Wine Scholar Guild Program Provider of the Year 2016

Wine Scholar Guild honors Sheral Schowe, M.Ed., FWS, as Instructor of the Year for 2016 and LaSalle College Vancouver (formerly The Art Institute of Vancouver) as Program Provider of the Year for 2016!

Program Provider of the Year rewards professionalism and perfectionism in the business of wine education. Judging criteria includes student volume, facilities, student evaluations and the overall profile of the course offerings given by that learning institution. These factors, together, create an award-winning environment of academic rigor and excellence.

Kudos to Mark Shipway DipWSET, FWS and Sharon McLean DipWSET, FWS of the International Culinary School at LaSalle College Vancouver (formerly The Art Institute of Vancouver), British Columbia, Canada, PROGRAM PROVIDER OF THE YEAR 2016!

INTERVIEW WITH MARK SHIPWAY DIPWSET, FWS
How does the French Wine Scholar curriculum fit with the other certification programs offered at The International Culinary School at The Art Institute of Vancouver ?

At LaSalle College Vancouver (formerly The Art Institute of Vancouver), our main concentration up until recently has been offering all four levels of the Wine & Spirit Education Trust program. When we launched the French Wine Scholar a few years back, we realized that this course was the perfect complement to WSET as it was an advanced level study, way beyond WSET level 3 in the wines of France. The other thing we found really appealing about FWS was the focus of the curriculum on history, culture and food & wine. What we now realize is that French Wine Scholar is gaining ground as a stand alone program with unique benefits.

Firstly the comprehensive nature of the curriculum - it covers Jura and Savoie and, etc. Secondly, it celebrates the quality wines of France - students are not really learning about and certainly not tasting the high volume, lower end of the French wine market.

Finally, the Wine Scholar Guild is truly a 21st century professional organization in terms of its web presence. The on-line support program for students studying WSG courses is hugely beneficial and simple things like community chat rooms and the on-line reporting of grades make a huge difference to candidates in the program. I foresee WSG courses continuing to grow exponentially. We are now proud to offer the Italian Wine Scholar course and look forward to the release of Spanish Wine Scholar and beyond!

Click here for full interview from the Wine Scholar Guild