WINESCalifornia, the Pacific Northwest, and New York
Cornell Certificate Program

Wine knowledge becomes much more useful when you can explain what you taste, why you taste it, and how to choose with confidence, whether you are building a wine list, supporting guests, or simply exploring for enjoyment. Cornell’s Wines of California, the Pacific Northwest, and New York Certificate is designed to help you develop that structured, practical understanding by connecting sensory evaluation to the real drivers of style, including grape growing conditions, winemaking choices, labeling rules, and service decisions.

Across the certificate program, authored by faculty from the Nolan School of Hotel Administration at the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, you will build a repeatable tasting approach using sight, smell, and taste; learn to identify key wine components and common faults; and connect regional factors like climate, geography, and microclimates to what ends up in the glass. You’ll also strengthen your ability to interpret U.S. wine labels and production statements so you can make better selections and recommendations, then bring it all together through a guided at-home tasting experience.

If you want a more confident wine vocabulary, a practical framework for selecting and pairing U.S. wines, and the ability to connect place and production to flavor, you should choose Cornell’s Wines of California, the Pacific Northwest, and New York Certificate.

Many online wine courses focus on passive video consumption or broad overviews without asking you to practice the skills that actually change how you buy, describe, and serve wine. Cornell’s Wines of California, the Pacific Northwest, and New York Certificate uses a structured, applied approach that blends flexible online learning with expert-facilitated interaction and feedback.

You learn with a small cohort and an expert facilitator who guides discussion and provides project feedback, so your learning is supported rather than isolated. The curriculum is designed by Cornell faculty and emphasizes practical performance, including sensory evaluation, label decoding grounded in U.S. regulations, and service and storage decisions you can apply immediately.

Just as important, Cornell’s Wines of California, the Pacific Northwest, and New York Certificate is intentionally experiential. You calibrate your palate, practice describing aromas with a shared vocabulary, evaluate a finished beverage using a formal evaluation sheet, and prepare for an at-home tasting experience that helps you see how expectations and perceptions differ across tasters. That combination of faculty-designed rigor, facilitator support, and hands-on practice is what makes the Wines of California, the Pacific Northwest, and New York Certificate distinct.

Cornell’s Wines of California, the Pacific Northwest, and New York Certificate is designed for anyone who wants a more structured, confident way to understand and talk about wine, especially U.S. wines. The program is a strong fit if you want to strengthen your tasting skills, make better purchasing decisions, or communicate clearly about wine in hospitality, retail, or client-facing settings.

You are a good match if you are:

• A wine enthusiast who wants to move beyond personal preference and develop a repeatable evaluation method
• A hospitality professional who wants to support guests with more confident recommendations and service practices
• A distributor or retailer who wants a clearer way to explain regional differences and label information
• A professional who hosts or entertains and wants to select, serve, and pair wine more effectively

Because tasting activities are part of the learning experience, you should be of legal drinking age where you live. You will also need to purchase wine and a few common grocery-store items to participate in the tasting and sensory exercises, with alternatives available for learners who do not drink alcohol or cannot purchase or consume alcohol.

Project work in Cornell’s Wines of California, the Pacific Northwest, and New York Certificate is designed to help you translate concepts into real selection, evaluation, and communication skills. You will complete multi-part assignments that build from tasting fundamentals and service decisions into region- and producer-focused analysis and a culminating at-home tasting experience.

Examples of projects learners have completed include:

• Tracing how a pioneering Finger Lakes estate winery helped launch New York’s vinifera revolution, then connecting lake-moderated microclimates to a cool-climate Cabernet Sauvignon and transparent cellar practices
• Evaluating a flagship Long Island rosé blend by linking maritime geography and extended hang time to freshness, acidity, and serving observations across different temperatures
• Spotlighting an emerging Columbia Gorge producer by using a single-vineyard Picpoul label to explain how elevation and cool ripening preserve acidity and drive a crisp, aromatic style
• Conducting a structured tasting of a long-aged Sangiovese-based wine, using rim variation, sediment, tannin integration, and finish to explain how age changes aroma and mouthfeel
• Virtually touring a Yakima Valley estate and using a varietal tech sheet for Viognier to connect vintage conditions and mixed fermentation vessels to predicted floral aromatics and body

Throughout Cornell’s Wines of California, the Pacific Northwest, and New York Certificate program, you practice researching producers and regions, interpreting label cues, and documenting what you observe in the glass so you can explain your choices clearly to others.

Cornell’s Wines of California, the Pacific Northwest, and New York Certificate helps you build a practical, credible way to evaluate, describe, and recommend U.S. wines in professional settings.

