How to Become a Sommelier

There is no single legal licence you need to become a sommelier. Most sommeliers get there by combining years of work on a restaurant floor with a certification path, usually the Court of Master Sommeliers or WSET, and a great deal of tasting.

First, the word itself. In American English, sommelier is usually said sum-uhl-YAY, with the stress on the last syllable, and many people say it closer to the French, so-muhl-YAY. Some British dictionaries put the stress at the front instead: SUM-uhl-yay. Below you will find what the job involves, a step-by-step route in, the main certification levels compared, realistic timings and a plan for your first month.

What is a sommelier and what does a sommelier do?

A sommelier is a wine professional who looks after wine in a restaurant, hotel or bar. The word is French, and it is sometimes translated as wine waiter or wine steward, but the modern job is much broader than pouring.

A typical sommelier's work covers six areas:

• The wine list: choosing which wines to offer and keeping the list balanced across grapes, regions, styles and price levels.
• Buying: tasting with suppliers, ordering, and keeping track of stock and margins.
• The cellar: storing bottles at a steady 12–13°C, rotating stock and judging when a wine is ready to drink.
• Service: opening, decanting and pouring at the right temperature, and spotting a faulty bottle, such as a corked one, before the guest drinks it. Our guide to wine faults explains the common ones.
• Pairing: suggesting wines that suit each guest's dish, taste and budget.
• Staff training: teaching servers enough to describe and sell the list with confidence.

In a small restaurant one person may do all of this while also waiting tables. In a large hotel, a head sommelier may lead a team and spend more time on buying than on the floor. Experienced sommeliers often move on into retail, importing, wine education or writing.

From the guest's side, a good sommelier mostly listens. If you have ever felt nervous about that conversation, our guide on how to order wine at a restaurant shows how simple it can be.

How to become a sommelier, step by step

Every career looks a little different, but most follow the same five steps, often overlapping.

1. Taste widely and with attention. Try as many grapes and regions as you can and write a short note each time. Start with classic benchmarks such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc, because exams and wine lists lean heavily on them. A fixed method helps: look, smell, taste, conclude, as set out in how to taste wine.
2. Get a job in hospitality. Floor experience is what turns knowledge into a career. Many sommeliers start as servers, bartenders, assistant sommeliers or shop staff in a wine shop. Ask to help with stock counts, sit in on supplier tastings and taste the bottles that are opened for checking.
3. Study the theory. Regions, grapes, winemaking, labels and wine law all come up, and the Court's exams also touch on spirits, beer and other drinks. A structured course gives the facts an order, so they stick.
4. Certify. Pick a path and take the first level. The Court of Master Sommeliers suits people aiming at restaurant service. WSET suits anyone who wants broad, systematic knowledge, and is popular in retail, importing and education. Plenty of sommeliers do both.
5. Keep going. Join or start a blind tasting group, visit wine regions when you can, and move up a level when your work and study allow. The best sommeliers never really stop learning.

Sommelier levels and certifications compared

The two best-known programmes are the Court of Master Sommeliers, founded in England in 1977 with an Americas chapter founded in 1987, and WSET (the Wine & Spirit Education Trust), based in London. Both are independent organisations with their own courses and exams. The Court focuses on the restaurant floor and tests service. WSET focuses on knowledge and structured tasting and has no service exam. Our guide to WSET levels explained covers its four levels in more depth.

Other routes: many countries have national sommelier associations that run their own courses, and many of these belong to the international body ASI (Association de la Sommellerie Internationale). The Society of Wine Educators offers the Certified Specialist of Wine, a theory-based exam. The Master of Wine title from the Institute of Masters of Wine is another top-tier qualification, aimed at the whole wine trade rather than at restaurant service.

How to become a Master Sommelier: you climb the Court's ladder, passing Introductory, Certified and Advanced, and then sit the three-part Master exam. It is famously hard. At the 2026 Americas sitting, 4 of the 30 candidates passed all three parts, and as of 2026 there are only about 305 Master Sommeliers worldwide, 176 of them in the Americas. Most candidates need several attempts.

