French Wine Scholar

For the last several weeks I have been studying for French Wine Scholar Certification. I posted earlier when I had first started the course, and now that I am about 1/2 way through, I can add to my earlier comments.

There are several ways you can attempt this certification. You can buy the manual and self-study and take the test online. This is how I started it. (Cost about $250). You also have the option to purchase access to the on-line academy with its maps, on-line modules and practice quizzes. (Cost about $475 with manual and test fees). This is what i am currently doing and I recommend it - it is well worth the extra money. Finally you can take a formal course with weekly classes that cover all the material and have you taste the wines of the areas you are studying. Cost about $950. I have tasted the various wines before and am spending several thousands of $$ already on my wine education, ( I am retired and living off my savings ) so I try to select the least expensive format that will still prepare me to pass the test. I actually was able to work with the San Francisco Wine School - a French Wine Scholar provider in the SF bay Area, to combine the self study course with a 1 day in-person review course, the on-line study modules and the in-person test. I appreciate their flexibility in setting this up.

First of all, I like this course. Every interaction with the text book, the online guides, the maps, the quizes, and especially my interactions with Julien and Celine Camus, the founders of the organization and with Lisa Airey, CWE the director of Education, has been at the highest level of expectation. This is a well designed and well run program.

As mentioned before the study guide is about 250 pages with considerable detail, and can seem overwhelming at first ( and even later when you study Burgundy's appellations in detail ), but if the practice quizzes are any guide to the final exam, then the level of comprehension expected, while detailed and holistic, is nevertheless fair.

The practice quizzes are, like everything else, done well and with enough diversity to keep them interesting and also provide additional learning. Some questions are map questions, and you are expected to click on the appropriate area of a map to identify particular regions or appellations. In the case of Burgundy you are expected to order the major communes from Northern-most to Southern-most according to their geography. And, as you are advised in the introduction to the course, you should know the details of those topics that are exceptional - such as the only 100% Aligote grape appellation in the Cotes Chalonnaise (Bouzeron).

And you are expected to know the difference between Givry and Gevrey (I missed that one : spelling counts!). Note: Givry is a village in Cote Challonaise and Gevrey is a village in the Cotes de Nuits with 9 grand cru vineyards in it. For franco-philic-oenophiles (sounds nasty) who have probably not only have memorized the 33 Grand Cru climats in Burgundy but also the 600+ Premier Crus, I am sure i sound ignorant and a wine newbie ( nolo-contendere, your honor ), but when you are learning all these new sounding names, it is easy enough to lose a few vowels in your place names. The French do it all the time.

Anyhow, enough whining. I also love the maps that are provided with this course. (I am a map person) they are very detailed and best of all they have the various appellations color coded. When you see the Grand Cru of the Cotes d'Or colored in red on a map, and especially for example the Corton Hill, you realize that although there are several Grand Cru appellations, they are literally located on a single hill. The area is actually quite small. You might not realize that ( I didn't ) without a good map and the hill high-lighted.

There are 10 modules in the course. As I mentioned in the earlier post, the layout is pretty standard, so you know what to expect as each module proceeds. Usually there are 2 parts to each module, each about 1 hour long. I think they are broken up mostly from a study aspect - that you need a break after an hour of studying. The download speed and on-line performance of the course is very good. I have had no complaints using only basic DSL.

I have found that I can complete each module in about 1-2 days. Usually i take notes on each section so the 1 hour session lasts a little longer. The on-line material is just about exactly the same as what is in the book. I take the notes just because I find that it helps my retention, despite the fact that I can read it in the book as well.

So each module consists of: 1-2 study units, maps, a quiz, and generally 1 or more 1 hr videos put together by an expert or inhabitant of the region explaining more about the area and its winemaking processes. These videos provide local color and also since they generally are native speakers, provide the listener with some more practice learning how to pronounce the names of French terms. For example, it took me several trys to understand that "el-zaz" was in fact Alsace because sometimes even the final 'z' was dropped, and what I was hearing was "elza". Now at least i understand that term. the people who present these videos are generally teachers as well, so the information content in them is quite good.

If one were to listen to all the content, study the maps and take the test, each of the modules might take around 3-4 hours to study. This is in addition to reading the book.

As I mentioned, from a test content, the book and the on-line pretty much mirror each other. The book however has additional appendix and side bar material that is not in the on-line course, and so far I have not found any of this material to be on the quizzes, so I assume it it not on the final test as well.

So this is where I am today, July 2nd. I started studying just after my June 6th WSET - Unit 6 test, I have read the book through once, I have 5 of the 10 modules complete, (Alsace, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Champagne) I will have a review course on July 23rd with SF Wine School, and I take the test on August 13th. The final exam is 100 questions of various formats, and passing grade is 75%.

I still have a lot of work to do.

john