New Career in Wine

quote:

Originally posted by oldmanwine:
Hello-

I'm a journalist but considering a career in wine such as in a large wine store or with a distributor. I'm not interested in becoming a sommelier. Any advice on what wine certifications would prepare me to become an attractive candidate in getting a job?

I've been looking at the Society of Wine Educators Certified Wine Specialist designation since it won't break my pocketbook and I can study online. Any comments on the designation and if it will help in my change of careers?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks,

Joe

ISUJonny (Quote)
Try the Society of Wine Educators SWE for the CSW certification and or the Wine and Spirit Education Trust WSET Intermediate Certification. I have both. I personally thought the SWE course was better. I did most of my study by their book and excellent online tutorial. I then chose an exam sitting near my home. The WSET was a 2 day intensive course at various locations. I believe some places have longer time frames. You come back later and sit their exam. That couse is very euro centric and only as good as the instructors. I honestly felt I could have passed that exam from what I learned in the SWE course . The CSW was also considerably less expensive. Right now I am doing the new online course at Robert Parker. It is very simple and I am not sure what if anything the certification will mean. Good luck to you-

Hi Oldmanwine,

The above was posted by ISUJonny. It may help you.

I appreciate the response. Is there much of a demand for these types of jobs or am I just looking to a life of poverty???

If you want to work with a wine store or distributor, I can't imagine that you need any certification. Most people in those places have no formal certification. The main requirement is that you can sell. And of course, everything that goes with that - personable, dependable, curious, hard working, etc.

I've been tasting a few thousand wines annually for years. Of course, that meant tasting regularly at home, with friends, in groups, at trade tastings. Also visited numerous wineries in various countries and read whatever I could. I guess I was a little obsessive about it, but that's what happens if you like something.

And after a few years you learn. Eventually I was recruited by a few distributors and retailers from a career that had nothing at all to do with wine, and finally I took a job with an importer to see if I really liked working in the business.

My advice is to simply start to work in a store as a part-time thing, maybe weekends or evenings. You'll get to taste whatever the distributors bring, go to trade tastings, etc., and soon develop a fairly good knowledge of what's out there. And you won't have spent a lot of money to do so.

You're not going to get as broad a knowledge, but query as to whether you really need that to do what you are planning. Knowing about 1982 Bordeaux is nice, but not necessary if you aren't going to sell it.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with getting a certificate, but you can very easily learn a lot on your own. It's what people did before the craze for certifications anyway. Eventually, if you find you want to work in a different area, you might want to learn about service, for example. That might mean taking a class. But for retail, I can't see it.

Best of luck whatever you do!

Good luck to you!

quote:

Originally posted by oldmanwine:
I appreciate the response. Is there much of a demand for these types of jobs or am I just looking to a life of poverty???

OMW, your question is beyond my expertise (or lack-thereof). However, the ladies and fellas on this forum are usually very helpful. Along those lines though, they get repetitious inquiries, as I have seen since May of 07 that I have been on this forum. Best to you!!!