Congratulations to Marco D’Ignazio, FWS, for passing the French Wine Scholar exam with highest honors!
About Marco:
I am a wine enthusiast from Italy, and I live in Tampere, Finland where I work as a Civil Engineer and part-time as a researcher at the University. My passion for wine is long-dated and it started when, as a kid, I was helping my Granpa making wine for our family in the central Italy region of Abruzzo. Back in the days, I was only allowed to taste the sweet and fresh must!
My passion for wine got stronger and stronger, especially during the last few years, so I decided to go for high-quality wine education to reorganize my sparse thoughts and knowledge about wine and to learn more about tasting techniques and wine styles. At least for now, wine is just my favorite hobby!
I attend wine tasting events as much as possible and I enjoy organizing tastings for my friends and colleagues. I always take a lot of notes and I write reviews on my Instagram account. Besides studying wines, I love spending my free time playing guitar, watching football, playing tennis, traveling, and cooking.
The French Wine Scholar program is a benchmark for whoever wants to learn about wine in depth. Knowing French wine traditions, appellations, grapes, and winemaking techniques is the key to understanding the world of wine and the wine styles that are made around the world. For this reason, I decided to take the FWS before any other course. I took the online FWS instructor-led format and truly enjoyed listening to Sharon and Lisa. At the same time, it was also a good way to refresh my French language and to find excuses to taste different wines every week!
I am currently studying for the Italian Wine Scholar (Unit 1 passed!) and the Spanish Wine Scholar. I have a WSET Level 2 qualification and I plan, later this year, to take the WSET Level 3 course. Ain’t it over? Not at all! I am also enrolled in Level 2 of the Capstone California Wine certification program. Never stop learning and, of course, tasting!
I see the FWS program as the foundation of all wine education programs. The FWS course truly opened my mind and stimulated my curiosity and my hunger (or thirst!) for learning. I feel more confident now when I read a French wine label or when I hear experts talking about Bordeaux blends, Burgundian styles or “Méthode Traditionelle”. I am only at the beginning of my wine journey and I hope, one day, to become a wine critic and educator. For now, I can say that thanks to Wine Scholar Guild, this journey is being more fun and interesting than I thought! Santé!
