If you have a true passion for wine and want to make a career out of it, becoming a Sommelier may be the right career choice for you! We’ve put together a list of the best Sommelier and wine tasting tutorials on the web. We’ve included free and paid ones to give you a variety of options.
But first, let’s answer the important question – what is a Sommelier? A sommelier is a trained wine professional. They have built a career based on their fantastic knowledge of wine and understand the variety of different wines available and how they can pair with food. To become a Sommelier, experience with wine is needed. However, you can begin to build your knowledge and earn qualifications online. In this article, I’ve gathered the best online Sommelier tutorials that will allow you to develop the specific skills needed.
1. Level 4 Diploma in Wines (WSET)
- Level: Intermediate to Advanced
- Completion time: 370 h
- Cost: $79.99
- Certification: Yes
- Number of people who have completed the course: N/A
- Course rating: N/A
To complete this course, you must hold either the WSET Level 3 award in wines, or the WSET level 3 award in wines and spirits and be able to speak good english.
Building on your previous knowledge of wine, this course will deepen your understanding of what influences the style, quality and price of wines. You will study a large number of wine regions and learn about the different factors in each. In the first section, you will look at wine production, including the anatomy of the vine and grape and post-fermentation. After, you will look at the wine business and the various options for getting wine to the point of sale and factors that will contribute to it’s price. Further sections include looking at wines of the world, sparkling wines, fortified wines and then an independent research assignment.
2. Wine Suckling (MasterClass)
- Level: Beginner
- Completion time: 2h 22m
- Cost: $14.17/month
- Certification: Yes
- Number of people who have completed the course: N/A
- Course rating: N/A
James Suckling, called one the “world’s most powerful wine critics” has tasted over 200,000 wines and in this Masterclass course he shares some of his phenomenal knowledge with you.
Learning about flavor, aroma and structure, you can learn how to appreciate the story behind every bottle of wine. To start, you will learn about various tasting techniques, before looking at flavors and aromas when tasting wine. After, you will learn to appreciate the location where the wine came from, how to store wine, the etiquette surrounding wine and how to understand pairing.
In just over two hours, you will leave this course feeling confident in your wine tasting ability.
3. Wine Etiquette, Technique and Food Pairing (YouTube)
- Level: All levels
- Completion time: 20m
- Cost: Free
- Certification: No
- Number of people who have completed the course: 10,319
- Course rating: N/A
Offered completely for free, this course allows you to get confident ordering wine in a restaurant and any other sophisticated setting.
To start, you will look at how to order wine and approve it at any restaurant. After, you will learn about basic wine etiquette, how to read the wine label, how to pair food and the best way to open, serve, decant and store wine. Once you’ve covered each of these short videos, you will be able to navigate wine lists, understand wine labels and safely pair wine with foods.
4. Wine Tasting with a Professional Sommelier. A Condensed Course: All about Wine Making and Tasting (Skillshare)
- Level: All levels
- Completion time: 1h 7m
- Cost: 14 day free trial
- Certification: No
- Number of people who have completed the course: 224
- Course rating: N/A
Designed for those who normally feel intimidated by finding the right wine on many occasions, this course can teach absolutely everyone a little bit that they need to know about wine.
To begin, you will look a grape growing and the various types of Vineyards. After, you’ll explore the various winemaking processes of dry red wine and red wine, before learning about how to taste wine and pair it with food. Although the least in-depth of all the courses on the list, in just one hour you can get a great insight into the life and responsibilities of a Sommelier.
5. International Sommelier Guild (Sommelier School)
- Level: All levels
- Completion time: Various
- Cost: Up to $1,500
- Certification: Yes
- Number of people who have completed the course: N/A
- Course rating: N/A
The International Sommelier school offers a range of different online Sommelier courses, from the intermediate wine certificate to the full blown Sommelier Diploma. Taught by a number of experienced professionals, the courses on offer can bring anyone up to experienced wine tasting knowledge.
Taught online, whichever course you pick will give you access to all the knowledge you need on wine tasting and pairing. You’ll have access to a wide range of resources, including guides and books. Each course also has a grading system and a certificate upon completion.
Conclusion
So, there you have it… the 5 best Sommelier tutorials online.
There are an abundance of online classes available to help you get your skills up to scratch. Some are for experienced wine connoisseurs looking to progress their knowledge slightly. Whereas others are suitable for complete newbies to the world of wine tasting. Some are quite expensive, whereas others a free.
However, they are all the crème de la crème of online Sommelier classes. So, it doesn’t matter too much which one you pick. You just need to ensure that whichever class you pick is suitable to your skill level, budget and time frame.
