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Wine Education

While tasting and enjoying wine will always be a personal and subjective experience, wine education opens a whole new world of understanding by demystifying the objectivity of how characteristics of individual grape varieties, climate, vineyard management approaches, and winemaking techniques all culminate to create what’s in your glass.

A Guide to The Wine Certification Program
That’s Right for You

Even if the wine industry isn’t your professional field, many wine enthusiasts find themselves drawn to seek wine education and certification. Once you begin scratching the surface of what’s in your stemware, you become aware of how deep and broad the world of wine is. It’s a vast body of knowledge that is always evolving—an exciting prospect for someone who loves learning!

What Are Your Wine Goals?

The organization you choose to learn with depends on your goals. Some programs are specifically designed for wine industry professionals, others are geared toward a broader student base of professionals and non-professional wine lovers alike.

Wine Enthusiast

Are you an enthusiast who wants a deeper understanding of grape varieties and regions so you can navigate a wine list and the shelves of a bottle shop more confidently? A solid understanding of grape varieties and wine regions, and the basics of food and wine pairing are keys that will unlock a new world of enjoyment and wine appreciation.

Wine Industry Professional

Are you interested in a career in the wine industry? If so, what aspect? There are many opportunities in the areas of sales, service, winemaking, and viticulture. Deepening your knowledge and gaining wine certification from a recognized and respected standard can further your career.

The Truth About Wine Study

What does wine education entail? You may be surprised to know that much of your time as a wine student consists of reading and note-taking rather than wine tasting. Wine theory covers topics such as agriculture, geography, climate and weather, world wine regions with their laws, rules, and regulations, and finally, specific grape varieties and wine styles around the world. Much of a wine student’s study time is filled with tracing and filling in blank wine maps, creating stacks of flashcards, and quizzing yourself until you’re cross-eyed.

Many entry-level courses require no personal study time outside of class, while other more advanced courses require a considerable study time commitment of 20+ hours per week. Regardless of whether your wine education journey is introductory or expert-level, one thing is for sure—it requires a fervent passion for wine. If all you have right now is a deep love for wine, you’re already on the right track!

5 Wine Certification Organizations

Here is a breakdown of just 5 of the major players in the world of wine education whose certifications are highly respected:

Vinum 55, wine education, wine and spirit education trust, wset

Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET)

Wine certification courses offered through WSET are ideal for both wine enthusiasts and professionals. Students are not required to work in the wine industry or in a hospitality-oriented role for any of their courses—ideal for non-professionals pursuing wine knowledge and credentials.

The academically-structured courses set the student up for success by offering all the resources needed through the materials and classes provided. Course and exam expectations are very clearly outlined. Levels 1 and 2 have multiple choice exams. The Level 3 exam includes 3 parts: multiple choice, short written answers, and introduces a tasting evaluation component to the exam (with the WSET’s Systematic Approach to Tasting [SAT]). The Level 4 Diploma exams do not include multiple choice questions but have essay-style questions, three of the modules include tasting evaluations, and there is also an independent research paper.

The WSET offers well-structured courses for any type of student, with a very transparent path to success.

Vinum 55, wine education, court of master sommeliers, cms

Court of Master Sommeliers (CMS)

Something that sets CMS apart from other organizations is that in addition to wine education, other topics that are emphasized making this course of study unique are service, beer, sake, and spirits. This is an excellent organization for the wine professional who intends to work in a capacity that includes aspects of on-premise beverage service. The CMS teaches a very in-depth method of wine tasting just as WSET does. Their wine-tasting approach uses a deductive tasting format to guide and codify the blind tasting process.

Aside from the Introductory course, CMS designations are for wine professionals seeking to further their sales and service-oriented wine careers. If you would like to pursue designations within the CMS, you must start with their Introductory course and move forward from there.

Aside from the Introductory course, CMS designations are for wine professionals seeking to further their sales and service-oriented wine careers. If you are already working as a wine professional or plan to be, and you are a disciplined, self-motivated learner, this course of study may be right for you.

The CMS offers a wide variety of wine education resources through membership to its education platform, GuildSomm. Membership to GuildSomm is open to the public.

Vinum 55, wine education, society of wine educators, swe

Society of Wine Educators (SWE)

The Society of Wine Educators is a highly-regarded institution that was founded in 1977 and its goal, as the name suggests, is to teach and train future educators. This in-depth focus on preparing to educate is a unique quality of SWE. In addition to the certifications listed below, the SWE offers additional courses in spirits education (we will only review the certifications specific to wine education here). SWE provides a clear path to successfully passing exams and provides all tools and materials needed for success.

Students who successfully pass the CSW and SWE exams not only learn wine theory and wine tasting skills, but presentation skills, keys to successful restaurant service, and the ability to eloquently pass on their knowledge through engaging wine classes and tastings.

