San Francisco, Calif. (December 2, 2014) - Is this the year to take your wine expertise to the next level? San Francisco Wine School unveils eight winter/spring wine programs and over 40 workshops designed to do just that. Classes take place in the San Francisco Bay Area and online in the School’s cutting edge virtual classroom, plus there will be a special traveling program in Las Vegas.
The 2015 calendar includes challenging coursework designed to bolster job skills while providing credentials that can bump students’ salaries. Programs include the California Wine Appellation Specialist certification, the Society of Wine Educators’ Certified Specialist of Wine program, the French Wine Scholar certification course, the Italian Wine Professional program, and Somm Essentials.
For a very targeted career boost, consider San Francisco Wine School’s three or four-hour workshops. More than 40 individual wine, spirits and service workshops within the School’s credential programs can be taken individually. They focus on wine regions of the world, including those in France, Italy, and California, and additional workshops target technical topics like Blind Wine Tasting Basics, Food Pairing Lab, Wine Service Techniques and Spirits Survey.
“I’ve taken classes at San Francisco Wine School at different stages in my career and through different jobs,” noted student Emily Crichton. “Even though the application of my newfound knowledge was different each time, every one of those classes greatly elevated my understanding of wine.”
San Francisco Wine School founder and instructor David Glancy is one of only twelve people in the world to hold both the revered Master Sommelier diploma and the Certified Wine Educator credential. More importantly, Glancy is a visionary for wine education, carefully selecting each program he offers. When he identifies a gap, he tailors a comprehensive program to fill that need.
Program & Workshop Descriptions
Blind Wine Tasting Basics – 3 hour workshop
Learn about the physiology of taste and how to evaluate acidity, tannin, residual sugar and other structural elements of wine. Start building your wine description vocabulary. Attend this fun 3-hour workshop to gain confidence in knowing what kind of wines you like and how to describe them. Or use this as the start of your journey in preparing for entry to mid-level wine exams.
Somm Essentials – Nine 4-hour classes + Exam
This program is a unique convergence of industry and product knowledge with service and tasting skills that are critical to staying competitive in today's hospitality industry. It goes beyond wine and includes education on the fundamental elements and styles of tea, coffee, bottled water, beer, wine, sake, and spirits, as well as each of their production techniques. Service, blind wine tasting, and food pairing will also be rigorously covered to prepare students for success. Students will taste over 30 wines and 10 beers/spirits throughout the course of the program to enhance reinforce the learning objectives, lectures, discussions, and reading. Somm Essentials is ideal for waiters, bartenders, foodservice managers, tasting room staff, and food writers, as well as those pursuing sommelier and other wine credentials. Students who pass the theory portion of the Somm Essentials exam will earn the Hospitality/Beverage Specialist Credential and post nominal. Students who pass the entire exam will receive the Somm Essentials Certificate.
Certified Specialist of Wine
Certified Specialist of Wine is a professional wine certification offered by the Society of Wine Educators that covers the entire world of wine. Our programs of study were created by Master Sommelier David Glancy to fully prepare students for this notoriously rigorous exam. Our programs include the official Society of Wine Educator's CSW Study Guide, access to the society's Online Wine Academy, and the CSW Exam. Students who pass the exam earn the CSW post nominal. The program is available in two formats. Single workshops are available within South SF program:
CSW Online 9-Week Credential Program – Virtual Classroom + Exam
CSW 11-Week Credential Program – Ten 3-hour classes + Exam
The 11-Week program includes guided blind tastings of over 70 wines from around the world to enhance learning. The 9-Week Online program includes in-depth weekly tasting assignments, ongoing class discussion with students and instructors, and comprehensive virtual lectures.
California Wine Appellation Specialist®
San Francisco Wine School is offering the first and only professional credential relating to California wine to support the next generation of industry-leading California wine experts. This credential program features material that is literally impossible to find from other resources:
Identification and interpretation of USA and California wine laws
Discussion of history and impact of California’s American Viticultural Areas
Detailed investigation of California’s wine production
Examination of the various climates, soils, grapes, and wineries of each region that make it distinctive to the California
The program is available in three formats. Single workshops are available within South SF program:
CWAS® 3-Day Credential Program – 22 hours of instruction
CWAS® Online 9-Week Credential Program – 8 classes + Exam
CWAS® 9-Week Credential Program – Eight 3-hour classes + Exam
The 9-Week and 3-Day programs include color manual, online access to virtual lectures & quizzes and guided blind tastings of over 60 California wines to enhance learning. The 9-Week Online program includes in-depth weekly tasting assignments, ongoing class discussion with students & instructors, and comprehensive virtual lectures, supplemental materials & quizzes. Upon completion, students earn the CWAS® post nominal.
French Wine Scholar – Eleven 3-hour classes + Exam
The French Wine Scholar 12-week program is an official course of study designed by the French Wine Society to provide current, accurate information and validate proficiency in the Wines of France. It includes in-depth coverage of all French wine regions and carefully selected guided blind tasting exercises of over 75 wines throughout the program to enhance learning. The program is endorsed by French National Wine Office and the French Ministry of Agriculture. Students who follow this curriculum and pass the exam are awarded the French Wine Scholar (FWS) post-nominal.
Italian Wine Professional – Nine 3-hour classes + Exam
The Italian Wine Professional credential is offered by Italian Wine Central, which has quickly gained traction among insider wine education circles as the most up-to-date resource on Italian wine. The goal of this 10-week program is to provide a solid foundation in the wines of Italy to professionals and enthusiasts who are passionate about Italian wine. Students will receive 27 hours of in depth instruction covering the following areas:
Italy’s geography, history, and climate
Italy’s major grape varieties and their main growing regions
Italian wine labeling conventions and how they fit into EU law
Locations and wine styles of Italy’s most important denominations that are widely available in the U.S.
In addition, students will be exposed to:
Latest ideas on Italian wine & food pairing
Strategies for presenting and selling Italian wines to restaurant and retail establishments
Approaches for creating compelling wine lists that showcase Italian wine
Basic pronunciation of Italian words and key terms
Each instructional unit will feature a presentation of the key material, which will be supported in class by interactive exercises with group discussion, sharing of tasting impressions, and ideas about food pairing. Wine maps will be a key learning component. Sessions will feature a tasting of over 60 regional wine styles. Students who follow this curriculum and pass the exam are awarded the Italian Wine Professional (IWP) post-nominal.
About San Francisco Wine School
We strongly believe that education propels everyone to greater success. At San Francisco Wine School, our mission is to breathe new energy into the world of wine education by teaching only the wine topics and credential programs that best prepare students for success, no matter what their career path. We strive to offer programs that are relevant to everyone, from students newly embarked on their discovery of wine, to advanced wine professionals already successfully established in the business.
Inspired educational programs are taught by industry-leading instructors and feature the best content in the business: expert course materials, carefully conceived wine flights, and in-depth blind tasting exercises designed to engage students, illuminate course content and enhance learning. Rigorous wine programs not only aid in credential exam preparation, but foster an in-depth understanding of wine types and world appellations and with that, a profound appreciation of the subject.
San Francisco Wine School launched the California Wine Appellation Specialist® (CWAS) credential, the first ever, in-depth California professional credential program, and Somm Essentials, a 40-hour intensive for the beverage and hospitality industries, while bringing together under one roof all of the credentials most important to wine professionals.
Check out our full schedule of programs, workshops and public events. Private, customized experiences and corporate training is also available.
