Philadelphia, PA – Founded in 2001, the school is a top-ranked wine education facility. Its primary classrooms are located in the Rittenhouse neighborhood in Center City, Philadelphia. The school offers sommelier and winemaker certification through the National Wine School.


With vaccination rates over 90% and state-of-the-art virus mitigation systems in place, the Wine School of Philadelphia opens its doors in October.

"From the beginning of the pandemic, we felt it best to minimize the risk to our students and employees. So we limited attendance to a small group of wine professionals. We are now officially welcoming back our entire wine community," said Alana Zerbe, the school's Director of Education.

After an informal poll showed that over 90% of Wine School students are now fully vaccinated, they reopen. Why such a high vaccination rate? The school's founder, Keith Wallace, thinks the COVID19 symptoms of ageusia and anosmia –the indefinite loss of smell and taste– are the reasons why.

"For a sommelier or a winemaker, losing your ability to smell and taste is a fate worse than death," says Keith. So the entire wine school team opted for vaccination in 2020.

Vaccinated students will be able to attend classes without masks, a first in over a year. The school also employees hospital-grade air filtration and sensors to reduce the possibilities of airborne contaminants further.

The roster for the fall includes wine tasting classes on French and exotic wines, a beer brewing course, several mixology classes, and the school's signature Core Wine Course.