Master Sommelier John Szabo was the first Canadian to add the “MS” after his name in 2004. He’s seen the hospitality business from all sides including cooking and washing dishes, serving and sommel...
Student Spotlight: Getting to Know Alison Louis dit Alleaume
Student Spotlight: Getting to Know Alison Louis dit AlleaumeFrom Spanish and Malagasy origins, Alison Louis dit Alleaume grew up in Switzerland and graduated from the Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne ...
San Francisco Wine School and Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits Unite for Corporate Education
Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits, the leading wine and spirits distributor in the US, has chosen the San Francisco Wine School to be an external education provider in California, with the first...
Student Spotlight: Getting to Know Wilbert Herrera
Student Spotlight: Getting to Know Wilbert Herrera Wilbert Herrera is an enthusiastic member of the San Francisco Wine School family. He's taken Intro to Blind Tasting, and successfully completed...
On November 18, 2016, The French American Chamber of Commerce of San Francisco conducted the finals of the “Best Wine Students of La Soiree” at The Village on Market Street in San Francisco.
COURT OF MASTER SOMMELIERS, AMERICAS WELCOMES THREE NEW MASTERS TO IT'S PRESTIGIOUS RANKS
COURT OF MASTER SOMMELIERS, AMERICAS WELCOMES THREE NEW MASTERS TO ITS PRESTIGIOUS RANKS Today, the Court of Master Sommeliers, Americas welcomes three new members: David Keck of Camerata of Pau...
THE DOTS ON THE MAP ON THE WALL "The First Dot" (An intern story) By Michelle R. Carlín - Part 2
And my mentor was right...I'd never forget those lessons after perceiving the scent of that vineyard at the lavender field that was my first contact with a winery from inside, the books are amazing...
If I can transport myself to a decisive moment in my life, when everything changes it would be for sure the moment when I was leaving Argentina in 2007. After a failed attempt to make a wine career...
Meet Hugh Johnson - Preeminent Wine Writer
No education in wine is complete, even founded well, without time spent learning from the writings of England’s Hugh Johnson. Like many before and since my first encounters with his work stemmed fr...
Steven Spurrier: Father of the Judgement of Paris Wine Competition
Steven Spurrier's international stature was assured in 1976 when he organized and led the legendary ‘Judgement of Paris’, blind tasting for French trade and media. California wines won the competi...
Meet Javier Zaccagnini - Spanish Viticulturist
Upon leaving work auto-related businesses Javier Zaccagnini’s career has careened through some of the more savory developments in Spain, and mostly in Ribera del Duero. The Valladolid resident had ...
Student Spotlight: Alicia Cuadra-Cutler
Student Spotlight: Alicia Cuadra-Cutler Alicia Cuadra-Cutler began her love of wine in 2010 while living in Santa Cruz and tasting through the Santa Cruz Mountains. Soon after, she took a position...
Student Spotlight: Kamolnutt “Nu-Beer” Putthongvilai
Student Spotlight: Kamolnutt "Nu-Beer" Putthongvilai Nu-Beer is the restaurant manager at M.Y. China, a modern Chinese restaurant located at Westfield San Francisco Centre in the heart of downtown...
Meet Roger Aquilina - Malta's Renowned Oenologist
My first, and to date only, visit to Malta occurred this past February when I accepted an invitation from its NYC-based US tourism representative. As most of its produce is consumed in situ by its ...
Meet Greg Jones - Professor and Climatologist
Meet Professor Greg Jones, a research climatologist who specializes in the viticulture, focussing on how climate variation influences vine growth, wine production and wine quality. Read more about...
Meet Madeline Triffon - First American Female Master Sommelier
Madeline Triffon has traversed the eddies of being not only a female pioneer in the until recently male-dominated US wine business, but more so in being the first Master Sommelier of her gender. W...
Meet Tom Stevenson - The Sparkling Wine Authority
If anyone on this website hasn't heard and read of Tom Stevenson then they've grossly misstepped. Worth noting is that after a trying time interviewing a previous subject via email I balked at doin...
Meet Richard Smart - The 'Flying Vine Doctor'
The ‘Flying Vine Doctor’ Richard Smart has been involved with worldwide viticulture since the mid 1960s dating to time spent at Roseworthy College in his native Australia where he once served as it...
The word “sommelier”, or wine waiter, may have stemmed from the old French words “sommerier”, “somier”, and “bête de somme”. In this old French language, a “bête de somme” was a “beast of burden” a...
The second half of 2013 saw an upsurge in activities for women in wine in South America. In December at the Museo del Vino was the first meeting of the Asociación de Muejeres del Vino del Uruguay (...
How Restaurant Wine Buyers Make Their Selections (or Should)
I was a restaurant wine buyer for years before focusing exclusively on wine education. I also discuss the struggles and success of many of my friends who work in that capacity and to those who sell...
Sommelier Opening Wax Sealed Wine (Video)
Sommelier Opening Wax Sealed Wine (Video) This is a follow-up to our last blog about wax seals and my video is at the end. Most wines have corks with metal or plastic capsules over them and screw ...
Restaurant Service of Wax Sealed Wine Bottles
Restaurant Service of Wax Sealed Wine Bottles A small number of wines around the world are bottled with a wax seal over the cork. Some beers, meads and spirits are sealed this way, as well. There a...
When thinking about selling wine to restaurants, try to remember who the customer is. In any sales position, good service goes a long way.