Congratulations to Meg Herring, FWS, for passing the French Wine Scholar exam with highest honors!
About Meg:
Am I a wine professional or an enthusiast? A bit of both! I share wine with people through my blog, Meg & Merlot, and also through The Vintner Project, a website that I write for. My enthusiasm for wine spurred my jump into wine writing and blogging. As a casual sipper, I started to read more about winemaking, wine grapes, and regions, and then became interested in wine travel. After returning home from a trip to Champagne, I decided it was time to do something with all of my knowledge. I felt like I was bursting at the seams with stories and information that I wanted to share with people! I started my blog, launched social media efforts, and connected with wine lovers across the global. My enthusiasm for wine is the fuel that keeps my blog running.
I aspire to write more, both on my blog and other outlets. I’m very passionate about good value, handcrafted wines from well-known regions, especially in France and Italy, as well as under-discovered grapes and regions from across the globe. I want to help other curious wine lovers find wine gems—whether they are hiding in plain sight or require some effort to uncover.
The first wine certification course I enrolled in was WSET1. While I was in that course, the school offered a discount on WSET2 if you took the courses back-to-back. I hadn’t planned to do this, but I enrolled immediately! And I’m happy I did. I passed WSET2 with distinction. A few years later I enrolled in French Wine Scholar, which I recently passed with highest honors. For me, WSET2 provided a critical foundation and WSG’s courses are molding clay to shape my expertise around my vision and passions.
Since completing FWS, I enrolled in the new Italian Wine Scholar-Prep course. I’m really enjoying it! It is a holistic introduction for those who are new to Italian wines—and a good refresher for those who are already familiar. Both types of scholars will benefit from IWS-P before launching into IWS. I plan to enroll in IWS after a short summer break from studying.
I think the FWS program gives me credibility both to consumers and to wine professionals. The WSG programs have a reputation for being rigorous and thorough—people know you’re serious about wine! Plus, a background in French wine lends itself to learning about many regions. Obviously French wines are an important influence on grape growers and winemakers everywhere. From grapes to aging vessels, French wine impacts decisions across the world.
