Certified Sommelier Program
Court of Master Sommeliers Approved
On-Site Certified Sommelier Examination
Certification in 11 weeks | 22 students per class
PCI offers the only sommelier training in the world that is approved by the Court of Master Sommeliers and taught only by experienced wine professionals. In our unique program, designed and led by Master Sommelier David Glancy, CWE, you will taste what you are taught and evaluate wines using the deductive tasting method. We combine tasting with lecture to give you a complete wine education, from geography, to history, to sight, nose, and palate.
You will receive detailed, individual instruction in everything from the sensory analysis of wine to understanding the great wine regions around the world, from the dynamics of wine and food pairing, to the basics of winemaking, terroir, and advanced blind wine tasting methodology. You'll also receive Master Sommelier David Glancy's expertise on all aspects of the wine business, from producer to end user, from selling to serving—all in only eleven weeks.
Learn from the Masters
PCI's Certified Sommelier Program is the brainchild of David Glancy, MS, CWE. David is one of only 105 Americans (and only one of 170 people worldwide) to have earned the elite title of master sommelier (MS) from the Court of Master Sommeliers. David is also a certified wine educator (CWE) and a member of the Washington, DC-based Society of Wine Educators.
David is joined by Catherine Fallis, MS, the first person in the world to have earned both a Master Sommelier Credential from the Court of Master Sommeliers, and the Advanced Certified Wine Professional Diploma from the Culinary Institute of America.
Alan Murray, MS, rounds out our key wine education staff—he was the first Australian to earn a Master Sommelier Credential.
Exploring Wine through all Five Senses
Accelerated, hands-on classes will help you quickly earn your sommelier certification. Unlike many other wine programs, the PCI Certified Sommelier Program is not pure lecture. We combine wine tasting and food pairing with lecture to give you a more complete education.
As in our culinary classes, the Professional Culinary Institute wine education program uses the unique Artisense™ method of instruction: explanation, demonstration, and execution. The Artisense method allows students to use all of their senses to learn and retain information and techniques faster and more effectively than the traditional lecture-only approach.
The wine classes at PCI give you the knowledge and experience you need to become a qualified wine professional. Our courses are organized into eight concise modules:
- Wine Foundation
- Wines of France
- New-World Wine Regions
- Wines of Italy
- Wines of the Iberian Peninsula
- Wines of Germany & Eastern Europe
- Beers, Spirits & Cigars
- Wine Program Management
- Regional Food and Wine Pairings
As you complete your study of each major wine region of the world, our chefs will create a region-specific meal to demonstrate how each region's unique qualities interplay in food and wine pairing.
Tuition and Fees >
State-of-the-Art Facility
You'll train in a state-of-the-art, specialized wine tasting classroom, surrounded by hundreds of bottles of magnificent wine. Each seat is a complete tasting/learning station with an individual sink and a counter for twelve glasses of wine. Up-lit tabletops and specially designed spotlights reveal the hue, clarity, and brilliance of the wine you will taste.
Surrounded by Major California Wine Regions
We are located in Campbell, California, in the heart of the Silicon Valley of the San Francisco Bay Area, near a variety of California wine regions so you can expand on the class field trip by doing your own exploring in the nearby Santa Cruz Mountains, or head north to Napa Valley and Sonoma County, or south to Santa Barbara, Paso Robles, and more.
On-Site Certified Sommelier Examination
PCI is the only school that includes the Certified Sommelier Examination as part of our program, so you don't have to wait or travel to remote locations to take the test. We teach to the test so you understand what you are expected to know—from geography, to history, to sight, nose, and palate. Our students have a 90-percent success rate for the Certified Sommelier Examination, but if required, you may re-take any wine class and repeat the test at our cost until you pass.
