Sommelier resume examples by experience level

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Use this example

A sommelier resume is a one page document built on two things a wine director can check in seconds: where you actually sit on the certification ladder, and the list you were responsible for, in bottles, dollars and cost percentage.

In practice, almost every sommelier resume claims a "passion for wine" and lists a handful of regions. However, neither is checkable, and a wine director hiring for a real cellar is not looking for enthusiasm. They are looking for a named exam level from a body they recognize, and a set of numbers, SKU count, inventory value, beverage cost, that prove you have run a program rather than only tasted through one.

Resume guide for a sommelier resume

To start, this guide and the corresponding sommelier resume example will cover:

• First, how to write a sommelier resume, section by section
• The Court of Master Sommeliers Americas and WSET levels, exactly as published
• Then, three adaptable summaries: assistant sommelier, sommelier, wine director
• The list you actually managed: SKUs, inventory value, cost and the by-the-glass program
• Also, what the federal wage data does, and does not, say about this occupation

How to write a sommelier resume

Overall, use six sections: contact header, summary, certification ladder, wine program experience, skills, education. In general, one page for almost every level of this career; a second only once you are directing beverage across multiple properties.

The certification block sits high because it is the fastest verifiable fact on the page. A wine director recognizes the exam names instantly, and an exact level, stated plainly, closes a question a vague phrase like "wine educated" leaves open.

Run the finished file through the ATS resume checker before you send it. Hotel groups and multi-outlet restaurant companies increasingly route wine and beverage applications through the same applicant tracking software as every other hospitality role.

Choosing the best resume format for a sommelier resume

Reverse chronological. One page through most of this career, since the certification block and one well-run list say more than a second page of restaurant names.

Sommelier careers often move between restaurants, a hotel property, and sometimes a distributor or importer, which is a normal path rather than a broken one. Keep the dates in order and, where a stint was short because a restaurant closed or a concept changed, say so in a single clause rather than leaving the reader to guess.

Include your contact information

Next, put your highest verified certification in the header, exactly as the certifying body names it. That single line answers the first question a wine director actually has.

Make use of a summary

Then write four lines: your certification level, years in wine service, the size and shape of the list you run, and one number with a period attached.

Assistant sommelier with two years on the floor of a 120-seat fine dining restaurant, working under the wine director on a 220-label list. Hold the Certified Sommelier title from the Court of Master Sommeliers Americas and a WSET Level 2 Award in Wines, and run the weekly by-the-glass rotation of 16 wines. Poured and paired for an average of 60 covers a night across tasting menu and a la carte service.

Sommelier running the wine program for a 90-seat fine dining restaurant, holding the Advanced Sommelier Course and Examination from the Court of Master Sommeliers Americas and a WSET Level 3 Award in Wines with Distinction. Manage a 420-label, 1,650-bottle cellar worth $185,000, holding beverage cost at 27 percent across the last two fiscal years while growing by-the-glass revenue 22 percent through a 20-wine rotating list. Train a floor team of 8 on service and pairing standards.

Wine director overseeing beverage programs for a three-restaurant group, holding the Advanced Sommelier Certificate from the Court of Master Sommeliers Americas and a WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wines. Manage a combined cellar of 1,240 labels and 6,100 bottles worth $640,000 across three properties, holding blended beverage cost at 26 percent while by-the-glass programs carry 55 percent of wine revenue group-wide. Hire, train and certify a wine service team of 21 across the group.

Right vs wrong: the same summary, twice

In short, the right column names an exam a reader can verify and a list a reader can price. The left column could be copied onto any sommelier's resume without changing a word.

Outline your wine program experience

Restaurant or property, city, dates, then three to five bullets. In addition, each one carries a number: SKUs, bottles, dollars, cost percentage or covers.

Sommelier, Amberleaf Table, Napa, CA, June 2021 to Present
Manage a 420-label, 1,650-bottle cellar worth $185,000, holding beverage cost at 27 percent across the last two fiscal years through tighter pour costing and quarterly list pruning.
Run a 20-wine by-the-glass rotation, refreshed monthly, that grew by-the-glass revenue 22 percent over three fiscal quarters.
Built a five-course pairing menu run nightly for an average of 60 covers across tasting menu and a la carte service.
Manage direct accounts with 14 importers and distributors and negotiate allocation on limited-production wines for the list.
Train a floor team of 8 on service standards, glassware, storage temperature and the pairing menu.

