Congratulations to Shaughn Jenkins, SWS, for passing the Spanish Wine Scholar exam with highest honors!
About Shaughn:
I am a wine professional. In between wine studies I operate a wine education company called Through the Cellar Door while I am also Direct Sales Manager for Maxwell Wines in McLaren Vale, South Australia, managing the cellar door, wine club & e-commerce.
I’ve been in hospitality since my teenage years but caught the wine bug around 10 years ago back home in New Zealand after returning from travel in Europe.
Wine was a happy accident for me, I found wine sat at the crossroads of my favourite subjects of Geography and Classical History, as well as drawing on my love of travel. Within my first 6 months in wine I was lucky to become heavily involved in staff training, educating for external companies like airlines and hosting tastings in the trade, all of which spurred on my passion for wine education. Over the last decade I’ve travelled to several countries with wine, and worked with many parts of the industry, spending time in restaurants, tasting rooms, offices, vineyards & wineries.
I aspire to help instill passion for wine in people around the world, I really enjoy educating and draw excitement from the small and out of the way wine regions of the world. Uncovering their histories and mysteries whether they be emerging or ancient is of never ending fascination for me, and I’d like to continue to bring their stories to the world.
I have passed WSET Level 2 (Distinction), Level 3 (Merit – Tasting, Distinction – Theory) & French Wine Scholar (Honours). The Spanish Wine Scholar program helped build a deeper understanding upon the foundations of what I had attained with WSET 2,3, cementing my own interest and passion in Spanish wine and culture. Having already passed FWS, the program was easy to use and I found the book and online materials even more intuitive.
I am currently enrolled in the WSET Level 4 Diploma, with the aim to graduate in the coming months. The Spanish Wine Scholar program has made an immense difference to my D3 Wines of the World studies, allowing me to stand up amongst my Diploma peers and talk confidently about Spanish wine, its history and its current place in the world.
I look towards entry into the Institute of Masters of Wine in the years to come, I have no doubt the in-depth knowledge gained via the SWS will be of great use to that end.
As I further expand my career with wine education and spread my own passion for the fine wines of the world, the thoroughly contagious passion that Rick and the whole SWS team have for Spanish wine will continue to shine through myself and all those who take the SWS program. I would heartily recommend anyone with an interest in Spanish wine or culture to further their passion & career for wine with the SWS program.
