Here’s your chance to become the envy of the academic community. After all, not many students will be able to boast of a fine dining experience in their classrooms. But you will, as a student of wine tasting. While it certainly does appear to be an unconventional discipline, beset with unpredictability, it is also one of the most lucrative career paths. Done right, you will emerge as a glittering star of the food and beverage industry. As it happens, the USA is a wide-open gateway to the world of sommeliers.

What’s the word through the grapevine?

The art of wine tasting calls for painstaking attention to details. An analytical mind and aesthetic sensibilities are vital prerequisites. Before you choose an institution, make sure you have gone through every option available to you. Examine every course detail and discuss every prospect with your overseas education consultants. That said, you could consider applying to Napa Valley Wine Academy, a regent among wine schools in the USA. Affiliated with the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET), Napa Valley Wine Academy promises to shape your gourmand instincts with regular classes, wine and spirit certification courses, workshops and supervised tastings. This California-based wine school distils professional knowledge and expertise in a pedagogy that’s approachable and comprehensible.

Wine tasting with ICE

Established in 1975, the Institute of Culinary Education, or ICE for short, has commanded the awe of wine scholars as one of the most flourishing courts for emerging sommeliers. As a student of this institution, you may expect global tours of wine-making regions; here, you will learn about the history, geography, mathematics and the philosophy behind the crafting of an unforgettable vintage. Master the differences in notes, tones and flavours of over 300 different species of wine, all the while under the supervision of Scott Carney, a world-renowned expert and dean of wine studies.

Raise a toast to perfection

The art of wine-making is as old as the history of human civilisation. Good wine stands for sophistication, exalted living and cultural maturity. Since the dawn of society, the art of wine making has been subjected to rigorous scrutiny, only to raise our understanding of and expectations from a good vintage. That relentless thirst for perfection persists even now, in the form of SWE, the Society of Wine Educators. Here, you may either expect to be a Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW), or aspire to be a Certified Wine Educator (CWE). The choice is yours. That’s why, before you make any decision whatsoever, remember to seek the counsel of your overseas education consultants in Kolkata.