A sincere thank you to everyone who took the time to complete our annual Sommelier Program questionnaire. The responses were thoughtful, demanding, and unusually clear.

What came through most strongly is that many of you are not simply collecting certifications. You’re building a mental map of wine: how it developed, how its systems fit together, and how the past continues to shape the present. You want each course to move the story forward with purpose, not repetition.

Because of your input, we are introducing two new advanced programs for the coming academic cycle: Master of French Wine and Scholar of Wine History™.

The revised Master of French Wine is the strongest French program we have ever offered. It is an intensive, regionally structured course examining the historical, cultural, and regulatory foundations that made France central to modern wine—and why its influence still defines global standards today.

The Scholar of Wine History™ is an eight-week advanced course tracing how trade, religion, law, technology, and globalization shaped the modern wine system itself. Based on your responses, this is the program many of you are most eager for—particularly as a way of understanding how everything connects across regions, styles, and eras.

These programs represent a major expansion of our Advanced Sommelier curriculum. They are designed to provide structure and continuity across advanced study, and they will also play a central role in the development of future instructors.

As we expand our programs for the 2026–2027 academic year, we are actively seeking new instructors.

Teaching with the Wine School of Philadelphia is a professional pathway built on training, demonstrated classroom readiness, and continued engagement in advanced study.

Wine Instructor Training, offered in August, is the first step for students interested in teaching. For those who have already completed instructor training, interest in teaching should be communicated in person to your Advanced or Master-level instructor during the semester. Teaching opportunities develop over time based on readiness, subject expertise, and program needs.

More details on instructor hiring and development are available on the site. We are looking forward to this new year with you, .