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A great sommelier can make or break a dining experience. They’re the person who knows why a particular Burgundy pairs perfectly with the dish the chef just created, and who can walk a nervous guest through an unfamiliar wine list with enough confidence to make it feel effortless. It’s a role that sits at the intersection of deep expertise and genuine hospitality, and for the right person, it can be a compelling career.
If that sounds like the kind of work you’d love, you’re in good company. Sommeliers work across fine dining restaurants, wineries, catering companies, event spaces, and more. Read on to find out what it can take to get there, from education and hands-on experience to the certifications that can open doors.
Key Steps to Becoming a Sommelier
At the most basic level, a sommelier is a wine steward. They may use their vast knowledge of wine to curate wine lists, make recommendations to restaurant guests, and train the rest of the restaurant staff on proper service.
There are a variety of ways to start a career in wine, but if you want to become a professional sommelier, you’ll need education, experience, and certification.
A sommelier knows the ins and outs behind winemaking.
1. Pursue a Wine Education
Some sommeliers begin by self-directing their education, learning about wines in their own way and at their own pace. In this stage, they might study and practice through careful tasting, noting flavors, origins, and vintners, and they may also read books, visit wineries, or attend seminars and tastings.
Touring wineries can teach the aspiring sommelier about the wine production process.
Chef Gregory Bonath, academic operations manager at Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts and certified sommelier, recommends starting out by purchasing a single varietal from several different regions to practice noting the differences.
“Pick three Chardonnays from three different countries, but don’t read the back of the label.,” Bonath says. “Go home and think, ‘This really does taste like butter. Why?’ And then read the back of the label and search [for why it tastes that way]. That’s the best way to start learning about [wine].”*
Many aspiring wine professionals also opt for formal sommelier courses, which can give you a more well-rounded foundation and help you tackle your certification exams with confidence.
Some sommeliers and wine professionals also get their start in culinary school. A foundation from Escoffier in core culinary elements, like flavor profiles and diverse food cultures, can cross over beautifully into the wine industry.
Similarly, a degree in Hospitality & Restaurant Operations Management can cover the practical skills a working sommelier needs every day, from elite service standards and event catering to cost control, purchasing, and beverage operations.
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2. Get Professional Experience in the Wine and/or Service Industries
There’s nothing quite like real-world experience to bring your classroom studies to life.
The path into the wine world isn’t one-size-fits-all. Some professionals start out behind the bar as bartenders or bar managers in casual restaurants, while others shadow winemakers right at the source. If you can, try to find a job at a restaurant that already has a sommelier on staff; this can be a fantastic way to observe the role firsthand and start making the connections that can launch your career.
Working directly in the field is where you can hone essential client-facing skills, like guiding guests, managing tastings, and executing seamless table service—the very tasks a great sommelier performs every single day.
“If you’re waiting tables and you’re serving wine, you have to do your part to understand the wine menu,” Chef Bonath says. “You’re already working around wine, even though your job isn’t specifically in that. If somebody wanted to be a sommelier in a Michelin-star restaurant, you’d have to have the education piece, but a huge, huge amount of it is experience as well.”*
Along the way, finding a mentor who shares your passion for wine can truly accelerate your growth. If you’re attending culinary school, your Chef Instructors are an incredible resource; ask them plenty of questions! They often bring a wealth of expertise in creating wine pairings, curating menus, and cooking with wine. In fact, at Escoffier, you’ll find Chef Instructors who are certified sommeliers themselves.
Then, when it’s time for your hands-on industry externship, you can carry that momentum forward by choosing a property with a strong wine program and experts you can learn from every day.
Escoffier graduate Connor Fowler’s career path began with curiosity sparked during his externship in Florence.
3. Earn Your Sommelier Certification
Some sommeliers work in restaurants or wineries without formal certification. But to call yourself a licensed sommelier, you need to pass exams to demonstrate your expertise. Earning this certification may make it easier to find a job, as some establishments will require the credential as a condition of hiring.
Exams are offered by a number of certifying bodies, including the Court of Master Sommeliers, the Wine & Spirit Education Trust, and the National Wine School.
Each certifying body has its own levels and testing requirements, but there are usually four to five ranks. If you choose to get certified through the Court of Master Sommeliers, the certification levels look like this:
Court of Master Sommeliers Certification Levels
| Level 1 Certification | Introductory Examination Demonstrates basic knowledge of terminology, wine regions, and grape varieties. |
| Level 2 Certification | Certified Sommelier Examination Demonstrates proficiency in table-side service and salesmanship, tasting to identify four wines, and wine theory. Earns the credential of “Certified Sommelier.” |
| Level 3 Certification | Advanced Sommelier Examination Demonstrates additional proficiency in wine theory, service of different types of wines, and blind tastings. Earns the credential of “Advanced Sommelier.” |
| Level 4 Certification | Master Sommelier Examination Includes a verbal exam, tasting six different wines, and a difficult service exam. The pass rate is approximately 10%. Earns the credential of “Master Sommelier.” |
The certification levels build on each other in ways that go well beyond grape varieties.
