Congratulations to Rita Loyd, FWS, for passing the French Wine Scholar exam with highest honors!
About Rita:
My passion for wine started at university when I would go wine tasting on the weekends with friends in the Shawnee Wine Trails outside of Carbondale, Illinois. Once I moved to Los Angeles, California I began experiencing wine tastings all throughout the state and really started appreciating the unique distinctions of the wines and terroir. I then started working at a wine shop and would host tastings each weekend featuring wines from various countries. With this continued interest in the industry I got directly into sales as a Wine Sales Rep for a local winery – Riboli Family of San Antonio Winery two years ago. Recently I was promoted as District Manager in sales for Southern California Chain Division. I would love to continue in my wine career rather than be in sales or teaching classes or touring the world judging beautiful wines. Santé!
Along with the FWS, I have the WSET Level I and II certifications as well. In the past year, with my continued wine education it helped me exceed in my career and I was named Sales Representative of the Year for 2018 with my district for Riboli Family Wines. I am in the process soon to be achieving the WSET Level III. I believe the FWS provides a good foundation on the development of wine that is used throughout the world. I would like to continue to broaden my knowledge of wine by taking the WSET Level IV diploma and possibly one day starting the process of the Master of Wine program.
When I plan to travel the world (especially Europe again) It will help me understand the terroir of the regions (history, grapes, soils, climate, aspect, and more). There is so much more to wine than just the grape alone. By focusing on one country, this will help me when I enhance my studies for multiple countries. Again, as I have previously mentioned I believe the FWS provides a good base for wine education. I can’t wait to visit France again with this newfound knowledge!
