Congratulations to Marc-André Alain, SWS, for passing the Spanish Wine Scholar exam with highest honors!
About Marc-André:
I have been a wine enthusiast for many years, but my real interest to learn more about this subject, including the understanding of where the wine I buy comes from and how it is produced, really started to develop throughout some of my travels. I have had the chance to visit vineyards and wine producers in many countries, including some well-known regions like Tuscany and Burgundy, but also in lesser-known areas like Moldova and Armenia. I still intend on making more travels oriented toward wine discoveries, as it combines some of my two biggest interests!
More recently, I started a new Instagram account with one of my fellow WSET and SWS graduates: @wineingduo. We intend to use this media to share our discoveries, reviews and also travel experiences related to wine, mostly to talk about our visits into lesser-known wine producing regions.
In November 2018, I graduated with distinction from the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) Level 2. I feel like this program really gave me all the necessary tools and information needed to undertake a more advance program like the Spanish Wine Scholar (SWS).
The SWS program really contributed a lot to my knowledge on wines. For starters, I was very much of a novice on the subject of Spanish wines. As a result, everything was a discovery (maybe with the exception of the Rioja region). It also provided me with a very deep understanding of the wine production in Spain and what influences the wines of each region (and sub-region). I was not expecting to learn so much about climates, soils and even the names of the winds affecting the different wines.
I am very motivated to enroll in the French Wine Scholar and Italian Wine Scholar programs in the coming years. Most of my favorite wines come from France and Italy, so I cannot wait to learn more about all the factors that can influence the production and the taste of the wines in these countries, like I did learn about Spain.
The Spanish Wine Scholar program really made a world of difference in the way I approach the wines from this country. I used to only pick wines from La Rioja, but now I can explore all the other regions and have a pretty good idea and understanding of what I am going to get, only with little information.