Congratulations to Kathleen Mahoney, SWS, for passing the Spanish Wine Scholar exam with highest honors!
About Kathleen:
I am inspired by the combination of hard labor with attention to detail, art, and science that goes into a bottle of wine. My passion was born in my travels to wine-growing areas. I saw death-defyingly steep hills where the work of the vineyard was done. I learned of winemakers different visions of their wines. Some winemakers evoked the words of painters talking about their influences from other masters in the field. Other visions were to let the terroir speak for itself. These are truly the mark of artistry at work. My current interest is the science and how it impacts the art of winemaking. The winemaker, like the artist, must work hard, have a vision, and deal with the constraints of the physical world. Balancing these elements is the attraction of wine.
I aspire to being an advocate for great wine, and I have long had a dream to open a small wine bar to achieve that goal.
I have taken several WSET classes as well as programs offered in New York by other wine providers.
The SWS program provided the depth I was looking for in a specific wine region. Other classes were general and taught wines of the world.
I have no immediate plans to enroll in other certificate programs. I am interested in taking other Wine Scholar classes, particularly the French Wine Scholar. I learn best in person, so I hope that this class is offered in New York.
This program gave me more confidence in my ability to evaluate wine. I recognize the importance of having the generalist foundation, but without the detailed knowledge gained by drilling down into a specific region, it is difficult to fully understand the wine wholistically. You can view a vast forest from a distance and appreciate it, but walking among the trees is the greater joy.