Even though this organization is geared toward educating the educator, you do not need to be an educator or a wine industry professional to pursue certification through SWE.

You may become a member of the SWE without enrolling in a course to gain access to their library of wine education resources of study guides, flashcards, map exercises, and more.

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Wine Scholar Guild (WSG)

The Wine Scholar Guild offers deep-dive certification courses that cover wines of one specific country. These courses offer detailed supplemental education to other courses that offer a broad body of knowledge such as from WSET and CMS—it does not replace them.

Their programs of study are broken down into two different categories:

Similarly to SWE, anyone can sign up for a membership with WSG without enrolling in a course. Membership offers access to their library of wine education resources, including blank regional maps, webinars, and study guides.

Vinum 55, wine education, institute of masters of wine, mw

Institute of Masters of Wine (IMW)

There are two wine designations that are considered the highest achievement in the arena of wine education: Master of Wine and Master Sommelier through CMS. This program through the IMW is designed for serious wine professionals who intend to further their careers as major players in the global wine industry. MWs are renowned tasters who are regularly asked to judge competitions, lecture on wine courses, lead tastings, and asses some of the world’s finest private cellars. Currently, there are 415 MWs based in 30 countries.

The IMW offers tastings, seminars, and an international symposium. These opportunities are open for anyone to attend—you don’t have to be an MW or candidate to join in.

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Seek Recommendations

Reach out to individuals who hold certifications from the organizations you’re considering taking a course. Their experienced insight can help guide your decision.

Many of our team members at Vinum 55 hold certified designations from different wine education organizations. Here is what a few of our team members had to say about their wine education experiences:

“I did my intro through Court of Masters because of my passion for wine.  I didn’t have experience with serving in restaurants at the time but it helped me find Vinum 55 and I’m so glad.”
—Sandra Scott, Assistant Cellar Manager, Vinum 55 Scottsdale

“Earning my Certification as a Sommelier was one of my life highlights. The assessment was terrifying but at the same time rewarding. It is something I can hold onto forever!”
—Jordan White, Vinum 55 Logistics & Operations

“I first became passionate about wine when I moved to Boston and began serving at Legal Sea Foods. Sandy Block, vice president of beverage operations at Legal Sea Foods and Master of Wine sparked that interest. His humble approach and basic but very precise descriptions and pairings opened my eyes to something new. I was invited to join a 6-week beverage course that was catered specifically for restaurants and pairings led by him. It was fascinating, fun, and not pretentious as I had previously thought.

Fast forward to my career with Vinum 55 and that passion re-ignited. I completed my WSET 2 course and more recently CMS Level 1. I look forward to continuing both paths although I feel the WSET program is more approachable and relatable on all levels, from professional to personal collecting.”
—Chris Dirren, Cellar Manager, Vinum 55 Phoenix

“My journey through CMS 1 has reminded me of the importance of wine service standards and that knowing the grapes and regions is one thing but how to present and pour is a skill in itself as well!”
—Matt Vandegriff, Assistant Cellar Manager, Vinum 55 Phoenix

“I had the pleasure of training with two incredible Master Sommeliers, Peter Neptune for my WSET II course, and Michael B. Jordan, for my CMS I course. The WSET course in 2014 was intimate and helped my confidence a great deal when it came to regional wine knowledge. The CMS I course was in 2015 and greatly challenged my service and presentation skills in front of a large group of my peers. I look forward to studying for WSET III in the near future!”
—Jon Smith, Vinum 55 Logistics Manager

“I took my intro somm because I wanted to expand my knowledge and be more attractive to employers in the distributor world. After many years in restaurants as a buyer it was not challenging and nice to have the accreditation. After starting at a distributor I began WSET II wine and spirits. It was similar to intro somm and required little effort. Looking forward to WSET III.”
—Mike Dodgen, Vinum 55 Wine Director

“I had run successful wine lists for 2 different Houstons locations before I achieved my first wine certification. When I was serving at Tarbell’s, I got my first certification in wine, the Certified Specialist of Wine. This opened my eyes to the world of wine in a different way. Previously, I knew I could taste wine and run a program financially but had not studied it specifically. This led to my career with Vinum 55 and a passion I didn’t realize I had.

The next certification I achieved was Intro Level and Certified Sommelier via the Court of Masters Sommeliers. This was a totally different approach as this is a service-based certification. My more than 20 years of restaurant service came in handy in passing the service portion of the exam. Certified Sommelier is probably the most recognized wine certification.

WSET 2 was a very easy exam for me, having taken the previous 3 exams. I feel WSET is a great program for any wine collector to plug into to expand wine knowledge as an accompaniment to wine collecting.”
—Raini Keyser, Vinum 55 General Manager

Regardless of whether you’re a wine industry professional or an enthusiast, wine education is a valuable and enriching experience—and it may be the only way to quench your thirst for more knowledge!

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