Congratulations to Christa Pietromonaco, FWS for having successfully passed the French Wine Scholar exam with highest honors, with the NorthWest Wine Academy in Seattle!
About Christa:
''Wine has been a big part of my life, as I grew up in a large Italian family that loved celebrating. I experienced big meals with lots of wine on the table from an early age, and my grandfather even owned a wine distribution company for many years, sharing his passion for the industry with his family. Into my adult life, I have continued to develop my own love for spirits with tasting trips to Bordeaux, Bourgogne, the Rhone valley, Tuscany, Napa Valley, Paso Robles, and Walla Walla.
I am not a wine professional (I work in business administration at Microsoft), but someday I would love to turn my appreciation for the culture of wine into a career in the business of wine. Whether that would be pouring glasses in a tasting room, helping run the back-end business of a local winery, or following in my grandfather’s footsteps in distribution remains to be seen. But at some point, when I’ve had enough of the corporate 9-5, this will certainly be the direction I focus my career.
Although I have taken some local classes on winemaking, tasting, and pairing, The French Wine Scholar program is the first true certification program I have taken. I appreciate the value of the credential as I consider a future career in the wine business, and it’s also nice to know that the last several years of wine enthusiasm has helped build a base of knowledge which can be developed into “certified” expertise!
I intend to pursue an Italian Wine Scholar certification. I expect that my experience in the FWS program will help provide a foundation for how I approach the curriculum and studies in future certification programs.''