The Global Wine Academy

An education of unreasonable depth.

Masterclasses, executive programmes and professional certification in the advanced discipline of appreciation.

The Academy

Founded in 2017. Fully enrolled since 2018.

The Global Wine Academy offers ten courses and six qualifications, from a one-day Masterclass to the nine-month Executive Wine Intelligence Programme and the eighteen-month professional certification.

Teaching is delivered by the Institution’s executive faculty at the Lower Ashmere campus and, in remote symposium form, to every continent with a reliable connection. Every course concludes with a period of reflective silence, assessed.

Qualification levels

Six rungs, one ladder

Level 1Certificate in Appreciation (CAA)
Level 2Diploma in Applied Appreciation (DAA)
Level 3Advanced Diploma in Palate Intelligence
Level 4Professional Certificate in Wine Assessment
Level 5Certified Professional in Wine Credibility (CPWC)
MasterMagister of Palate Governance (MPG)

The Course Catalogue

Ten courses of considerable ambition

Filter by qualification level.

Level 1

Foundations of Advanced Appreciation

An introduction to the discipline of considered appreciation, covering the vocabulary of confidence, the correct manner of holding a glass and the art of saying nothing for eleven seconds.

Duration: 6 weeks
Format: Part-time · Remote Symposium
Qualification: Certificate in Appreciation (CAA)
Programme Director: Dr. Ines Valdespino-Marlowe

Entry requirements & learning outcomes

Entry requirements. None; a general willingness to hold a glass is assumed.

Hold a glass with institutional poise
Deploy ten adjectives without apparent effort
Observe a silence of not less than eleven seconds

Level 3

The Science of Disappointment

A rigorous exploration of the mechanics of disappointment, from expectation formation to the Overall Disappointment Index. Students conduct controlled experiments on themselves.

Duration: 12 weeks
Format: Part-time · Residential Weekends
Qualification: Advanced Diploma (Distinction available)
Programme Director: Madame Oriana Tolliver-Sjöberg

Entry requirements & learning outcomes

Entry requirements. Completion of Level 2; prior experience of at least one disappointing bottle.

Calculate an Overall Disappointment Index in Dregs
Distinguish expectation from hope
Design a replicable disappointing experience

Executive

Executive Wine Intelligence Programme

An immersive programme for senior leaders, combining intelligence frameworks, positioning strategy and structured silence. Participants complete a capstone dashboard presented to the Council.

Duration: 9 months
Format: Cohort of 24 · Residential
Qualification: Executive Certificate in Wine Intelligence
Programme Director: Dr. Anselm Voskuijlen

Entry requirements & learning outcomes

Entry requirements. Senior role in an organisation that uses the word “portfolio.”

Construct an executive intelligence dashboard
Lead a structured silence in a boardroom
Present a capstone before the Council

Level 2

The Graduated Sniff Laboratory

A practical laboratory in the three-stage sniff: the Courtesy, the Considered and the Concluding. Students progress from sniffing to repeating it with conviction.

Duration: 8 weeks
Format: Part-time · Laboratory Residency
Qualification: Diploma in Applied Olfaction
Programme Director: Dr. Philippa Strathmore-Okonkwo-Lund

Entry requirements & learning outcomes

Entry requirements. Foundations of Advanced Appreciation or equivalent.

Perform the Graduated Sniff to Standard 22.1
Express aroma complexity in NIU
Identify a Courtesy Sniff at ten paces

Level 2

Advanced Wine Terminology & Pronouncement

A study of the advanced lexicon, with particular attention to “length,” “line,” “tension” and “quiet authority.” Students learn to use each without being asked what it means.

Duration: 10 weeks
Format: Part-time · Remote Symposium
Qualification: Diploma in Terminology
Programme Director: Prof. Thessaly Quarrington-Bell

Entry requirements & learning outcomes

Entry requirements. Foundations of Advanced Appreciation.

Use eighty specialist terms in a single paragraph
Pronounce regional names with justified confidence
Defend a term when challenged, politely

Executive

International Wine Leadership Seminar

Five days of intensive leadership development, including Strategic Pausing, the Doctrine of Measured Response and a closing dinner at which no wine is discussed.

Duration: 5 days
Format: Residential · Lower Ashmere
Qualification: Seminar Certificate (Executive)
Programme Director: Hartley Fenwick-Adeyemi

Entry requirements & learning outcomes

Entry requirements. Current leadership role; nomination by an existing Member.

Apply the Doctrine of Measured Response
Chair a meeting of eleven people in silence
Lead a closing dinner without referring to the wine

Level 4

Structural Integrity Analysis for Practitioners

The advanced study of body, acidity, tannin and balance as structural properties, with practical examination of how much a wine can bear.

Duration: 14 weeks
Format: Part-time · Laboratory Residency
Qualification: Professional Certificate (Level 4)
Programme Director: Madame Oriana Tolliver-Sjöberg

Entry requirements & learning outcomes

Entry requirements. Advanced Diploma or equivalent professional experience.

Perform a complete Structural Integrity Analysis
Report in SIR with defensible decimals
Assess a wine’s capacity to support its label

Level 2

The Art of the Meaningful Pause

A short, intensive course in the strategic use of silence, covering the half-pause, the full pause and the Pause of Deep Consideration, which is not recommended for beginners.

Duration: 4 weeks
Format: Part-time · Remote Symposium
Qualification: Certificate in Silent Evaluation
Programme Director: Lord Evander Pennington-Vass

Entry requirements & learning outcomes

Entry requirements. None.

Deliver a Pause of Deep Consideration
Interpret the pauses of others
Recover from a pause that has gone on too long

Level 5

Certified Professional in Wine Credibility (CPWC)

The Academy’s flagship professional qualification. Candidates complete six modules, a portfolio of 40 assessments and a viva voce before three Assessors, the middle of whom does not speak.

Duration: 18 months
Format: Part-time · Residential Blocks
Qualification: Certified Professional in Wine Credibility (CPWC)
Programme Director: Madame Oriana Tolliver-Sjöberg

Entry requirements & learning outcomes

Entry requirements. Advanced Diploma, two years’ practice and two professional referees who have not been told what it is for.

Complete a portfolio of 40 assessments
Pass a viva voce before three Assessors
Hold the post-nominal CPWC with conviction

Masterclass

Masterclass: Reading a Label Without Believing It

A single, concentrated day examining the language of labels, from “reserve” to “selection” to “a wine of character.” Participants learn to read all of it and believe none.

Duration: 1 day
Format: In person · Lower Ashmere
Qualification: Masterclass Attendance Certificate
Programme Director: Baptiste Ormsby-Kaczmarek

Entry requirements & learning outcomes

Entry requirements. Open to all Members.

Decode twelve common label phrases
Distinguish a promise from a typeface
Retain a healthy scepticism, in comfortable quantities

Enrolment

Apply

Applications are open to Members of every tier. Non-members may apply, and will be encouraged to join.

Faculty

Teaching is led by the Institution’s executives, each of whom has been briefed on what a lecture is.

Certification

Qualifications are awarded by the Academy in the Institution’s own name. They are not accredited by any external body, and are on that account extremely independent.

Review membership tiers Meet the faculty