After completing the Wines of California, the Pacific Northwest, and New York Certificate, you will be prepared to:

• Describe the process of making wine and its components
• Evaluate wine using sight, smell, and taste in order to make informed decisions and recommendations
• Select wines from California, Washington, Oregon, and New York with confidence
• Identify grape varietals used to make wine by sight, flavor, and aroma
• Pair wine with food appropriately
• Store and serve wine based on the type and style of wine

Learners often report that the program gives them a deeper, more structured understanding of American wine, with a memorable tour through key regions and the confidence to talk about what they taste, why it tastes that way, and how place shapes the glass. Students frequently highlight clear comparisons across climates, soils, geography, and growing conditions that explain regional style, plus practical frameworks for tasting and describing wine more precisely, including identifying aromas and flavors. Many also value the blend of self-paced lessons with interactive elements like live sessions, peer discussion, and guided assignments that push them to apply concepts and retain what they learn. In customer-facing or business contexts, that combination can translate into stronger recommendations, clearer communication with guests or clients, and better-informed purchasing decisions.

What truly sets eCornell apart is how our programs unlock genuine career transformation. Learners earn promotions to senior positions, enjoy meaningful salary growth, build valuable professional networks, and navigate successful career transitions.

Cornell’s Wines of California, the Pacific Northwest, and New York Certificate, which consists of 3 short courses, is designed to be completed in 3 months. Each course runs for 3 weeks, with a typical weekly time commitment of 3 to 5 hours.

Most learning activities are asynchronous, so you can complete readings, videos, discussions, and assignments on your own time each week. At the same time, the experience is not purely self-paced. You move through the program with a small cohort, receive guidance and feedback from an expert facilitator, and have opportunities to join live sessions that support discussion and application.

Because the program includes tasting and evaluation activities, planning ahead for purchasing wine and setting aside time for sensory exercises can help you get the most from the schedule.

Students in Cornell's Wines of California, the Pacific Northwest, and New York Certificate often say the program gives them a deeper, more structured understanding of American wine, with a memorable tour through key regions and the confidence to talk about what they taste, why it tastes that way, and how place shapes the glass.

Learners frequently highlight:

• A region-by-region deep dive into California, Oregon, Washington, and New York wines
• Clear comparisons across climates, soils, geography, and growing conditions that explain regional style
• Exposure to lesser-known North American wine areas beyond the most famous destinations
• Practical frameworks for tasting and describing wine more precisely, including identifying aromas and flavors
• A stronger appreciation for U.S. wine history and the stories behind influential producers and regions
• Engaging expert perspectives through a mix of lectures and industry voices

Across the Wines of California, the Pacific Northwest, and New York Certificate experience, students also commonly mention the program’s high-caliber faculty and facilitators, and how their guidance and feedback make the learning feel personal and motivating. Many appreciate the blend of self-paced online lessons with interactive elements like live sessions and peer discussion, plus assignments and projects that push them to research, apply concepts, and retain what they learn. Working professionals and frequent travelers regularly note that the format is convenient to fit into a busy schedule while still delivering a serious, meaningful learning experience.

Hands-on practice is part of Cornell’s Wines of California, the Pacific Northwest, and New York Certificate, so you should plan for some at-home supplies. The program includes tasting and sensory evaluation activities, and you will be asked to purchase wine, plus a few low-cost items commonly found in grocery stores, to participate fully.

You will also complete simple kitchen-based sensory exercises that help you recognize key wine components and common faults, and you’ll apply what you learn to real selection and service decisions. In the final portion of the program, you’ll select a small set of California, Pacific Northwest, and New York wines to taste and share as part of a wine event that can be hosted in person or virtually.

Because wine availability, budget, and local laws vary by location, you will have flexibility in what you purchase. The emphasis is not on buying rare bottles but on learning a repeatable process for selecting, evaluating, and serving wines confidently.

Cornell’s Wines of California, the Pacific Northwest, and New York Certificate program is intended for learners of legal drinking age under the applicable laws where they reside.

You will develop a repeatable tasting method in Cornell’s Wines of California, the Pacific Northwest, and New York Certificate, using a structured process that moves through sight, smell, and taste. You’ll build a clearer vocabulary for describing aromas and flavors, practice using an evaluation sheet to document what you observe, and learn how key components like acid, tannin, sugar, and alcohol shape balance and body.

You will also learn to recognize several common wine faults and what they typically smell or taste like, so you can better diagnose why a bottle may seem “off” and make more informed decisions in service or purchasing contexts.

Choosing well often comes down to understanding what a label is truly telling you about origin, grapes, and production. In Cornell’s Wines of California, the Pacific Northwest, and New York Certificate, you will learn how U.S. wine labels work, including key terms and rules that shape what can be printed on a bottle. You’ll practice interpreting varietal and place-based cues so you can predict style before you buy.

You will also compare how California, Washington, Oregon, and New York differ in geography, climate, and typical varietals, which helps you translate label information into practical recommendations. By the end of Cornell’s Wines of California, the Pacific Northwest, and New York Certificate program, you should feel more confident navigating a wine list, selecting wines for specific preferences or food pairings, and explaining your choices clearly to others.