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Champagne Specialist: Understanding and Recommending Champagne’s Wines

London

Develop the skills required for the recommending, serving, selling and purchasing of Champagne wines and managing a cellar with the Champagne Specialist programme from the Comité Champagne. A complete training course with tastings and fun workshops that leads to recognised certification.

The Comité Champagne has been carrying out training for 80 years, training over 10,000 professionals and future professionals every year in eight locations around the world both in person and remotely. The Comité Champagne occupies a special place in the world of wine education due to their content resulting from a consensus among all Champagne’s actors.

Training objectives

  • Understand and interpret Champagne labels
  • Know how to describe and assess Champagne wines
  • Know how to store and serve Champagne in optimum conditions
  • Be able to recommend a Champagne by ascertaining the customer’s expectations and needs and drawing up an appropriate range of suggestions
  • Know how to pair food and Champagne

The benefits of this course

  • You will put the skills you have learned into practice in the workshops
  • You will develop the advisory skills needed to carry out professional activities such as recommending, serving, selling and buying Champagne and managing a cellar
  • This course is created and managed by the Comité Champagne, which guarantees verified and up-to-date content, as well as the assurance of a global vision of Champagne
2024 dates and timings
  • Monday 9th September: 10:30am to 5:30pm 
  • Tuesday 10th September: 10:30am to 5:30pm
  • Wednesday 11th September: 10:30am to 12:30pm

Price: 375.00£

Champagne Specialist course information

  • Course Structure

    Session 1:

    • Introduction, tasting basics, food and wine pairing
    • Practical workshop: The perfect pairing

    Session 2:

    • Champagne terroir
    • Practical workshop: The Champagne game

    Session 3:

    • The Champagne Method
    • Practical workshop: The cellar master

    Session 4:

    • Advice, service and storage
    • Practical workshop: The wine shop manager

    Examination for the Champagne Specialist Certificate

    3 Champagne wines will be tasted in each session

  • Who is this certification for?

    This certification is aimed at professionals and students : wine shop staff, sommeliers, catering professionals, food distribution professionals, executives/buyers/sellers in the wine and spirits sector, wine industry professionals, tourism professionals, wine journalists, importers, wine trainers, students in the hotel, catering and luxury goods industries, etc.

  • Prerequisites

    A minimum of 7 hours of preparation:

    • Complete the Champagne MOOC
    • Careful reading of the Learner’s Guide for the Champagne Specialist course
  • Assessment

    Theory test – 1 hour

    • 30 multiple choice questions (30 minutes - 30 points)
    • 2 open questions (30 minutes - 30 points)

    Practical test – 45 minutes

    • Tasting of two identified Champagne wines (40 points)
    • Description of the characteristics of the Champagne tasted
    • Presentation of a sales argument to promote this Champagne
    • Suggestion and explanation of a harmonious food and Champagne pairing
  • Duration

    14 hours of classes over three days including a 1-hour practical assessment and 1-hour theory assessment.

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