The Credential is Not the Problem. You Are
I have been seeing a wave of posts lately on Instagram, LinkedIn and in trade magazines. The argument is always some version of the same thing: wine certifications produce arrogant people who cannot talk to regular guests, the education is disconnected from reality, and the whole system exists to make sommeliers feel important rather than to sell wine.
They are not entirely wrong about the symptom. They are completely wrong about the cause.
I attended a multi-day tasting seminar a few years ago. Two sessions ran back to back, covering different regions of the same country, each taught by a different Master Sommelier. Same room, same audience, same day.
The first presenter told us that we should keep our guest-facing language as elevated as possible. That the knowledge should be perceived at the level it deserves. The second presenter said something that has stayed with me ever since. “Use the language that fits the guest”. Make a complicated subject accessible. That is the job.
Two people with the same credential, the same depth of knowledge, the same title after their name. Two completely opposite philosophies about what to do with it.
That is not a certification problem. That is a people problem.
Let me be clear about what that credential represents. These designations, the MS, the MW, the DipWSET, they are years of sacrifice, failed attempts, financial strain, and relentless study. They earn enormous respect. The education is not the issue. The obligation is what you carry once you have it.
The best teachers I have encountered across 25 years in this industry understood that instinctively. The worst ones used knowledge as a gate rather than a door. I have had bad teachers. So have you. In wine, in school, in every field where expertise exists. A bad teacher in medical school does not make medicine wrong. A bad coach does not make the sport wrong. A bad sommelier instructor does not make the WSET wrong.
Education, in any field, is a tool. The person holding it decides what to do with it. If you have earned a certification, a diploma, a pin, a title, you have taken on an obligation. Not to protect the mystique of the subject. Not to signal your standing in a room. Your obligation is to expand the universe of people who love this thing as much as you do. That is the whole job.
Now, I will grant the critics one real point. The cost of formal wine education is prohibitive. The WSET Diploma, the Court of Master Sommeliers exam track, the CWE: these are not accessible to most people working in the industry who want them most. That is a structural failure worth naming.
What is also worth naming are the people and organizations actively working to fix it.
The Roots Fund is a non-profit dedicated to creating a more inclusive wine industry. They provide financial support, educational scholarships, and mentorship to Black and Indigenous people pursuing careers in wine. I have a friend who recently attended Vine et Hip Hop Los Angeles, an event that raised funds directly for this organization. He called it one of the most inspiring experiences he has had in this industry.
The Women of the Vine and Spirits Foundation funds scholarships and professional development programs for women across every tier of the industry. The Glancy Wine Education Foundation provides grants to individuals pursuing wine and spirits education. The Gerard Basset Foundation offers scholarships to underrepresented people pursuing advanced wine education. The Court of Master Sommeliers Americas has scholarship and mentorship programs within its own structure. The Foley Family Wines and Spirits Women in Wine Fund and the International Sommelier Guild both offer additional pathways for people who need financial support to access serious education.
These programs exist because some people in this industry understand the obligation I am describing. They are not waiting for the system to fix itself. They are funding the door and holding it open.
The critics of wine education are aiming at the wrong target. The target is not the curriculum. It is the culture of performance that some certified professionals wrap around themselves like a shield. Strip that away and what you have left is one of the richest, most layered, most human subjects in the world.
Your job, if you have the education, is to give that away. Not in pieces. Not with conditions. Not at a level above the person in front of you. Give it away in the language they speak, at the pace they need, until they love this as much as you do.