Congratulations to Tom Martin, IWS, for passing the Italian Wine Scholar exam with highest honors!
About Tom:
I am an enthusiast and former “Professor” at the Fox School of Wine in Park City, Utah. Google it.
When the Coronavirus pandemic spread across the US, I decided to enroll in the intensive IWS2 course led by Alan Tardi. I had already passed IWS1. With little else to do, I had plenty of time to read and reread the booklet and attend the webinars. I used the Learning Objectives (LO) templates to cull information from the manual and webinars and used my completed LO documents intensively for review. I sat the IWS2 exam in early June and learned that the Wine Scholar Guild has awarded me certification with highest honors! Very exciting!
Then, in early July my wife and I sold our home and moved to Maryland to stay safe from Coronavirus in our camper trailer on the farm of a friend. You’ll see in the attached photo a Western hat and Eastern plow as I proudly display my certificate. It is emblematic of my past and present.
What’s next depends on how soon the pandemic subsides and opportunities to work in the trade arise. Oh, and my wife and I need to find a home before winter locks us into our trailer!
My certifications include WSET3; FWS, IWS and Alsace Advanced Study. The WSET program got me deep into understanding wine, appellations, vineyard management techniques, and vinification techniques. The study and certifications with the Wine Scholar Guild have broadened my knowledge.
As for what comes next, I hope to resume study for the Advanced Program for Champagne that I suspended a while ago. I am also keen to take the Spanish Wine Scholar program.
The IWS, with two parts and many appellations and grape varieties, presented a challenge to learn and remember so much. It gave me the skill to learn and retain both basic and curious facts about geology, history, and culture. That skill will benefit me as I continue to explore the world of wine.
