Congratulations to David P Green, FWS, for achieving highest honors on the French Wine Scholar exam with Southern Glazers!
About David:
My passion for wine initially started when I was creating schematics for Ralphs and Kroger Grocery chains over 10 years ago. This was where I was introduced to the breadth of the wine world, and it fascinated me. I followed my passion and started working as a chain sales representative for Southern Wine & Spirits. Working hands on in the industry, my curiosity grew. I began taking the introductory wine courses, but immediately enrolled in wine courses for more knowledge. At this point, I was hooked.
I was lucky to take Master Sommelier Level 1 with Fred Dame. Fred and 2 other Master Sommeliers taught the 2 day course at the conference room at my office. This really lit a fire for me. Fred is so passionate and takes wines so personally I wanted to know as much as I could about wine.
The course that drove me deep into studying was WSET 3. From this point on I loved to learn about more than just the wine, but history, culture, geography, geology, and politics that took all wines on a journey through time. I started to understand there’s more than a lot of different separate growing regions, but all these regions had a connection; everything was connected.
After passing WSET 3, I enrolled in the CSW (Certified Specialist in Wine). I really enjoyed taking these courses back-to-back because there was a lot of the same overall information , but presented in different ways. This deepened the connections to wine regions.
At this point in my career I was out of chains and working the San Diego On-Premise market. I then took Italian Wine Professional which lead me to French Wine Scholar. Each one of these courses builds a deeper base of knowledge that I use in the market everyday.
The next course I’m planning on taking is Certified Wine Educator.
The FWS program has enriched my love for French Wine. I was always a little intimated by French Wine due to the history behind the regions and how almost all wine is connected to France. I am now very comfortable with French Wine as a whole and know it will further my career in wine.
