Wine For Normal People Radio: Episode 38 -- Alphabet Soup…The Business of Wine Certifications

This week we go inside the wine industry again! 

MC Ice and I start with some amazing shout outs from iTunes, Twitter, and Facebook. Thanks for all the positive feedback!

Here's the link to the podcast: LINK 

Then we tackle a robust listener question that pulls the curtain back on the wine industry. I share firsthand information about big conglomerates' wines that I learned while working for the big hulking winery! In a nutshell, we address the quality, the marketing, & how to figure out what they own.

Then we cover the certifications that people in the wine industry love to tout, what they really mean, and our take on the pyramid schemes of these certification groups:

• The certifications that Pliny the Elder, Ausonius, Thomas Jefferson, and other wine experts throughout history earned/certifications' place in wine history (hint: they didn't have any...this stuff is all very new)
• The wine-service-oriented Court of Master Sommeliers and the different levels offered
• The Society of Wine Educators and the Certified Specialist of Wine and Certified Wine Educator Exams
• The Wine and Spirits Education Trust (and why it's awesome but really price-y)
• The Master of Wine

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If you've got a question you want us to answer, post it and we'll include it on the show!

Thanks for listening! We can't wait to hear from you!

Podcast music: "Café connection" by morgantj / CC BY 3.0, ©2009 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (3.0).