How long does it take to become a sommelier?

It depends on what you mean by sommelier. You can hold the job title well before you hold the top certificates, and many working sommeliers never sit the highest exams at all. These are realistic ranges, not rules:

• Entry certificates (Court Introductory or WSET Levels 1–2): a few weeks to a few months, alongside work.
• First sommelier job: often one to three years in hospitality, sooner in a casual wine bar, later in a formal restaurant.
• Certified Sommelier or WSET Level 3: often one to three years of combined work and study.
• Advanced Sommelier: usually several more years of floor experience and serious tasting practice.
• Master Sommelier or WSET Diploma: WSET says most Diploma candidates finish in 18 months to 3 years after Level 3. Master Sommeliers have usually worked in wine for many years, often a decade or more, before they pass.

The biggest variable is tasting time. People who taste with a group every week tend to move faster than those who study from books alone.

The skills that make a good sommelier

Certificates open doors, but these are the skills employers and guests notice:

• Tasting and palate memory: recognising grapes and regions blind comes from tasting the same benchmark wines again and again and putting what you find into words. Our list of words to describe wine gives you the vocabulary.
• Service: opening sparkling wine safely, decanting an old red, serving at the right temperature (sparkling at 6–10°C, medium and full reds at 15–18°C, as in our serving temperature chart) and handling a faulty bottle calmly.
• Salesmanship: reading a table, asking about taste and budget, and suggesting something the guest will enjoy without pushing them.
• Organisation: stock counts, cellar records, list updates and ordering are a large, unglamorous part of the job.
• Teaching: explaining wine simply, to guests and to colleagues.
• Stamina: long evenings on your feet and cases of wine to carry.

Tasting is the job, so spitting is a professional habit: sommeliers taste many wines in a day and spit most of them. Wine is for adults of legal drinking age and is best enjoyed in moderation.

How much do sommeliers make?

Sommelier pay varies widely by country, venue and level, and we have not found a recent, reputable source that pins it down well enough to quote a figure here. Official statistics often group sommeliers with waiting staff, which hides the difference between a junior role and a head sommelier.

What we can say is what tends to drive pay up or down:

• Venue: fine dining restaurants, large hotels and busy wine bars usually pay more than casual places.
• Role: head sommeliers and wine buyers usually earn more than assistant sommeliers on the floor.
• Tips and service charges: in some countries these make up a large share of income, in others very little.
• Experience and certificates: higher levels can help when negotiating, but employers weigh years on the floor heavily.

For current numbers, check your own country's official labour statistics or a recent survey by a national sommelier or hospitality association.

Do you need to be a sommelier to learn about wine?

No. Most people who study wine never work in a restaurant, and nothing on the exam syllabus is secret. You can learn the same grapes, regions and tasting method at your own pace, for the pleasure of choosing better bottles and enjoying them more.

Our guide on how to learn about wine sets out a plan for beginners, and a structured online wine course gives the topics an order. If you are weighing up options, see our round-up of the best online wine courses.

Learning as a home sommelier mostly means tasting with a purpose. Open two wines side by side rather than one, so differences stand out. Keep short notes, learn to read the label before you pour, and try each new wine with food. Our guide to practising wine tasting at home shows how to set up simple comparisons with friends.

A first-month study plan

Whether you are aiming for a career or just curious, this plan gives you a solid start in four weeks:

• Week 1: learn a tasting method and use it on every glass. The free tasting and senses unit walks you through it step by step.
• Week 1: take a few of our free wine quizzes to see where you stand before you study.
• Weeks 2–4: twice a week, taste two wines side by side, for example Sauvignon Blanc against Chardonnay, or Pinot Noir against Cabernet Sauvignon, and write three words for each.
• Week 2: get to know the main types of wine, so the styles on a list make sense.
• Week 3: learn how to read a wine label, including grape, region and vintage.
• Week 4: try our unofficial WSET Level 1 practice test to check your progress, then decide whether a first certificate is your next step.
• Every week: when you eat out, ask the sommelier what they would pour with your dish and why. Most enjoy the question.