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There is no set path to becoming a sommelier, but many restaurants require professional certification. Training programs cover wine characteristics, regions, tasting, and business aspects. Institutions such as the Culinary Institute of America and the International Sommelier Guild offer programs and certification exams. The Tribunal of Master Sommeliers offers four levels of certification, with less than 200 people holding the title of Master Sommelier.
Sommeliers, or wine stewards, work in restaurants and are experts at pairing wine and food. There is no single training path to becoming a sommelier, because anyone working in the role can use the title. Many restaurants, however, expect sommelier job applicants to have gained professional certification by passing competency exams. Some people who earn certification are self-taught, and others participate in professional or sommelier training programs that teach aspiring sommeliers about all aspects of grape varieties, winemaking, tasting, and serving wines.
Students in formal training programs must be of legal drinking age in their country. Training programs usually consist of courses on wine characteristics, world wine regions, using the senses to taste wine, and the business aspects of working as a sommelier in a restaurant. Students of wine sommelier or professional training programs can visit wineries, vineyards, food markets, restaurants and other businesses related to the wine industry.
Several institutions and organizations around the world offer sommelier training for people seeking professional-level wine knowledge. The length of the program and the course may differ, as there are no standard training requirements. Just a few examples of organizations offering sommelier training include the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in California’s Napa Valley wine country and the International Sommelier Guild. The Guild has offices in the United States and Canada and offers sommelier training classes around the world.
At CIA, the professional wine training program involves 30 weeks of instruction leading to a certificate. The program includes courses in New World wines, European wine regions, wine business, culinary skills and much more. The organization also offers certification exams that allow wine professionals to place the acronyms CWP or ACWP after their names, which stand for certified wine professional and advanced wine professional.
The International Sommelier Guild offers a sommelier diploma program. Sommeliers are accredited upon completion of the six-month program. Sommelier classes are held once a week for eight hours a day and teach students about winemaking, tasting techniques, cellaring, decanting and serving wine, and much more.
Another organization, the internationally recognized Tribunal of Master Sommeliers, offers four levels of certification. Receiving the prestigious and rare title of Master Sommelier involves passing all the increasingly difficult levels; there are less than 200 people in the world who have held the title. Exams include blind tasting, theory and practical portions of wine service. For master sommelier certification, participants must blind taste six wines with a 75% approval rating. The blind tasting includes identifying the wine, year, region and more.
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