Reviewing for WSET II and WSET III. The courses here are probably one of the most legitimate and official you can get in the city. Even as an online student, I felt like I had good instructor support, and for WSET III, you even get a mock in-person tasting exam with some theory lectures. The instructors are interesting and make the course fun for their students. The ability to take WSET courses online here is an amazing benefit, since it allows you to plan your own schedule and go at your own pace. Plus, it's way cheaper, and if you are willing to buy your own wines, it's totally worth it. For the record WSET II material costs are probably around $200-300, and WSET III is around $1000. It's even cheaper if you can convince a few friends to take the course with you. In addition, WSET is a very organized curriculum, and is great for people who don't want to learn more theory and just generally more info about wine. CMS (Court of Master Sommeliers) is the service and hospitality oriented school, which for many hobbyists isn't worth it because of the service aspect. Personally, I'm more about wine knowledge, being and informed buyer, and just wanting to enjoy more nuances in wine, so WSET was a great curriculum for me. There are some less official wine schools in the city, and even ones that offer their "own" certifications. Those are essentially scams since if a certification isn't that well-known, it's pretty much useless. Here are IWC, you can rest assured you're getting a good education, and an officially recognized one too. Highly recommend! read more

International Wine Center - WSET 3 class tasting - Specialty Schools Near Me - New York, New York

The International Wine Center (IWC) is literally the center of wine education in the United States, as it serves as the headquarters for the Wine & Spirit Education Trust, the largest international organization for wine and spirits education. You might have heard IWC if you've read "Wine for Dummies"; Mary Ewing-Mulligan, president of the International Wine Center, wrote the book along with her husband. In the wine world, she is no trifle as she was the first woman in the US to earn the coveted Masters of Wine designation (equivalent in difficulty to a PhD in astrophysics). The course is extremely expensive, but a requisite gateway for those who want to further advance in the wine trade, and others who are seriously committed to advancing their knowledge about wine. I have taken other courses throughout the years (Astor Center, Best Cellars, Columbia Business School, and even the "Everyday Guide to Wine" course through The Great Courses DVD), and IWC is, without question, the most comprehensive course on wine growing, wine producing, and wine tasting available in NYC. The Advanced Course consists of 15 two-and-a-half hour classes that thoroughly covers the viticultural and vinicultural characteristics of principal wines around the world. The class consists of a one-and-a-half hour lecture followed by an hour of blind tastings of wine from that region and follow-up discussions. The lectures are informative and reinforce the required reading in the WSET textbook. The guided tastings are absolutely crucial in honing one palate to identify particular aromas and flavors across different varieties and styles of wine. Linda Lawry, Director of the IWC, is the primary instructor for the Advanced Course. There is no doubt in my mind as to her qualifications as a wine instructor, as her lectures are engaging and her knowledge of even the most arcane details of wine production robust. To the criticism that the course doesn't offer more expensive wines, I have had my fair share of classic and iconic wines, and from experience, expensive doesn't necessary mean good. Tasting expensive wine may give you bragging rights, but doesn't give you an understanding of what distinguishes good wine from great ones. The selections that that IWC has for each class are designed to allow you to compare and contrast different styles of wine, a necessary skill for wine discussion and enjoyment. Through taking the course, I feel the veil of mystery behind wine has been lifted. I feel confident walking into any wine store, and to decode the hidden language embedded on most wine labels. I feel I can engage in a serious discussion with the sales rep at most high-end wine store. Most importantly, the IWC has opened a door to enjoying wine that will last the rest of my lifetime. read more

Some time ago, I took an Intermediate Certificate Wine and Spirit course at the International Wine Center. I needed something to distract me and occupy my time. Plus, I figured I'll be ordering and drinking a lot of wine throughout my life; I really ought to educate myself on the whos and whats of viniculture. The IWC offers courses approved by the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) based out of London, UK. The Intermediate course format are in 8 two hour classes with wine tasting as a part of each session. Each lesson is structured around the importance of terrior, grape variety, major production regions, labeling, and quality standards. I learned a lot, for instance about the subtle character differences between a Chardonnay from Chablis and one from Cote de Beaune - same grape, both in Burgundy, but different region, different terrior. We usually tasted 8 wines a session, depending on which varietal was studied. For a near $800 course, I would have appreciated tasting a Grand Cru and more high quality vintages. The instructors were all qualified and had their their doctorates (D.W.S.). Some stuck more closely to what was covered in the book, and thus necessary for the exam, and other instructors dropped some serious knowledge extraneous to the course material. My take from the course was pretty much in keeping with the purpose. I learned the basics, probably enough to order competently for dinner, but I also gained a more fuller understanding of just how much I *don't* know about wine. I'm seriously contemplating the 15 week Advanced Course, time permitting. At the end of the course, a final exam is graded by administrators in London and a certificate is issued from there. I passed with a 'Pass with Distinction' certification. Yay go me! Cheers! ---------- | | | | \_____ / || || ___||___ review 5/5/2008 I.M.Y. read more

Very educational, stimulating, and fun I took the intermediate class, and the advanced..No regrets.

