PROFESSIONAL SOMMELIER QUALIFICATION COURSE

The A.I.S  course is articulated through 3 levels carried through in 1 entire course plus several advanced master degrees after the obtainment of the fundamental ‘Sommelier’ diploma which sits at the basis and is officially recognized worldwide with legal decree from the ASI or International Sommellerie Association. The A.I.S. (Italian Sommelier Association) widespread at national and international level, organizes, with its usual high competence and attention to quality, the course for Professional Qualification providing its own syllabus of 6 high quality books, course material and an international qualified team of teachers and speakers from the professional wine world, starting at pro winemakers to horticulture specialists and passing through professional tasters and restaurant managers, all certified Sommeliers themselves.

The study program includes three parts which are summed up into one single course:

With the First Part (Oenology and Viticulture) students enter the fascinating world of wine and learn the Tasting Techniques and the role of the Sommelier, ranging from service with style to the organization of a cellar, from the proper use of glasses to the respect for the bottle and its precious content. Other than this, fundamental notions of chemistry (oenology specific - winemaking), horticulture, geology (terrain composition and characteristics) and meteorology will be analyzed. This first part is spread across a 45 hour course with a final written examination to pass on to the following subject.

The Third Part (Food&Wine Pairing) deals with Food and Wine Matching (pairing) Techniques: from the theory of a scorecard to sampling in the tasting desks with different types of wine matched with various dishes. It spans over a 43 hour (total - 2 hour per lesson) period and analyses the fundamentals and details of food taste sensory analysis and its chemical + sensorial relationship to wine. The basics of human anatomy and oral physiology are examined and the student is trained in the utilization of a specific patented tasting/matching diagram (registered by the AIS association worldwide) to reach the goal of providing the best wine for every and any kind of food.

The course terminates with the FINAL complete examination. It consists of a written examination of 60 questions spanning over the entire program plus a written professional tasting (with the utilization of the professional AIS tasting sheet) of 1 wine and a written professional food tasting (utilizing the appropriate diagram) as well as the matching/pairing of 1 extra wine (provided and always anonymous…) with the tasted and evaluated food. 

After the written examination is passed, the student then is submitted to an oral examination where he/she is required to carry through a professional tasting of an anonymous wine that he/she is given, in front of the examination committee. The examination then proceeds into a verbal conversation with the examiner on all subjects treated in the entire program.

Once completed and passed (minimum 60/100), the candidate is issued a professional, government recognized and internationally approved by the ‘Worldwide Sommelier Association’, diploma which is valid for all professional uses and can be expanded with the completion of master courses in specific subjects.

Across the entire school, the student is trained in the tasting of 3-4 wines per each lesson, as well as an accompanied professional visit to a winery and vineyard.

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