In San Francisco Wine School’s summer schedule, David Glancy unveils his newest certification, the highly anticipated Somm Essentials. This two-week intensive program combines industry and product knowledge with service and tasting skills – expertise critical to staying competitive in today’s hospitality industry.
Somm Essentials covers the intricacies of blind wine tasting, fine beverage service, food and beverage pairing, and vital information about production methods and styles of tea, coffee, bottled water, beer, wine, sake, and spirits – essential learning for food and beverage managers, restaurateurs, bartenders, servers, tasting room staff, and food writers.
Somm Essentials serves as an important stepping-stone toward the challenging Certified Specialist of Wine exam and with continued study, tasting, and service practice, students will have a jump start in preparing for the Court of Master Sommeliers’ first two levels of exams, and comparable exams from other credentialing organizations. Somm Essentials runs July 14-28 at Viognier Restaurant in San Mateo.
“After working as a server, bartender and wine captain for 20-plus years, I found that a lack of deep knowledge was a roadblock to the management position I wanted,” said Michael Tupac, Certified Sommelier and General Manager of Viognier Restaurant. “The new Somm Essentials Intensive would have made a big difference, and I know it will be greatly beneficial to anyone preparing for a hospitality career.”
San Francisco Wine School founder David Glancy is one of only twelve people in the world to hold both a revered Master Sommelier diploma and a Certified Wine Educator credential. More importantly, Glancy is a visionary for wine education.
When he identified the need, Glancy pioneered the first and only professional credential program on California wine – California Wine Appellation Specialist® (CWAS®) – a unique deep-dive into all of California’s AVAs for today’s wine experts. CWAS® training is available as a 9-week credential program online or on-site in San Francisco and, now, as a 3-day intensive. The CWAS® 3-Day Intensive is a travelling program, moving to a different city each session – this summer it takes place at Beringer Winery, St. Helena, Calif. in the Napa Valley.
“San Francisco Wine School’s David Glancy was born to teach,” said Heidi Butler, Safeway Wine Steward, who attended and earned her California Wine Appellation Specialist® certification. “I learned a lot more than I thought I would and was surprised at how quickly I have put what I learned into practice at my job.”
Also on the summer schedule: Cognac Master Class, plus six wine programs and workshops, each designed to catapult a career to the next level – or help serious enthusiasts build a high-performance foundation of knowledge.
Prefer a “deep dive” into a single wine region? San Francisco Wine School invites students to sample individual classes that are part of longer professional programs, including three-hour workshops focused on Italy, Santa Barbara, Spain or Southern France. Attendees receive instruction from elite instructors on focused topics without committing to an entire series.
San Francisco Wine School June-August 2014 Schedule
Single classes that are part of a longer program (indicated by *) are $125 each. Visit www.sfwineschool.com for more detail on single class wine regions and topics.
Class Locations
Somm Essentials will be held at Viognier Restaurant, 222 East 4th Avenue, San Mateo, Calif.; California Wine Appellation Specialist® 3-Day Intensive – Napa Valley will be held at Beringer Winery, 2000 Main Street, St Helena; the Cognac Master Class will be held at The Club at Wingtip, 550 Montgomery St, San Francisco. All other San Francisco Wine School programs are held at Embassy Suites Oyster Point, 250 Gateway Boulevard, South San Francisco, Calif. See www.sfwineschool.com for more detail.
Program and Workshop Descriptions
Somm Essentials is our newest certification, a two-week intensive program that is essential learning for food and beverage managers, restaurateurs, bartenders, servers and tasting room staff, and food writers, as well as those pursuing sommelier and other wine credentials. The comprehensive program covers the intricacies of blind wine tasting, fine beverage service, food and beverage pairing, and vital information about production methods and styles across the beverage category, including tea, coffee, bottled water, beer, wine, sake, and spirits.
Cognac Master Class: Elaboration & Essence Penetrate the elusive mysteries of the world’s greatest and most iconic brandy in a dynamic tasting of cognacs specially selected to reveal the intricacies of terroir and the profound effects of maturation. In this three-hour workshop, you’ll learn the history of Cognac while studying the terroir and process that determines the nature of the spirit, and experience the results of distillation, maturation and blending. Taste and compare the celebrated crus of the Cognac region, sample VS, VSOP and XO styles, and enjoy a tour through the “Seasons of Cognac” achieved through the skill and artistry of the Master Blender.
Blind Wine Tasting Basics: 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.
Advanced Blind Wine Tasting: Take your blind wine tasting to the next level with this 3-hour intensive workshop. Work on your knowledge of tasting grids and how to thoroughly but quickly describe and identify wines. Learn the markers for several varietals and regions as well as what other wines are similar. Taste challenging wine flights and try new methods to improve your tasting skills. Fun for enthusiasts who like a challenge and essential for anyone preparing for upper level sommelier exams, WSET, MW or CWE.
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 wine landscape
The program is available in three formats:
• CWAS® 3-Day Credential Program
• CWAS® Online 9-Week Credential Program
• CWAS® 9-Week Credential Program
The 9-Week and 3-Day programs include guided tasting of over 60 California wines to enhance learning.
The 9-Week Online includes nuanced weekly tasting assignments, ongoing class discussion with students and instructors, and weekly virtual lectures.
French Wine Scholar: 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 includes carefully selected guided tasting 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.
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 11-week program of study was created by Master Sommelier David Glancy to fully prepare students for this notoriously rigorous exam. Our program includes the official Society of Wine Educator’s CSW Study Guide, access to the society’s Online Wine Academy, and the CSW Exam. Over the course of the program, students will participate in guided tastings of over 60 wines to enhance learning.
San Francisco Wine School launched the California Wine Appellation Specialist® (CWAS) credential, the first ever, in-depth California professional credential program, while bringing together under one roof all of the credentials most important to wine professionals. For more information, visit San Francisco Wine School at www.sfwineschool.com.
