EXAMS & EDUCATION

Exams and education go hand in hand. Sommeliers or future sommeliers must learn and train, but they also need to test their knowledge and skills and receive diplomas attesting to their talents. ASI gives them this opportunity!

EXAMS

The ASI examination program ‘challenges’ sommeliers to put into practice the knowledge gained in the ‘Learn’ stage. As such, it fills the gap between a sommelier’s formal learning and their subsequent entry into the international competitions (‘Compete’ ’) stage of their career.

Sommellerie is a skilled trade that requires deep knowledge of many different fields, including tasting, wine culture, food and wine pairing, oenology, viticulture, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, and much more, often alongside a mastery of foreign languages.

History and eligibility //

The ASI Sommelier Diploma was created in 2012 to promote the overall education, know-how and well-being of sommeliers and harmonize their level worldwide.

To date, 565 sommeliers have successfully qualified for the Diploma, becoming ASI Sommeliers and marking themselves as part of the elite of international sommellerie.

The ASI Certification 1 & 2 exams were launched in 2021.

To date: 638 candidates representing 49 nationalities sat the ASI Certification 1. 459 achieved the required 65% passing graduating as ASI Certification 1 recipients.

The exams are open to sommeliers or future / aspiring sommeliers studying or working in the oeno-gastronomic world (restaurants, wine bars, wine merchants, distribution…) according to the official OIV definition.

Please contact your national sommelier association for more details and registration.

The ASI Certification 2 exams started in 2023.

To date:

126 candidates from 15 countries sat the Certification 2 exam.

49 achieved the required 60% pass rate graduating as ASI Certification 2 recipients.

Three levels, three audiences

The three levels of the examination program are aimed at sommeliers at various stages of their careers:

* Certification 1 tests the basic international knowledge of aspiring sommeliers. * Certification 2 builds on these expectations and also tests the skills required of a sommelier in an international environment. * The ASI Sommelier Diploma certifies the highest levels of skills and knowledge required of international sommeliers.

The three levels build on each other, and while it is not mandatory to have acquired level 1 before taking level 2, or any of the Certifications before the Diploma exam, it is highly recommended to follow this progression.

All ASI exams are outcome-based assessments.

CALENDAR FOR ASI EXAMS 2025

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Certification 1

ASI Certification 1 assesses whether a prospective sommelier has mastered the core international knowledge required for this profession.

Certification 2

ASI Certification 2 tests whether candidates possess the set of skills required to practice the profession in an international environment.

ASI Diploma

The ASI Diploma is offered in French, English or Spanish, and leads to three levels of qualification: Bronze, Silver and Gold.

ASI AGENDA

CHECK ASI AGENDA

Agenda EN

2025

February 17-21, 2025, Sonoma, USA

ASI Contest Best Sommelier of the Americas
July 2025, Singapore

ASI Bootcamp Asia & Pacific
May 24 – 25, 2025, Cape Town, South Africa

ASI General Assembly
September 7-11, 2025, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

ASI Content Best Sommelier of Asia & Pacific