Congratulations to Laura Smith, FWS, for passing the French Wine Scholar exam with highest honors!
About Laura:
I am a wine enthusiast and a big French wine fan, specifically Bordeaux and Rhône and wanted to focus my education more on the fabulous wines of France.
I started studying wine as a hobby after really enjoying domestic and international wine trips. Touring wineries and tasting local wines was always my favorite thing while traveling. While at home, I was annoyed if I purchased a wine I didn’t like or understand and wanted more of a background to make better choices.
I passed the WSET II with distinction and the WSET III with merit. After having my daughter in the fall of 2019, I wasn’t ready to commit to diploma studies but really wanted to get back into wine education. The French Wine Scholar was a perfect program for me, as French wines are also my favorite. The program definitely gave me more regional specific knowledge than I had learned in my prior WSET courses.
I may take the Italian Wine Scholar program next as I also have been known to enjoy a good Brunello and Barolo, but I’m not sure. I may do some independent study and travel (hopefully!) and consider additional formal education opportunities in a few years time.
I really enjoyed the French Wine Scholar program and feel like it helped round out my foundation of French wine. I’m more comfortable with regions I wasn’t as nuanced in such as the Loire and Bourgogne, and even have felt confident to try and recommend wines from Corsica!
I’m not sure where my passion in wine may go. Right now I have an Instagram page (@thirstyunderthirty) where I share affordable wine tips. Once the pandemic clears and things get back to normal, we are looking forward to traveling to France for a two week wine trip.
Living in California has also given me the chance to be a ‘regular’ in our own wine country.
