Congratulations to Michael Tremblay, FWS, for passing the French Wine Scholar exam with highest honors with IWEG in Toronto!
About Michael:
"I am a wine professional and have been running the wine and sake program at Ki for about 6 years. We currently have a beverage list that consists of about 60 Japanese sake and 150 wines from all over the world. I like to keep learning, and the French Wine Scholar course gave me the opportunity to delve deeper into my understanding of French Wine, especially its history and the super geeky stuff! My hope is to further my Wine Scholar studies and complete the Italian Wine Scholar in the near future. I currently have my WSET Level 3 Award in Wine and Spirits, the WSET Level 3 Award in Sake, the Advanced Sake Professional certification from Tokyo, and the International Kikisake-shi from the Sake Service Institute of Japan. I also teach the WSET Level 3 Award in Sake.
The world of wine is so vast and it’s virtually impossible to know everything there is to know (or retain!), especially when my focus is on Japanese sake. Thus, revisiting the world of French wine, a part of the world that began my passion for wine two decades ago, has been totally worthwhile in pushing the boundaries of my knowledge, in particular learning more about the French wine regions that are off the beaten path.
I loved the FWS program! The online tutorials are great, and the textbook is packed with information on every corner of France’s wine industry. The in-class learning complemented this and piqued my interest in regions, such as Jura, that I had forgotten about. It’s a badge of honour to hold the FWS pin, given the vast amount of information you need to learn in order to successfully pass the exam. While I am not sure where my career in wine, sake and hospitality will take me, completing the FWS program will not doubt play a role in my future endeavours."
