Fox School of Wine, formerly Park City School of Wine, is an independent wine school located in Park City, Utah. Founded in 2008, it has offered fun wine education classes and events. They do not provide sommelier certifications. An example of Fox School of Wine’s educational programs is “Mines & Wines,” a fun and unique take on Park City’s mining history.
Kirsten Henry Fox is the founder of the Fox School of Wine. Classes were initially held at the Art of Wine in Park City, Utah, run by her sister Sara. When her sister moved to Napa Valley in 2008, Kirsten moved the classes to its current location, and her wine school was officially opened.
Kirsten also owns and operates Uplift Gift, a gift company that donates 5% of proceeds to Breast Cancer Research Foundation. She previously was the co-host to the Wines & Wonders podcast and published the book The Profitable Wine List: Three Steps to Quickly & Easily Increase Wine Sales.
An instructor of note at Fox School of Wine is Pamela Wood. Ms. Woods has become internationally recognized as a wine professional throughout the past few years. In 2022, she was inducted into La Chaine de Rotisseurs, the world’s oldest culinary and wine organization, established in France in 1248 under King Louis XVI.
The same year, her Park City Wine Club celebrated its 10th anniversary, which earned a lengthy article in the local weekly newspaper, the Park Record. A large section of that article focused on her group’s philanthropy and educational outreach.
The Fox School of Wine does not offer sommelier certification, which is a shame. Nevertheless, the school is a refreshing departure from the staid generic presentations of WSET affiliate wine schools.
Fox and Wood have collaborated to offer an online wine professional program. The Culinary Wine Institute offers online programming for wine professionals. The program opened in 2012 and aims to train restaurant waitstaff. They stress their programs are not designed to train sommeliers.
So much more fun and easy going than I expected. Will come again.
