Sommelier certifications

A good friend, colleague and client of mine has a friend who is interested in getting involved in the wine business. He is considering enrolling in a certification course offered by the American Sommelier Association in New York City. Can anyone tell me if this is a good and reputable program?

And can anyone recommend an alternative course of Study in the NYC/Philadelphia area?

Thank you.

Covert

One of our regular Wed. night Chat folks has just completed the WSET (Wine & Spirits Educational Trust) Sommelier course in Boston. I hear it is highly rated. Here is a list of their locations in North America: http://www.wset.co.uk/where_to_study/default.asp?rid=5

[David M. Bueker]

The WSET program is widely recognized as a legitimate certification.

If your friend intends working in a restaurant then the Sommelier qualification would be good: if he is interested in an internationally accepted industry certification then WSET leads all the way to MW

One of our regular Wed. night Chat folks has just completed the WSET (Wine & Spirits Educational Trust) Sommelier course in Boston. I hear it is highly rated. Here is a list of their locations in North America: http://www.wset.co.uk/where_to_study/default.asp?rid=5

Thank you, Howie, and David.

Covert

If your friend intends working in a restaurant then the Sommelier qualification would be good: if he is interested in an internationally accepted industry certification then WSET leads all the way to MW

Thank you, too, Peter. This is good information.

Covert

I agree with the WSET program. Took the first course and it was very good. It required a lot of pre-course reading that got you up to speed.

In addition to the WSET, there is also the Court of Master Sommeliers program which leads to the MS
It is a certification for those in the service industry
An overview of that program is here:
http://www.mastersommeliers.org/Pages.a ... s-Overview

Thanks for asking this question, Covert. I have decided to become a certified sommelier within a year or retiring in the next year or two.

Thanks for asking this question, Covert. I have decided to become a certified sommelier within a year or retiring in the next year or two.

Thanks, Jon, and John Fiola, too. The lady who asked me is an important client, as well as a good friend. She was surprised and delighted that I could get back to her with advice so quickly. I explained that I put the question out on WLDG.

I am likewise thinking about what to do in 'retirement', but a hard part of actually being a part-time sommelier is working during evenings when I could be on the other side of the table, instead. It would be fun to gain so much knowledge, though, even for the sake of discussions with kindred friends.

...I am likewise thinking about what to do in 'retirement', but a hard part of actually being a part-time sommelier is....

For you, it might be having to drink (and recommend) something besides Bordeaux and Chardonnay.

...I am likewise thinking about what to do in 'retirement', but a hard part of actually being a part-time sommelier is....

For you, it might be having to drink (and recommend) something besides Bordeaux and Chardonnay.

That is the biggest reason, you are very correct.

I helped a friend out in his local wine store a couple of times for the heck of it. When anyone would ask for a red recommendation, I would always push the most appropriate Bordeaux for the occasion. I stopped 'helping' when I foung out that people were sneaking the bottles back for exchanges on Cal cabs or other dross (said kiddingly) when I was not there. But I would occasionally recommend a Viognier instead of a Chard.

hmmm - in the course of this discussion 'he' became a 'she'. anyway, i'm not convinced that taking such courses will be much help at least initially in the 'wine business'. as someone said becoming a certified sommelier will be of help IF someone wants be involved in the restaurant trade; can't imagine it would be otherwise. and being a sommelier isn't really being in the wine business - that is the restaurant business. normally when someone says wine business, the mean working for a distributor, retail store, winery, etc. the main thing that will advance one in the wine business is experience, experience, experience - in that order. many wine people aspire to be involved with a fine wine importer. here, sales experience on the wholesale level is critical and sometimes knowing french or italian is a help. FWIW.

hmmm - in the course of this discussion 'he' became a 'she'. anyway, i'm not convinced that taking such courses will be much help at least initially in the 'wine business'. as someone said becoming a certified sommelier will be of help IF someone wants be involved in the restaurant trade; can't imagine it would be otherwise. and being a sommelier isn't really being in the wine business - that is the restaurant business. normally when someone says wine business, the mean working for a distributor, retail store, winery, etc. the main thing that will advance one in the wine business is experience, experience, experience - in that order. many wine people aspire to be involved with a fine wine importer. here, sales experience on the wholesale level is critical and sometimes knowing french or italian is a help. FWIW.

