![]() Online Sommelier Classes Since March 2020, wine schools have started offering a variety of online programs. That makes a lot of sense since most of these schools are based in major cities that were deeply affected by the pandemic. The shift to online was a massive paradigm shift, and a year later we are seeing the fruits of their labor. For fun wine tasting classes, you can check out our reviews of Virtual Wine Tastings. Developing and deploying something as complicated as a sommelier certification program is no easy feat. It takes a team of seasoned professionals to create something worthy. We spend the last few months attending dozens of online wine courses, and those listed on this page are extraordinary and brilliant. They are all worth your investment of time and money. Many of the programs we reviewed did not make it onto this list of the top online sommelier courses, and we will discuss why at the end of this article. Types of Online CoursesWhen you start looking at taking an online sommelier class, you should know a few critical terms. An asynchronous course is pre-recorded. This allows the student to take the class at their own pace. Synchronous courses are streamed live and run on a predetermined schedule. SCORM is the eLearning protocol used by most universities and schools to build and deliver courses to students. Our Criteria for Rating Online Sommelier ClassesHigh-quality wine instruction. This is a no-brainer in our opinion. The best wine instructors are able to deliver knowledge in a manner that students find compelling. A great teacher knows what the core concepts are and makes sure that students understand them, too. Far too many wine teachers believe that delivering information in a monotone is teaching. It is not. Student interaction. It’s important for students to interact with the teacher, especially if they have questions. This is often done through a chat function or a forum. High-Resolution Video / High-Quality Audio In the era of Zoom, poor quality audio and video are inexcusable. A wine student should expect a high-quality experience: one that is sharp visually and delivers crisp audio. HD and 4K video are now standard for online college classrooms; grainy video signals that you are dealing with a fly-by-night operation. The same goes for audio. Is the instructor using a high-quality cardioid microphone or a cheap omnidirectional one that sounds like they are speaking into a tin can? Online Academic Resources Programs should come with original online material. Whether that information is relayed via video or reading material depends on the program, as long as the information is presented in a lesson-by-lesson format. A critical consideration is whether there are quizzes or projects attached to lessons: the best online wine course offer ways to judge how well you are mastering the program. Wine Selections The best programs offer a list of wines to source, and offer help in substituting wines that are not available locally. This is not relevant for all programs. Many L1 programs do not require wines at all, but most L2 and L3 programs do require purchasing wines. We found that schools that offer to send you wines for a price are sending inferior wines at a high markup, and are best avoided. Sommelier Certification Another obvious requirement, but one that many programs offering “Online Sommelier Classes” do not actually offer. There is no reason to take a course if the school cannot offer a certificate issued by a qualified sommelier accreditation agency. ![]() The Best Online Sommelier Courses The Top Pick: Wine School of PhiladelphiaIt’s easy to simply point out that this school used material from the National Wine School, which runs the backend of many university wine programs. Of course it’s going to be great. What people don’t realize is that WSoP produces a lot of the content that is distributed nationally. Their Level One programming is a well-produced asynchronous program. Level two and above are a combination of high definition live feeds and immersive videos. For every synchronous program, there are two instructors, one on screen and the other answering student questions and bringing up the occasional power-point slide or animation to highlight what the primary instructor is discussing. The online portion is well-thought-out and SCORM-compliant. It is obvious that much of this programming was designed to be deployed at universities, as there is a very high level of professionalism in how the exams and reading material are organized. Website: https://www.vinology.com/online-wine-school/ What to Expect: Top WSET School: Grape Experience Wine & Spirit SchoolThe Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) is the dominant company in the restaurant trade. Name recognition alone is an important consideration. If you want snob appeal, then WSET should be your first pick. Classes are streamed live in a format that is very “WSET” in approach. Classes are PowerPoint presentations with an instructor talking over the slides. If you’ve taken WSET classes in the past and enjoyed them, you will feel right at home. There are dozens of WSET affiliate schools, and they all offer the same online classes. The only difference is who is talking, pricing, and the professionalism of the affiliate school. We find the team at Grape Experience to offer the best experience overall. Adam Chase is a fantastic teacher, and he has pulled together an excellent team of instructors. For in-person WSET programs, Napa Valley Wine Academy often is the better option. However, when it comes to online WSET programs, none is better than Grape Experience. When it comes to WSET, you can bargain shop for online sommelier classes. After all, it’s a PowerPoint followed by a certification exam. Here are a few of the WSET affiliate schools in the USA to research: Fine Vintage LTD, San Francisco Wine School, Wine Education Institute, Florida Wine Academy, Virginia Wine & Spirits Academy, Dallas Wine Education Center, Texas Wine School, International Wine Center, Capital Wine School, Wine Academy of Las Vegas, Spirited Grape, American Wine School, and Napa Valley Wine Academy, Website: https://www.grapeexperience.com/online/ What to Expect: Third Place: International Sommelier GuildA distant third place –in many ways behind all WSET affiliate schools– is the International Sommelier Guild (ISG). Production is a step up from WSET programs, but the information given is sometimes dated. While based in the United States, the group has expanded internationally, offering online programming in many languages, includes Russian, Spanish, and Chinese. 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