Congratulations to Carrie Brock, FWS, for passing the French Wine Scholar exam with highest honors!
About Carrie:
I thought I was well-versed in wine, until I actually started formal wine education back in 2018. How little did I realize I knew! In fact, the pursuit of knowledge in wine leads you down a mind-bending path of a “the-more-you-learn, the-less-you-realize-you-know,” Socratic kind of concept. The more I discovered about wines of the world, the less I realized I knew about all of it; about viticulture, viniculture, terroir and, especially (my favorite), history. And what I love most about wine is that the history of wine is the history of our world.
I achieved my WSET Level 3 in 2019 and passed both Tasting and Theory with Distinction. For this I was very proud, and it encouraged me to further my studies. I wanted to dig deeper into specific wine regions of the world - quintessentially and most notably in the case, France. I loved taking the French Wine Scholar Course through Wine Scholar Guild. My best friend and I did it together (virtually) during the pandemic in 2020. As a side effect it probably saved our sanity, but more importantly, I was completely shocked and overwhelmed at the depth of knowledge I achieved on the subject. I now love being the authority on French wine to my friends and family! The most fun thing I’ve taken away is the ability to recommend wines from lesser-known French wine regions. I can help friends and family enjoy something incredible, maybe feel a little fancy, but also save some money.
I am hoping that my newly-discovered passion for French wine will lead me down a new career path, although I’m not sure yet what that may be. It’s funny how the wine bug bites you and never lets go. I think (at least in my case) you don’t necessarily become obsessed with the certificates or the pins you achieve, you actually become addicted to learning about wine. It is never-ending and all-encompassing. It’s a subject one can never truly master, because wine and all of its elements are constantly changing and evolving.
