Chicago has no shortage of wine bars, wine lists, and wine lovers. What it lacks is a fast track to real sommelier credentials, until now.
This August, students from across the country are heading to Philadelphia for Summer Wine School, the annual intensive hosted by the Wine School of Philadelphia. For Chicago’s wine community, it’s the most direct path available to professional-level wine education, and one worth the trip.
The Accelerated Sommelier Course runs the week of August 17, compressing the full arc of core sommelier training: blind tasting, wine theory, and the world’s major regions. It ends with the skills and pin that mark a working sommelier. Whether you’re behind the bar in Wicker Park, managing a list in the West Loop, or simply serious about wine, this is the course that gets you there without a year-long commitment.
This is the program that helped launch the Chicago Wine School.
For those who want to go further, the Wine Instructor Certification is scheduled for the week of August 24. This is the only pathway in the United States to become a certified National Wine School instructor. If you’ve ever wanted to lead tastings, build a wine education program, or teach professionally, this is where it starts, and Philadelphia is where it happens. We cannot recommend it highly enough.
The Wine School of Philadelphia has been doing this since 2001. The Philadelphia Inquirer named it the 2026 Silver Medal Winner for Top Trade School. WineMaker magazine has called it one of the best sommelier training programs in America. Its graduates run wine programs across the country.
Chicago students interested in either program can learn more and register at vinology.com.