All true, David. But I think I'd like the restaurant business as well as the wine business and I don't think I'd mind which side of the table I was on as Covert suggested. Sommelier seems to be a nice wormhole between the two universes. I am currently cultivating relationships with those in both businesses. We'll see where the road leads and even if it's nowhere, it'll be a nice trip.

hmmm - in the course of this discussion 'he' became a 'she'. anyway, i'm not convinced that taking such courses will be much help at least initially in the 'wine business'. as someone said becoming a certified sommelier will be of help IF someone wants be involved in the restaurant trade; can't imagine it would be otherwise. and being a sommelier isn't really being in the wine business - that is the restaurant business. normally when someone says wine business, the mean working for a distributor, retail store, winery, etc. the main thing that will advance one in the wine business is experience, experience, experience - in that order. many wine people aspire to be involved with a fine wine importer. here, sales experience on the wholesale level is critical and sometimes knowing french or italian is a help. FWIW.

David, you are looking behind doors. I said I had a friend and colleague (whose gender I did not identify, but who happens to be a she) who has a colleague (who is a he) who wants to get into the wine business. Here I am trying to be social and nice, and not talking about “women” friends, for which I have been criticized, and forum members are still giving me gratuitous crap.

Peter May subsequently referred to the person looking for the course as ‘my friend’, which I didn’t correct or defend, since any friend of my lady friend is indeed a friend of mine, even if I have not met him.

I am not sure whether the man wants to be a sommelier and my lady friend just used the “business” reference on her own, since she is not the interested party, and can be given a little leeway of expression; or if he, the party, for some reason feels that a sommelier course might be instructive for whatever kind of business he is pursuing. I noticed the slight lack of completeness in her question, but didn’t care. I could have included a bunch of qualifications if I thought I was talking to a hostile crowd on WLDG. But I didn’t, and still don’t, for the most part.

hmmm - in the course of this discussion 'he' became a 'she'. anyway, i'm not convinced that taking such courses will be much help at least initially in the 'wine business'. as someone said becoming a certified sommelier will be of help IF someone wants be involved in the restaurant trade; can't imagine it would be otherwise. and being a sommelier isn't really being in the wine business - that is the restaurant business. normally when someone says wine business, the mean working for a distributor, retail store, winery, etc. the main thing that will advance one in the wine business is experience, experience, experience - in that order. many wine people aspire to be involved with a fine wine importer. here, sales experience on the wholesale level is critical and sometimes knowing french or italian is a help. FWIW.

All true, David. But I think I'd like the restaurant business as well as the wine business and I don't think I'd mind which side of the table I was on as Covert suggested. Sommelier seems to be a nice wormhole between the two universes. I am currently cultivating relationships with those in both businesses. We'll see where the road leads and even if it's nowhere, it'll be a nice trip.

Hi Jon. I invite you to consider that it might not be all true. Please see my note to David.

hmmm - in the course of this discussion 'he' became a 'she'. anyway, i'm not convinced that taking such courses will be much help at least initially in the 'wine business'. as someone said becoming a certified sommelier will be of help IF someone wants be involved in the restaurant trade; can't imagine it would be otherwise. and being a sommelier isn't really being in the wine business - that is the restaurant business. normally when someone says wine business, the mean working for a distributor, retail store, winery, etc. the main thing that will advance one in the wine business is experience, experience, experience - in that order. many wine people aspire to be involved with a fine wine importer. here, sales experience on the wholesale level is critical and sometimes knowing french or italian is a help. FWIW.

On second thought maybe it is I looking behind doors if all you meant was that some of the forum members read my note too quickly and changed gender, rather than that I was being inconsistent or talking bull---t in first saying the friend was a he and then a she. If so I apologize for my tone in my other response to you.

Your note to David is noted, Covert.