Congratulations to Dr Nicholas Lotz, SWS, for passing the Spanish Wine Scholar (SWS) exam with highest honors with the Sydney Wine Academy.  In addition to the SWS Nicholas has completed Mastering Australian Wine, WSET Award level 2 and level 3 with the Sydney Wine Academy.

 The following is an interview with Nicholas conducted by the Wine Scholar Guild

“I have been a wine enthusiast for many years.  When I spent a fellowship year in France in 2005 for my training as a Plastic Surgeon this gave me my first real glimpse of international wines. In my medical practice I am often given nice bottles of wine by grateful patients, and this is how my wine collection and interest really got going.  Over the years I have become increasingly interested in collecting and tasting fine wines from the classic regions of the world. I then decided it was time to gain a little more in depth knowledge to better appreciate and understand what I was both drinking and collecting. Entering the WSET courses seemed like a good place to start.

 The first wine education course I enrolled in was the WSET level 2. This opened a whole new level of wine appreciation, as well as showing me how many more amazing wine regions of the world there are. WSET 3 followed shortly thereafter, and the increased depth of knowledge this provided only captivated my interest further.

I really enjoy blind tasting. It reminds me a lot of medicine, where you see a patient with a set of specific signs and symptoms and have to put it all together to come up with a diagnosis. Blind tasting is similar in that you need to analyse the colour, aromas and structure of the wine before you narrow down what wine it might be. It is a great feeling when you get it right.

I loved the Spanish Wine Scholar because it not only gave me a deeper appreciation of the wines of Spain, but we also learnt about the history and geography of the country and I am looking forward to returning there.  I would love to do the French Wine Scholar next, as I have always loved the language and culture, and my family history is linked to France.

In the future I would like to do the WSET  Diploma when work allows. I’ve heard the Diploma takes quite a commitment of time however having already studied the wines of Spain in depth, I think this will give me a great head start.”