As Chef Bonath explains, “When you go up certain levels, it’s not just about the grapes and where they come from. You also get into the climate, and the way the sun’s facing on the hill, the soil, the moisture, the humidity. You get into all the other aspects that make the wine taste like it does, not just specifically what the grape is. So, the higher that you build the levels, the more you understand everything that goes into the bottle, from the human aspects to the nature aspects.”*
Day-to-Day Life as a Sommelier
Sommeliers often work in restaurants, typically in fine dining. They may curate the wine list, play a role in menu creation, and decide how wines are served.
They may ensure proper wine storage and train wait staff to serve wine and make recommendations to guests. They’re knowledgeable about complementary pairings and tasting notes, but also about how wine is made and the cultural significance of every bottle.
In a restaurant setting, chefs, servers, managers, and sommeliers work together to shape the full dining experience. The sommelier’s role touches nearly every part of a guest’s evening, from the first pour to the final course.
The best sommeliers bring hospitality to the table along with their knowledge to the table. Escoffier graduate Connor Fowler experienced that firsthand as a nineteen-year-old on his culinary externship in Florence, Italy, where he was too young to legally drink wine in the U.S. but could sit in Italian restaurants and learn from the people serving it.
“I could sit at a restaurant and ask very knowledgeable people, ‘What should I drink? Why should I drink this? Why does this go with this? What would you recommend?’,” Connor says. “They were so generous, and they were very hospitable about it.”*
Today Connor works as a sommelier at Tavernetta in Denver, a Michelin Bib Gourmand recipient, where he’s currently working toward his Advanced Sommelier certification.
Sommeliers may have a guest-facing role, but they often work behind-the-scenes as well to create a strong wine program.
Alternative Careers in the Wine Industry
Careers in wine extend far beyond the dining room. Some wine experts work in tasting rooms, sharing a specific winery’s products with visitors. Sommeliers may teach courses to others who take an interest in wine. They could also work with caterers and event planners to curate wine menus for gatherings, or freelance for new restaurants to create their wine lists.
Wine-loving entrepreneurs could start their own wineries. Or they could become wine influencers or wine reviewers, offering honest assessments of wine to the world. For these careers, an education in sales, marketing, research, and design could supplement a wine background.
Getting Started as a Sommelier
Although there’s no single path to becoming a sommelier, education can be a great place to start.
In addition to sommelier training, a culinary arts degree could prepare you for assessing flavor profiles and working closely with chefs. Or a degree in Hospitality and Restaurant Operations Management could prepare you for managing wine costs, tracking inventory, and providing stellar service.
Contact us today to explore these programs and see where they could fit in with your sommelier goals.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT STARTING A CAREER IN HOSPITALITY AND RESTAURANT OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT, READ THESE ARTICLES NEXT:
- From Kitchen to Corporate: Culinary Careers in Hotels, Resorts, and Hospitality
- What Are the Types of Culinary Degrees and Diplomas?
- What is Food and Beverage Management?
This article was originally published on July 28, 2021, and has since been updated.
FAQs
A sommelier is a wine professional who typically works in fine dining restaurants, curating wine lists, training service staff, managing wine storage, and making recommendations to guests. Beyond table-side service, sommeliers may collaborate with chefs on food and wine pairings, oversee beverage cost control, and help shape the overall dining experience through thoughtful wine program development.
There’s no fixed timeline; it depends on your starting point, how quickly you build experience, and which certification level you pursue. Entry-level sommelier certifications may be accessible to motivated beginners, while advanced credentials like the Master Sommelier designation can take years of dedicated study and practice to achieve.
No formal degree is required, but education can strengthen your foundation significantly. Culinary school coursework in flavor profiles and food culture can translate well to wine study, while hospitality and restaurant management programs can develop skills in beverage operations, cost control, and service standards. Combined with hands-on wine experience, formal education may help candidates stand out in competitive sommelier roles.
Aspiring sommeliers may start by working in restaurants as servers, bartenders, or bar managers, where they can observe wine service and build familiarity with wine lists. Shadowing winemakers, visiting wineries, and finding a mentor in the field could also help with your development. When possible, seeking externship or employment at establishments with robust wine programs can potentially offer valuable hands-on practice.
The terms are often used interchangeably, and a sommelier is essentially a professional wine steward. However, “sommelier” typically implies a higher level of formal training, certification, and expertise. A wine steward may assist with wine service in a more general capacity, while a certified sommelier often brings deeper knowledge of viticulture, regional wine traditions, food pairings, and proper service technique.