The best decision I ever made was taking the advanced course of the WSET Certificate through the International Wine Center in 2002. I have seen the numbers of graduates increasing every year which is a testament to the quality of the educators and the curriculum. I recommend this as the starting point for anyone considering a career in the wine business, it was money very well spent! read more

I recently took a wine class at International Wine Center - the Intermediate -- and loved it. I've always enjoyed wine and learned a lot about domestic wines having lived in California for many years, but this class opened up my eyes to the whole world of wine. The class covered all the major grape varieties and the most important wine producing regions of the world. French wines, for example, used to be a complete mystery to me - this class taught me how to interpret French wine labels to understand what's actually in the bottle. And not just France, but Spain, Germany and Italy (though that country's still a bit confusing to me) and all those old world regions that don't put the name of the variety on the bottle. We also learned how wine grapes are grown, why certain varieties do best in certain regions (soil, climate and aspect play a big role), the fermentation and maturation processes and a little bit about spirits, fortified wines (port and sherry) and sparkling wines (now my fave). If you enjoy wine, you owe it to yourself to explore and learn more through a wine class like this one. There's an amazing world of wine waiting for you out there. read more

If you are taking wine courses and degree work for your own personal fulfillment, then the WSET (Wine & Spirits Education Trust) programs offered here are fine. However, they sell them as professional wine courses for sommeliers, and that is a outright lie. Their "degrees" and "certificates" are nothing more than paper. Neither the IWC nor the WSET can legally offer professional wine education in the USA. Even though they charge thousands of dollars for their certificates, they cannot be legally used to gain employment in the wine industry. Student beware. read more

Definitely a waste of money for the Intermediate course. If you have the discipline, you can just read a wine reference book, develop relationships at a wine store, and go to good tastings, and get a lot more out of $800. By any objective measure, this course is a racket. Details below but bottom line is that unless youre in an industry that requires these certifications, there is absolutely no need to take this class. 1) Teaching quality: I switched out of my course initially because the teacher was not a good teacher. no matter how much you know, you need to have teaching skills. While the IWC may have people who have been in industry for a while, they dont necessarily have any teaching abilities. It felt more like someone showing you what they know, not helping you understand what they understand. The second teacher I had was better to be sure, but still not an educator. Anyone who has had a good teacher knows what that's like. Dont expect to get that here. 2) Wine quality: The quality of wines isnt very good. for what comes out $100 per session, you could definitely go to better tastings at stores, restaurants, etc and sample far superior wines in smaller group settings. 3) Course materials: These are a joke. Any decent reference material on amazon.com would top what they give you, which is basic beyond belief and not up to date. The 'chapter' on Spain is 1.5 pages. It's laughable. Most people sign up for this course because they want to put in the time and work. Instead, what you get is France in 4 pages and Italy in 2.5 pages. Homework is non-exsitant but would be effective. But they dont grade anything or have extra handouts beyond a listing of the wines you taste. The only thing they ever grade is the test at the end. 4) Lackluster courses: The structure of the lessons is loose and the slides used are just boring powerpoint pages showing you info. Theyre not simply not engaging. Perhaps what theyre doing is just trying to get you prepared for a multiple choice test. That is not why I wanted to take this course. Classes generally follow the material in the book but there's also a great deal of rambling, getting off topic, revisiting topics already covered, and a general rushed feeling. Numerous times the teacher was unsure what was in the book vs what she had in her notes. It felt disjointed and uncomprehensive. It also felt random at times, to the point where it seemed we had been given information because it just happened to cross the teacher's mind. For such a wide ranging amount of info as wine, I had hope for a more logical and structured approach with more detailed material. Expectations not met. 4) Customer Service: The service of the staff is somewhat friendly but overrall terribly out of touch with customers. There is no comprehension that the price tag for the course might warrant better service. I called to see if I could drop back to a later testing date as I was going to have to miss several courses. The response I got was one of frustration and outright anger that I would even ask. They had "ordered the tests" already from some governing body in London and it would be impossible to alter the order, they insisted. When I kept asking, it turned out the tests had been ordered but not sent yet - so I simply asked if they could have the order adjusted. This appeared to cause a lot of stress. They also said they had sent me reminders of the deadline to make such requests, which they had in fact failed to send me. They said they would look into it and call me back. No call. It's ironic that a course on a subject linked to the hospitality industry is so far out of touch with customer service itself. It felt like a staff thats running a process, and any disruption to that process was clearly not going to be heard. Thats no way to create an experience for the customer. 5) Cash cow: because they offer this certificate, there's a serious margin they put on this course. Even when I commented to the IWC about the bureaucratic nature of the central governing body of the certifications, they agreed wholeheartedly. It's just something they try to milk, as it's something of a monopoly. But for 99.9999% of the population, it's a useless certificate - unless youre in that minority, you really dont need to pay for it. 6) Perhaps most importantly, I still don't know that much about wine! After having taken the course, I have a surface level understanding of wine. I could have watched a DVD or read a book while tasting wine and gotten the same or better level of knowledge. It's my fault that I thought I could learn international wines in 2 months from this class. I do, however, think it's reasonable to expect a foundation to build off of, rather than a memorization class (here's this, here's that, this is where this comes from, this you should know for the test etc...). Unfortunately, I only got the latter... Skip it and save your $! read more