Wine is a global phenomenon. From New York to Hong Kong, London to Mumbai, wine is an essential ingredient in both business and pleasure.
Once you have mastered the ability to taste wine like a trained sommelier in Level Two, the next step is to dive into the world of wine and immerse yourself in its unique contours and idiosyncrasies across the globe.
Level Three is an in-depth review of the world’s major wine regions and essential grape varieties. The goal is to understand culture through the lens of wine, gaining a fluency that goes beyond statistics and taxonomies.
Great wines don’t just happen. They are the product of history, culture, and ingenuity. In this program, you explore the people and places at the core of the world’s wine cultures while continuing to develop your deductive tasting skills.
What You Learn in Level Three
Level Two teaches you how to analyze what is in the glass. Level Three asks a different set of questions.
Where did the wine come from? Why are particular grapes grown there? How have climate, geography, law, culture, and history shaped the wines of that place?
The program combines regional wine study with deductive tasting. Geography and history are part of understanding why a wine tastes the way it does.
Level Three Wine Course Curriculum
Week One: Introduction to the World of Wine
Begin with worldwide wine production, the history and growing conditions of Vitis vinifera, and the Level Three deductive tasting method.
Week Two: Wines of France
Study the major French wine regions, their history, wine laws and essential terminology.
Week Three: Wines of North America
Explore the origins of American winemaking, major North American wine regions and the legal framework that developed around them.
Week Four: Australia, New Zealand & South Africa
Move into three major Southern Hemisphere wine countries, examining their regions, growing conditions and distinctive wine cultures.
Week Five: Wines of Italy
Study Italy’s major regions, grape varieties, wine laws, and terminology while continuing to apply deductive tasting.
Week Six: Wines of Spain
Explore the major Spanish wine regions, grape varieties, and wine laws and how they shape the country’s traditional and modern wines.
Week Seven: Wines of South America
Focus on Chile and Argentina, including their major growing regions, wine laws and regional identities.
Week Eight: Final Exam Preparation
Review the major concepts from the course and prepare for the Level Three final examination.
The existing LearnDash course contains this eight-week progression, along with maps, regional materials, quizzes and deductive-tasting exercises.
Deductive Tasting
Regional knowledge is only part of Level Three.
Students continue the tasting work from Level Two using the National Wine School’s deductive tasting method. The course includes regional tasting sheets and deductive-tasting exercises designed to connect what you learn about a place with what you find in the glass.
Level Two teaches you how to taste. Level Three teaches you how to connect that tasting ability to the world of wine.
Wines and Additional Costs
Wine purchases are not included with enrollment.
National Wine School provides wine and supply recommendations for the course. Students purchase the wines used for the regional tasting exercises separately.
Prerequisites
The prerequisites for Level Three are:
Students coming from another certification organization can request a credential transfer, but transferring directly into this stage is not recommended. The Level Three credential-transfer fee is $100.
How the Program Works
Level Three is a recorded online program with 180 days of access.
The course is structured as an eight-week curriculum covering the world’s major wine regions, regional tasting, and final-exam preparation.
Level Three Final Exam
The Level Three final exam has two components:
- Wine theory
- Deductive tasting
A score of 70% is required to pass.
Become a Sommelier
Level Three completes the National Wine School’s Core Sommelier certification pathway.
Students who successfully complete Levels One, Two, and Three earn the Core Sommelier certification and may properly call themselves a Sommelier.
Your Instructor
Level Three features Alana Zerbe, director of education at the National Wine School.
