I was recently asked to expound on the relative advantages/disadvantages to the Society of Wine Educators (SWE) credentials as compared to the Wine & Spirits Education Trust (WSET) certifications. The inquiry came from someone whose purpose to wine education was more professional than personal. As others may have similar questions, I have chosen to answer the question in a more public forum than a reply e-mail.

For those of you unfamiliar with the two organizations and their respective certifications, an overview is in order. The Society of Wine Educators is a volunteer organization, based in the U.S., but with members throughout the world. Membership is open to both novices and professionals. SWE presents an annual conference, several additional educational programs and presently administers two credentialing programs. The first level credential is the Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW), which is earned by successfully passing (75% or higher) a 100-question multiple-choice exam. The Certified Wine Educator (CWE) is much more rigourous, entailing multiple-choice questions, an essay question and two blind tasting exercises (one on identifiying varietals and the other on identifying faults).

The WSET is a non-profit organization based in London, England, which adminsters a number of educational programs, worldwide, primarily focused on wine, but also inclusive of spirits (hence, the S in the title). Its programs are open to novices and professionals, but are primarily intended for professionals, particularly at the higher levels. To that end, coursework and content focus on trade and industry issues as part of the curriculum. In addition, the Diploma program serves as a prerequisite to those interested in pursuing the Master of Wine (MW) credential, which is administered by the Institute of Masters of Wine. The largest U.S-based WSET program is offered by the International Wine Center in New York, NY, where I take my classes.

The advantage to the WSET programs is that, if you live near an approved program provider, you can participate in a traditional class. Students have the opportunity to taste 6 wines per class and are instructed by credentialed wine educators. If you are not near a provider or if you can’t commit to traveling to one (IWC does offer condensed format programs for those traveling to NYC), you will need to complete your program as a home study student, traveling to a provider only to sit for your exam(s).

SWE does not offer any formal classes to prepare for its certifications, so one needs to be more disciplined in their preparation. A Study Guide is available for the CSW; a list of recommended books is available for the CWE, along with some helpful hints from previous exam takers. Exams are offered throughout the year in various cities and at conference; a schedule is posted annually. My understanding is that the CSW must be successfully completed before one can sit for the CWE, which is a change from the past.

A disadvantage to the WSET program is that the WSET does not appear to offer any programming outside of its formal classes within the U.S. There are occasional events in London available to students. SWE has its annual conference, which provides additional educational opportunities as well as a venue for networking.

Since students generally participate in an 8-week or 15-week WSET program, inclusive of materials, study guides and wines, the tuition for the WSET program can get expensive, especially at the Diploma level. In contrast, the only expense associated with SWE credentials is each exam’s registration fee.

Of course, scheduling issues and tuition expenses are not the real reasons to choose one program over another.  The learning experience should be the more important emphasis. I don’t think that the credentials are fully analogous, so it is difficult to compare apples with apples. The WSET Foundation Certificate is the most basic level, but doesn’t seem to be offered much in the U.S. Its Intermediate Certificate is a good place to start. The CSW is more challenging than Intermediate, but less so than Advanced Certificate. The CWE is more rigorous than Advanced Certificate, but less so than Diploma.

For those in restaurants or other, more-service oriented facets of the wine industry, the sommelier programs might be more suitable as they cover wine content, along with related service elements. This track leads to the Master Sommelier (MS) credential, which, like the MW, is extremely rigorous and challenging and achieved by only a few hardy souls.

Consequently, one’s choice of credentials is less cut and dried than simply deciding whether to SWE or WSET. Both organizations are well regarded and offer quality programs. For me, the choice was simple, both. I will take my Unit 6 exam for WSET Diploma on November 7 in New York and will hop on Amtrak to take the CWE exam in Boston on the following day. Assuming that I am successful on both exams, I will be left with two papers to complete for the Diploma. I then plan to take a break from formal wine study while I contemplate whether or not to pursue the MW. Of course, regardless of whether I pursue additional credentials or programs, I will never stop learning about wine.

