Congratulations to Sherry Hinerman for passing the Rhone Master-Level exam with the perfect score of 100, earning the highest honors! Chapeau!
About Sherry:
Sherry is owner of Wine4Life.
''I am first and foremost a wine enthusiast. I was smitten by a love of wine early in life, but it was many years later that I developed a thirst for knowing more about the regions of the world producing wine and the people and techniques behind it all. As I was beginning to study more about wine, Linda Collier, the owner of Collier’s Wine Cellar, asked me to start teaching classes at her shop. This compelled me to go after more formal and structured wine education. My husband, Philip, is also a wine enthusiast with a couple of wine designations to his credit, so that has made it easy, and more enjoyable, to continue my pursuit of wine education and experiences. As a matter of fact, he proposed to me at a winery, we were married at a gorgeous winery in Sonoma County, and we honeymooned in the wine region of Tuscany. So you can see there is a common theme running through many of our life experiences.
After several years, I launched my own wine education and events company, Wine4Life. I currently lead wine classes and events for both consumers and corporations. I love helping people learn more about wine, at whatever level of knowledge they are, and helping create wine-themed events to enhance a myriad of social occasions. I see both of these as ways to enhance those moments where wine and life harmoniously integrate. After all, that’s what it’s all about, right?
My interest in wine led me to several educational venues over the past 10 years. I obtained the Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW) designation from the Society of Wine Educators and the Advanced (Level 3) designation from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET). I am currently working on the Diploma level of WSET.
I now am beginning to take advantage of the educational opportunities provided by the Wine Scholar Guild. It complements and reinforces the information from the other programs. There is valuable and serious education from each, but one of the things I love about the Wine Scholar Guild is its focus on the regions that I have a particular interest in and passion for. France definitely tops that list for me. The reason I started with the Rhone Master Level is that Northern Rhone wines are one of my favorites in the world. Coincidentally, Southern Rhone wines are my husband’s favorite, so we loved taking this trip together.
The immersion trip adds so much to the education. The ability to personally see, breathe, touch and taste what these regions offer brings to life the education in a unique way. It was no surprise to me that I scored higher on this exam than some of the others as I had the advantage of the immersion experience.
For me, continuing education is a given--both for my own pleasure and to better serve my clients. So much to know and keep up with--and what pleasure to learn! Having completed the Rhone Master level, I’m turning my attention towards the other Master Level options, hopefully culminating in the FWS designation. Burgundy and Southwest France are top on my list. I also look forward to seeing what offerings come from Italy and Spain. And as mentioned before, I plan to complete my WSET Diploma. I think they will reinforce each other beautifully.
The Master-Level program allows me to feed my wine passion and further my wine knowledge in several ways. First, as mentioned before, the Master-Level program allows me to dive deeply into the regions I have a particular interest in. Second, the immersion trips are the pinnacle of this learning. No textbook can take the place of standing in front of iconic winemakers in the middle of their vineyard, then moving the “classroom” into their cellars to taste the results of all their work. And finally, I can do this at a pace that works for me. Perfect.
I’m looking forward with excitement to the next Immersion trip this year…''.
