Looking to put an imprimatur on your burgeoning wine-swilling habit? On Monday, January 16, the Washington Wine Academy will hold its first class in the WSET’s five-week Intermediate level course at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Crystal City.
What is the WSET? Although you’re not wrong if you answered that the WSET is ABC’s Lynchburg, Va. affiliate (or, for that matter, the Western Society of Electrodiagnostic Technologists), you’re more correct for our purposes if you said that the WSET is the Wine & Spirit Education Trust – a United Kingdom-based organization that offers varying levels of professional credentials across the globe to those in the wine trade.
The WSET is also the educational counterpart to the Masters of Wine program – an extremely rigorous and lengthy course of study that recognizes only the tête de cuvée of wine professionals after passage of an examination that’s roughly the equivalent of enduring 10 Supreme Court confirmation hearings. Think Beatrix Kiddo training with Pai Mei. And although some say that the WSET is stodgy and too European-focused at the expense of New World wines, the fact of the matter is that its credentials – for better or for worse – are the ones that matter in the wine world.
Fortunately for you, Jay Youmans – the Washington Wine Academy’s instructor for the course – is one of the world’s rare 278 Masters of Wine. What’s more, the Intermediate level course is essentially the WSET’s introductory level offering – the very first step on your way to vinous immortality. Your education doesn’t come cheap, though. Getting in the door requires six free Monday evenings (the final one is to take the exam), an interest in pursuing wine knowledge, and – here’s the kicker – a cool $595 fee. But hey, if you want a career in the industry, the credential is a great starting point. And if you get past the first round, you might – one day a long time from now – have the chance to learn the Five-Point Palm Exploding Heart Wine Drinking Technique.
For more information, visit the Washington Wine Academy’s website or call (703) 971-1525.
