Wine Tasting - Career, Scope, Courses, Eligibility, Colleges, Salary

What is Wine Tasting?

Wine tasting refers to the sensory examination and evaluation of wine. Wine tasting falls under neither science or arts stream. Wine tasting professionals look for distinctive factors associated with a wine such as its colour, shade, smell, acidity, sweetness etc. Being into a career as a sommelier is much more than just wine tasting. Wine Tasters are well-versed in the approach to be followed for wine tasting profession and are trained in their senses to perceive subtle differences between different flavors and textures in wine.

Eligibility for Wine Tasting Courses

Check the given below eligibility for Wine Tasting courses in India.

• Candidates must have completed their class 10+2 with at least 45 per cent marks in aggregate.

• As this profession also includes an aspect of bartending, candidates must have reached the legal drinking age as specified by the state or government.

• It is more beneficial if a candidate has a hotel management degree and then pursues a certificate in wine tasting.

Required Skills: Wine Tasting

• Wine Tasters need to have taste buds as well as smell buds alive so as to differentiate the contents of taste and smell in the wine samples. His olfactory nerves should be active to identify the kind of fragrances that are released by the wine samples in question.

• Wine Taster must have a good memory as they need to rely on it to identify different fragrances and flavours as per event requirements.

• Wine tasting professionals must have good written and verbal communication skills as they will be needed to explain the wine to an audience who may not have much knowledge of the field.

Courses in Wine Tasting

India has an availability of various Certificate and Diploma courses in Wine Tasting. The duration of these courses can be from as little as 2 weeks to 6 months or 1 year for a Diploma in Wine Studies course. In India, the foundation certificate course exposes students to tasting of basic wine types, food and wine pairing, storage and serving wines. Students are trained to use their senses to judge a wine’s history while tasting.

The Wine and Spirit Education Trust( WSET) programme introduces students to tasting of 10-12 wines from around the world as a part of the basic course (view listing of Wine Academies). The Level 1 course is of six hours and spread over 1-2 days. Level 2 of 16 hours is spread over 3-5 days. At various levels, students are trained to appraise wine’s clarity, intensity, colour, flavour, acidity, tannin and alcohol levels to age and more. In India, Tulleeho, an approved programme provider under WSET, currently offers the Level 1,2 & 3 WSET wine courses in Delhi, Mumbai & Bangalore. So does IWBS but only level 1&2. The number of students with a hotel management background, specialising in wine tasting is less.

France boasts of the best schools. Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and University du Vin de Suze la Rousse in the Rhone Valley are highly recommended. The Culinary Institute of America or the Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers in Toronto also offer wine tasting courses. Professional courses in wine studies by WSET, an education body, are offered throughout the world by approved programme providers.

Top Wine Tasting Colleges in India

Wine Tasting course currently is not well recognized as a career in India. Despite this, India has a number of good wine tasting institutes. Given below is the list of some of the best institutes for wine tasting in India.

Best Wine Tasting Institutes in India

Average Fee for Wine Tasting Courses in India

In India, wine courses can’t be imparted as freely as other specialised courses since trainers have to buy licenses for each day of training. A day’s license costs approximately Rs 5,500 and has a six-hour expiry period. Typically, an institute will charge around Rs. 50,000- Rs. 70,000 per month for a wine tasting course. Some wine tasting institutes might also specify fees on a per-day basis. The fees for online wine tasting courses, however, can be much less as compared to offline classroom courses.

Career Scope and Salaries in Wine Tasting

An experienced sommelier can go on to become a wine consultant to F&B establishments, wine importers and liquor companies. Globally employment job options are wider; cruise liners, wine bars, theme parks, in-flight services, and resorts among others. The wine industry is evolving each day. It is creating new wine labels that are being marketed to the world. At the same time, it is also appreciating all the iconic wine labels that still rule the hearts of wine lovers. Wine tasters and certified sommeliers play a very unique role in bringing the community together and helping it grow across the world. In India, a qualified sommelier can start off between Rs. 10-20,000 and go up to Rs. 50,000 with a few years of experience. With global experience sommeliers can earn up to Rs. 1 lakh or more in India. The pay scale abroad is usually higher.

Career options for a wine taster:

• Wine writer

• Wine journalist

• Wine critic

• Food and wine person

• Sommelier

• Wine educator

• Lecturer in wine academies

• Consumer trainer

Hence a wine tasting career can take you a long way ahead, provided you have good communication skills and active olfactory nerves.