Learn Wine & Sommellerie in Bordeaux

What you can realistically reach: A WSET Level 2 or 3 intensive (a few days to a couple of weeks) genuinely earns a recognised qualification and a structured tasting method. The Diploma, MW and MS titles are years beyond that — worth not confusing with a short course.

Intensive Programme (Grand Cru level)

A seven-day, roughly 60-hour intensive run by the Bordeaux wine council in an 18th-century building in the city centre, combining structured tasting technique with three days travelling through the vineyards. You taste across the 65 appellations, study the classified growths of Medoc, Sauternes, Graves and Saint-Emilion, and learn appellation, vintage and food-and-wine pairing alongside a small group. Tutors are working winegrowers, oenologists and cellar masters; the programme is available in English. Suited to serious enthusiasts and trade entrants building toward formal wine study.

Multi-day full-time study at the institutional source of Bordeaux wine, taught by working growers and oenologists with hands-in-the-vineyard days.

Why L'Ecole du Vin de Bordeaux (CIVB Bordeaux Wine School)

• ★ 4.6/5 · 99 reviews on TripAdvisor ↗

— don't take my word, check it yourself

Founded in 1989 and run directly by the CIVB (the official Bordeaux Wine Council), the school's professional instructors run tiered tasting workshops from beginner to specialist level for 120,000+ learners worldwide each year, with reviewers praising the knowledgeable instruction and the historic 18th-century setting.

Schools in Bordeaux

Checked by hand against each school's own course pages. No school paid to be listed.

• L'Ecole du Vin de Bordeaux (CIVB Bordeaux Wine School)
  Intensive Programme (Grand Cru level)
  A seven-day, roughly 60-hour intensive run by the Bordeaux wine council in an 18th-century building in the city centre, combining structured tasting technique with three days travelling through the vi
  https://www.ecoleduvindebordeaux.com/en
• L'Ecole du Vin de Bordeaux (CIVB)
  Grands Crus / total-immersion tasting courses with vineyard days
  Created in 1989 by the Bordeaux Wine Council (CIVB), the Bordeaux Wine School runs tasting workshops from two hours to multi-day formats, including a Grand Crus-level course that pairs classroom tasting of the 65 appellations with several days of travel through the vineyards.
  https://www.ecoleduvindebordeaux.com/en/
• INSEEC / OMNES Wine & Spirits Institute
  MSc Wine (Bordeaux Chartrons campus)
  INSEEC's Wine & Spirits Institute, part of the OMNES Education group, delivers an MSc Wine on its Bordeaux Chartrons campus training graduates in wine and spirits marketing, distribution, brand management and wine tourism.
  https://www.inseec.com/en/program/msc/wine/bordeaux/
• Université de Bordeaux DUAD (oenology)
  Diplome Universitaire d'Aptitude a la Degustation (DUAD)
  Run by the University of Bordeaux's Institut des Sciences de la Vigne et du Vin (ISVV), the DUAD is a long-running university tasting diploma of roughly 175 hours across four modules from October to June, open to enthusiasts and professionals with a baccalaureate.
  https://www.isvv.u-bordeaux.fr/fr/diplome-universitaire-daptitude-a-la-degustation-d-u-a-d.html

The room

• Group — Classroom-sized groups with structured blind-tasting flights.
• A normal day — Theory and regional study in the morning, guided tasting in the afternoon, exams at set points.
• Who comes — Trade professionals and serious enthusiasts, mixed ages.

Want the rest — a normal day, first hour to last? Ask the school; a serious one answers in two minutes.

The credential

WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wines (and beyond, the Master of Wine / Master Sommelier title) · Certifying body: WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust) / Court of Master Sommeliers

A recognised qualification an outside body stands behind is not the same as a certificate a school prints itself. We name which it is — you should ask the school the same.

Also for Wine & Sommellerie

What I check before I send you anywhere

I'm Arnaud. I cook for a living, and I've spent fifteen years on the water — so I know the difference between a real school and a good-looking website. I built the Atlas because I got tired of the second kind. Here is what a place has to clear before it goes on here, and what I'll tell you straight when it doesn't.

• The craft is actually alive there. A working scene, with people who do this every day — not a demo put on for visitors.
• There's a real teacher behind it. Named, still practising, and certified where the craft has certificates.
• The credential is what it claims to be. A state diploma and a certificate a school prints itself are not the same thing. I check which, and I say which.
• I tell you how sure I am. Most pages here are verified by hand. A few say "still checking" — I'd rather admit that than pretend.
• Nobody pays to be here. No commission, no selling the trip. The order on this map is the strength of the community, never the size of the wallet.
• If I wouldn't send a friend, it isn't on the map.