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi or Fiano di Avellino, are already well-known, there are also lesser-known — but rightfully...

Mary Kirk joins Wine Scholar Guild as Community and Membership Manager

We are thrilled to announce that Mary Kirk will be joining the WSG team as our Community and Membership Manager. Mary has been part of the WSG family since its beginnings and we are delighted to have her come onboard in this capacity as we know that she will be a great addition not only to our...

Discovering Alto Piemonte

The best-known wines of Piemonte, such as Barolo, Barbaresco, Roero Arneis and Moscato d’Asti are produced from grapes grown in the southern sector of the region; this includes the province of Cuneo and Asti, in districts such as the Langhe and Roero. But farther north, Alto Piemonte is a...

Wine Trends in 2020: Alsace by the Numbers

In the second part of our three-part series, acclaimed wine writer and Academic Advisor for the Wine Scholar Guild Andrew Jefford surveys the latest wine trends in Alsace. From larger vineyards to the prospect of Premier Crus — not to mention the impacts of climate change on the region’s bevy of...

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 & Spirits Education Trust (WSET)® in...

12 Wine Study Tips for Mastering Distance Learning

Across the world, the coronavirus pandemic has temporarily closed classrooms and required students to learn their course material entirely from home. At the Wine Scholar Guild, many new enrollments have shifted to the online wine study option for the foreseeable future. In fact, many students now...
Frost protection in Bordeaux, April 2017

French Lessons for a Warming World

Read Academic Advisor Andrew Jefford’s Keynote Speech to the 2020 Vancouver International Wine Festival in this specially prepared written version for the Wine Scholar Guild blog. Andrew is happy to respond to any questions or comments you may have about this post. Use the "Comments" feature at...

Top 10 reasons to study Spanish wine

Are you ready to dive into one of the world’s greatest wine-producing countries? If so, our next Spanish Wine Scholar Instructor-Led course is about to start, and we would love to have you join us! If you still aren’t sure, then take a look at these ten reasons why you should be studying Spanish...

Transforming Tempranillo by Sarah Jane Evans MW

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. WSG members enjoy a 20% discount on their Decanter Premium subscription! Get your coupon code HERE Over-zealous planting and heavy-handed use of oak...

PODCAST: Olivier Humbrecht, MW and Andrew Jefford on Alsace - Part 2

This episode is Part 2 of a conversation with Olivier Humbrecht, MW and Andrew Jefford about Alsace. The first part covered Olivier's journey to become France's first Master of Wine, as well as the history and vineyards of Domaine Zind-Humbrecht. Part 2 picks up with Olivier's philosophy of...

Franciacorta and Trento: A Tale of Two Cities

The story goes that a couple of years ago, at a high society charity event in Milan a noted British rock star was served a sparkling wine that impressed him so much that he asked to be introduced to its producer who happened to be present at the event, and to whom he is reported to have said “This...

PODCAST: Olivier Humbrecht, MW and Andrew Jefford on Alsace - Part 1

This episode features a conversation with Andrew Jefford, of Decanter Magazine, and Wine Scholar Guild’s Academic Advisor, and Olivier Humbrecht, of Domaine Zind-Humbrecht (Zind HUMbrescht) and Master of Wine. Done in two parts, this first half of the interview will first cover Olivier’s...

Wine Trends in 2020: Champagne by the Numbers

As an accomplished wine writer — and now as the Wine Scholar Guild’s Academic Advisor — Andrew Jefford has decades of experience watching the French wine industry evolve. Here, he takes a look at the wine trends that are shaping the Champagne region, its landscape, its climate, the industry and...

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. WSG Program Provider Awards...

PODCAST: Katrin Naelapaa of Wines from Spain

Katrin Naelapaa has been serving as Wines From Spain USA’s director since 2001. Born in Mexico City, and having studied in Madrid, Katrin was so deeply connected to the Spanish wine and food culture, she was fortunate to find a smooth transition to the wine world from her original career in...

Common Knowledge: The Massif Central

There have been moments in my career as a professional winophile where I’ve realized I haven’t retained a bit of information that perhaps I should have learned in grade school had I been paying attention. Everyone needs a refresher once in a while and this series of blog posts aims to fill in...

INTERVIEW: Reto Thörig and Juan Lo Bello from Wein-Werkstatt (Basel, Switzerland)

Meet Reto Thörig and Juan Lo Bello from Wein-Werkstatt in Basel, first wine school to offer the French Wine Scholar® program in Switzerland! The first FWS sessions at Wein-Werkstatt are scheduled to begin March and June 2020, more information and registration HERE You state on your website that...

Learning and loving (without counting): a week in the hills and cellars of Alsace

There’s no wine region I enjoy visiting more than Alsace. It’s beautiful, of course – and not just the half-timbered houses around which a profusion of flowers seem to float, or the grand hillside vineyards romping up to the forested Vosges mountains, always somehow bigger and more imposing in...

Hot Yet Hopeful: A Quick Look at the 2019 French Wine Harvest

After a generous 2018 French-wine harvest, nature has dialed back on its beneficence by around 12% in 2019: initial estimates put the crop at around 43.4 million hl compared to 49.4 m hl last year. That’s not disastrous, though, especially since clouds have been gathering over the export scene in...

WSG President receives Future 50 Award

The Wine Scholar Guild is proud to announce that Julien Camus, WSG President, has received a “Future 50” award! The Future 50 list, compiled by Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) and the International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC), recognizes 50 talented and enterprising professionals...