I returned to Kansas City, MO for the second phase of my participation in the Academy for Academic Leadership’s Institute for Teaching and Learning last weekend. Some of the time was spent with a few colleagues from my home institution — NYU — and I had the opportunity to dine out with them on several occasions. Knowing of my academic pursuits in wine, they deferred to me in all matters vinous, even to the point of waiting for me to arrive at the bar to advise them on which glass of wine to order.

On the first night, our group met at the hotel’s revolving restaurant to prepare for our project presentation. When in Rome…, so we all proceeded to order steak — KC Strip and fillet mignon — making my job very easy. I chose a Cabernet Sauvignon from Simi (Alexander Valley, Sonoma, 2004 vintage) and explained the match between tannin and protein. All expressed approval at the selection. The next night, thre of us headed to the well-regarded Fiorella’s Jack Stack BBQ, which practically begged for Zinfandel [Zen of Zin, California (specific details not recalled), 2004 vintage]. It was a terrific match with the sweet barbecue sauce and burnt ends (one of the house specialties) and ribs.

Of particular interest, my colleagues were hungry for wine knowledge, asking detailed questions. Perhaps their roles as scientists can account for some of their inquisitive pursuit. But, more likely, I think it is their true interest in learning more about wine. One colleague noted that she had never had so many wines before and bragged to another that she had learned about five grapes — all in three days! Regardless of motive, I was delighted to sate their appetite with my knowledge and keep the bottles flowing.

While at the Austrian wine event, I ran into Reuben, one of my Diploma classmates. He is the Wine Director for the Monday Room, at Public restaurant on Elizabeth Street. He noted that he would be heading home to his native Ribera del Duero for a month’s holiday. Thinking that such a visit sounded quite nice, I asked him if I would fit in his suitcase. While not expecting an affirmative response, I was a bit surprised by his answer. He noted that there wouldn’t be any room left due to all of the wine he would be carrying.

I am always anxious to bring home wine from Europe on my own holidays, but never thought about someone wanting to bring wines back from America. Of course, it makes similar sense as my own purchases, but I guess I hadn’t really ever given it any thought. My classmate noted that he had a cellar at his home in Spain and liked to stock it with American wines in addition to his European collection.

This is certainly a vote of confidence in American wines, which are more recent additions to the wine world than their European counterparts. It also raises the issue about the difficulty in getting a diverse range of wines wherever you live. As a New Yorker, I am fortunate to be able to obtain wines from all over the world, but even still, may not find a lot of the smaller producers since they are unable to get representation/distribution. Likewise, a Spaniard can purchase lots of different Spanish wines, but may have less access to wines from California or Chile. Consequently, visits abroad (in whichever direction) are a great way to learn more about wines one would not ordinarily find at home.

On our last day in Oregon, I made the mistake of checking e-mail and found a thread of e-mails from my Diploma classmates. The first heralded the arrival of our Unit 3 exam results, with subsequent posts from fellow students who had run out to the mailbox upon receipt of the first. Unfortunately, from my vantage point in Oregon, I was much too far from my mailbox to retrieve my own score. I tried to put it out of my mind for the remainder of the day, as we still had a long plane ride ahead of us.

We landed at Newark Airport, eventually retrieved our car (after initially taking the monorail to the wrong parking lot) and proceeded to drive home. Jared dropped me at the apartment, with our luggage, and headed off to the parking lot. While I awaited his return, I unpacked our bags, emptied the dishwasher and generally put our life back in motion. He entered the apartment and was surprised to learn that I had not yet ripped open the envelope, so he quickly flipped through the stack of mail and bade me to open it right then.

On tenterhooks, I carefully opened the envelope and slipped the pages from its hold, unfolding them to read the results. I was filled with a sigh of relief as I read that I had earned a Pass with Merit. Needless to say, I was pleased with the score and felt much lighter knowing that the end of the Diploma is in sight. With only 9 of the 60 credits remaining, I feel more confident in my wine knowledge and in my ability to successfully complete the Diploma program.