Sommelier Certification AWC
The International Sommelier Guild is the professional sommelier certification body that accredits through Sommelier
courses with direct instruction.
Upon successful completion of the Sommelier Certification AWC, you will become a member of the International Sommelier
Guild. We strive to support the professional development of our members including a referral program for career
opportunities and sponsorship of exclusive member tastings and events. You will not only graduate
with a certificate that designates you as a leader in wine, you will become a part of a community
that strives to help each other grow.
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Advanced Wine Certificate (AWC)
Advanced Wine Certificate – an advanced course designed to build on your knowledge from the ISG IWC. Based on REGIONAL approach. A broad spectrum of knowledge and understanding of wine, spirits and ales including: Viticulture, Vinification, and Regional appellation laws and more.
What you learn, what you get?
Extensive and deep knowledge of old and new world wine regions as well as sparkling, fortified wines, spirits and ales.
This course prepares you for your start as a professional in the wine business and industry.
Further develop your blind tasting skills.
Develop your service skills, food and wine pairing techniques, and proper storage and wine management practices.
Structured and clear learning materials designed and build by our board of education. The ISG is the only Sommelier educational body that has its own learning materials, published books and standardized curriculum!
You will be introduced to the most important wines and grapes from all around the world.
You will be introduced to most major and minor wine regions in the world, big countries and small.
This course advances your understanding of wine and wine making and prepares you for the Sommelier certification.
Course structure and requirements:
16 sessions totaling 48 clock hours in total, (you will need a minimum of 5 to 1-hour ratio of additional home studying to be successful) whether online or in class delivery.
All sessions have a structural set-up and consist of: Lecture, Tasting, Review and Quiz.
Exam (session 16) 5 hour, 2 theory and 1 practical exams. For more information please
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AWC
Theory Exam 1 - 100 multiple choice questions (90 minutes).
Theory Exam 2 - 6 essay questions (180 minutes).
Practical Exam 3 – Blind Tasting: 2 red wines, 2 white wines. (30 minutes)
Successful completion of AWC is required for admittance into ISGM.
The following information is an outline of what the ISG considers to be general guidelines for essay writings and the level of knowledge that is expected at the completion of AWC. Below you will find a sample essay, demonstrating a perfectly written sample.
Please remember that in order to meet your educational entrance requirements for the Sommelier certification you must attain no less than 70% in each of your three examinations.
Essay Expectations for Students (Syllabus).
Essay sections on the ISG’s Level II and Diploma exams are important measures of a student’s understanding of the topics covered in class. Unlike multiple choice questions, which test the student’s ability to recognize correct answers to questions, the essays are designed to allow a student to demonstrate that s/he has a coherent and comprehensive understanding of a particular issue.
What is an Essay?
Students often have difficulty with essay writing. There are several reasons for this, but the primary issue seems to lay in a confusion about what an essay is. In its most basic form, an essay is a written attempt to make sense of an issue. More specifically, an essay is an attempt to make sense of an issue by taking a position and arguing for the validity of that position. A set of factual details is given in support of the position for which you are arguing.
The name typically given for the position you have taken is a thesis. In all arguments, the most important feature is a strong thesis. This is important because the factual details that are delivered are only valid insofar as they support your thesis. The thesis provides structure and coherence to your argument. Students are advised that writing a brief outline is valuable in assisting in the development of a strong thesis and supporting argument. After developing a brief outline of the factual details to be included in the essay, a thesis statement must be written. The important fact to notice here is that the thesis statement should be written after the outline has been developed.
The ISG recognizes that our students are not professional writers. However, there are minimum requirements for the essay portion of examinations to ensure a minimum level of competence for our graduates.
Level 2 Essays
- Clear, logically developed communication of an idea
- All essays must be written in sentence and paragraph form; we will not accept bullet point answers
- Correct spelling to a point where the instructor can clearly interpret the meaning of the word. A deduction of up to 10% of the overall mark will follow for spelling errors of essential wine related terms and grammar.
- An effort in understanding the wide variety of wine languages
- The essays should consist of no less than: a clear introduction followed by the main statements/thesis and proper conclusion in the 750-900-word range.
Compare and contrast Valpolicella and Amarone della Valpolicella.
Note: You will get ALL LEARNING MATERIALS, standardized and structured, as the ISG is the only Sommelier educational body that has its own learning materials, published books and standardized curriculum!
AWC examinations may be challenging, please read our policies for further important information.
Course topics overview (Syllabus) -
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AWC
Session 1