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EmailI'd love to take a wine education program but all the institutions in my area charge an arm and a leg for the courses. What's the best way I can learn more in a cost-effective way?
Published: November 30, 2011
Having a wine certification is a bit like having a culinary degree. Is a certification required to become a wine professional? Absolutely not—like cooking or management, it is a field that is very much about what you know and what you can do. Can a wine certification open doors to career opportunities and is it a valuable credential? Absolutely.
The advantage of a formal program is that for many of us, when balancing work (especially in the restaurant industry), personal and family life, and professional development—professional development does not get the attention it deserves. Enrolling in a formal program has value not only in learning the material but also in carving a distinct time out of our lives for wine education.
But there are many ways to learn about wine. Mimi Martin, owner and director of Wine and Spirit Archive, a wine education center in Portland and Seattle says, “Um, how 'bout a library card? But seriously folks, the Andrea Robinson book, Great Wine Made Simple, offers a great way to teach yourself about wine at home (she walks you through several tastings). Set up the tastings with friends or family, because it's really helpful to taste in a group.” A group of young restaurant managers that I know started holding their own tastings on Thursday mornings. But, Martin adds, “The certification programs are totally worth it!”
Beyond self-teaching, look for community college wine programs such as Anne Arundel Community College’s Hospitality, Culinary and Tourism Institute. These publicly supported programs may be more reasonably priced than a private wine school. Finally, the last decade has brought us increasingly informative and often free (excluding the cost of wine) or low cost web courses, guided tastings, and even online certification courses.
The Advice Guy is Jonathan Deutsch, Ph.D., associate professor of culinary arts at Kingsborough Community College, CUNY and public health at the CUNY Graduate Center. He is the author or editor of six books including Culinary Improvisation (Pearson, 2010).
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Wine Education Programs
But I thought we should mention that an important point about certification programs is that they ensure the student has learned the foundation or core factors so that there are no gaps or blind spots the self taught student may have yet be unaware of... Second, an organized education approach focuses on specific levels of learning so that the student is able to better retain and recall the information they are gathering. This organized approach serves as an ongoing 'outline' or template for the student to use in his/her ongoing-lifelong education in wine. Many self taught students don't know where to start or what to study and they end up just trying to absorb it all - all at once. The various certification programs create a series of steps with verification of learning so that the student may measure his/her success at each level.
This foundation or stair -step approach provides the student confidence and structure when interacting with customers. It can also greatly speed up the learning process.
All the best in your wine adventures!