Niklas Karlén, FWS

Congratulations to Niklas Karlén, FWS from Sweden for passing the French Wine Scholar exam with the highest honors!

About Niklas:

''I’ve been a wine enthusiast for about ten years now. I call it a hobby but people close to me might refer to it as an obsession. What I find so engaging with the world of wine is the realization that you could actually improve in blind tasting with training and that there are always new things to discover. Travelling is always something I find particularly rewarding and so far I’ve had the pleasure to visit wine producers in eight different countries around the globe.

I am involved in the Swedish non-profit organization Munskänkarna (the world’s largest wine tasting organization with over 25 000 members) where I hold wine tastings and convene courses. Occasionally I write articles in the membership magazine and currently I am also working on a book manuscript about Greek wines. Recently I’ve started the Swedish website “vinprovaren.com” in order to share my tasting notes and educational material.

I passed the WSET level 3 award in wines and spirits with distinction in 2013. I’ve also taken courses at Munskänkarna and some university level courses at a culinary institute in Sweden (Restaurang- och hotellhögskolan Grythyttan). I believe that the FWS program has significantly deepened and refreshed my knowledge of French wines and will serve as a good stepping-stone to WSET level 4 diploma. However, I intend to take the Italian Wine Scholar certification before enrolling on that journey!

The FWS program has been especially rewarding because of its accurate and updated information about all aspects of French wines. This is very useful as I in turn organize tastings and courses in Sweden to educate people about French wine.''