Internationally recognized online and in class curriculum and sommelier certification.
The Institute, located just north of Denver, Colorado, in Westminster, is a professional wine and spirits education center that provides courses and sommelier certifications for Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET), Society of Wine Educators (SWE), and the Wine Scholar Guild. Classes are held multiple times yearly at various Denver metro area locations. They also offer to run programming at private sites, as well.
Jessica Fialkovich founded the Wine Education Institute. Jessica remains on the Board of Directors and is a highly regarded wine consultant, preferred speaker, and educator.
Jessica is an Associate of the Institute of Wine and Spirits, holding the Level 4 (Diploma) certification from the Wine & Spirits Education Trust. In addition, Jessica holds accreditation from the Society of Wine Educators (CSW). Jessica has been a member of the wine industry since 2009 in retail, consulting, education, and online marketing.
Barney Treadway is the president of WEI. He has created and managed restaurants and other small businesses for twenty years. A perennial bootstrapper, he’s done everything from layout and design, concept design, construction oversight, daily operations, keeping the books, writing custom software, purchasing, pricing, and more. His deep and ongoing ties to the restaurant industry provide a natural symbiosis with the continuing growth and evolution of Wine Education Institute.
Ed Martin is the lead instructor, a Denver native who came to the world of wine attracted by its historical geography and cultural relevance. He has been in the wine business for the last 12 years. He returned to wine and wine education through several job configurations (with brief stints in banking, riding a pedicab, and making specialty epoxies). He kept coming back to wine and wine education. Ed has worked in restaurants, small and large retail capacities, sales and distribution, managed operations for fine dining restaurants, and worked harvest with a family-owned winery in Fiddletown, CA.
Not much more than a WSET program. Not much personality, but that’s what people expect from WSET.
