Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/859549
44 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2017 { education } NO, YOU'RE NOT IN A WINE-CENTRIC novel by William Faulkner ; you're just having a heart-to- heart with Shields Hood, General Manager of the Society of Wine Educators (SWE). This is what I had to remind myself during a brief meeting with Hood at Banfi's Cru Artisan College this year in Washington D.C. I walked away from it with a smile on my face, not just from the accent but, more important, realizing what a treasure he is, particularly in the realm of wine education. With over 40 years of experience in the wine and spirits industry, Hood is a Certified Wine Specialist and Certified Wine Educator. Revealing his Mississippi roots, says Hood in a Southern drawl, "I've been a member [of SWE] since 1979. I started out teaching wine appreciation classes way before certification was a big deal. Wine education can now be taught to people at home, cruise ships, in the vineyards, and it is much more serious now than it used to be. It used to just be us [WSE], the Court [of Master Sommeliers] and WSET [Wine Spirits and Educational Trust]; now there's the WSG [Wine Scholar Guild], the United States Somm Society out of Miami, the North American Somm Society and so on. It's a whole new ballgame,and we take it very seriously." Considering all the aforementioned competi - tion, I asked Hood how the WSE was separating itself from the pack. He leaned in as if revealing a secret: "We're the only one using Pierson testing centers. You go to one of our testing centers, you get your results on the spot. You get analytics and diagnostics, and it's changed everything . . . We do study guides, work books, flash cards, "SWEbinars," ebooks. We are decidedly self-study, and we're also the most affordable of all these. We're also the only group that tastes on faulted wines." I watched Hood's expressive eyebrows bounce as he continued to sing the praises of the SWE. With loyal, passionate guys like him at the helm (Hood is also a former President of the SWE), it's no wonder the group has been able to maintain a larger share of the domestic market. For more information on the Society of Wine Educators, visit www.societyofwineeducators.org. RECOGNIZING SHIELDS HOOD, GENERAL MANAGER, SOCIETY OF WINE EDUCATORS by Jessie Birschbach Shields Hood, General Manager of the Society of Wine Educators, in Paso Robles. PHOTO COURTESY OF SOCIETY OF WINE EDUCATORS Our Man Shields