The certification ladder and the list you actually managed

In fact, this is the section a bartender's or a server's resume does not have, and it is the one a wine director actually reads first. Sommelier hiring runs on two verifiable facts: where you sit on a recognized certification ladder, and the scale of the list you have actually run.

Specifically, there are two ladders worth naming, and different organizations run them with different formats. The Court of Master Sommeliers Americas runs a four-level education program, in order: the Introductory Sommelier Course and Examination, the Certified Sommelier Examination, the Advanced Sommelier Course and Examination, and the Master Sommelier Diploma Examination, described by the Court as beginning with the first and ending with the last (Court of Master Sommeliers Americas, certification levels, accessed September 2026). Similarly, the Wine & Spirit Education Trust, usually shortened to WSET, publishes a separate four-level ladder of wine qualifications, from the WSET Level 1 Award in Wines to the WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wines (Wine & Spirit Education Trust, qualifications, accessed September 2026). The two ladders are not interchangeable and a resume should never blur them: name the body, name the exact level, and name the year.

Stating your sommelier certification level honestly

State your position on each ladder separately and honestly. If you have passed the Certified Sommelier Examination but not yet the Advanced, write exactly that. If you hold a WSET Level 2 Award while working toward Level 3, say so as a plan, not an achievement. After all, a wine director reading forty applications is scanning for the exact wording, and an inflated or vague credential line is the fastest way to lose a reader's trust before they have read a single bullet.

The second half of this section, meanwhile, is the list itself, and it is where most sommelier resumes go quiet entirely.

Certification ladder: Advanced Sommelier Course and Examination, Court of Master Sommeliers Americas, 2023. WSET Level 3 Award in Wines with Distinction, 2020.
The list: 420 labels, 1,650 bottles, cellar value $185,000.
Cost and program: beverage cost held at 27 percent across two fiscal years. By-the-glass program of 20 wines, refreshed monthly, carrying 34 percent of total wine revenue.
Cellar management: quarterly inventory count against point of sale, storage at 55 degrees Fahrenheit and 65 percent humidity, and a rotation plan that ages 40 labels toward peak drinking window.
Pairing service: five-course tasting menu pairing run nightly for an average of 60 covers, plus by-request pairing on the a la carte menu.

Six numbers turn a vague "wine list management" into a program a reader can budget against: how many labels, how many bottles, what the cellar is worth, what beverage cost you held, what share of revenue by-the-glass carries, and how often you count the inventory. State all six wherever you can, because it is exactly the set of numbers a wine director already tracks for their own list and will use to size you up against it.

Build a snapshot of your key skills

Generally, list ten to fourteen entries in three groups: service and pairing, program management, and systems.

Service and pairing: Tableside service and decanting, Multi-course pairing menu design, Blind tasting and varietal identification, Spirits and sake service, Staff pairing training
Program management: Wine list curation and pricing, Cellar inventory and rotation, Beverage cost analysis, By-the-glass program management, Importer and distributor relations, Allocation negotiation
Systems: BinWise and Beverage Metrics inventory platforms, Point of sale wine and beverage modules, Cellar tracking spreadsheets to pivot table level

List your education and certifications

Also put certifications first, in ladder order, each with its issuing body and year. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish a typical entry-level education figure for sommeliers specifically, since it does not track the occupation; most working sommeliers combine on-the-job service experience with the certification ladder above rather than a dedicated degree.

Advanced Sommelier Course and Examination, Court of Master Sommeliers Americas, 2023
WSET Level 3 Award in Wines, Distinction, Wine & Spirit Education Trust, 2020
Certified Sommelier Examination, Court of Master Sommeliers Americas, 2021
Bachelor of Arts, Hospitality Management, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA, 2018

Above all, never write a certification as a skill. "Advanced Sommelier Course and Examination, Court of Master Sommeliers Americas, 2023" is verifiable; "advanced wine training" is a sentence anyone can type.

Choose the right layout and design

Finally, use a single column, 11 or 12 point type, clear headings, no photograph. Hotel groups and multi-outlet restaurant companies parse applications through applicant tracking software, and a two-column design with a wine glass icon is where that parsing breaks.

Sommelier job market and outlook

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes no occupation called sommelier, in either the Occupational Outlook Handbook or the national Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics release. This page cites none, and builds the market and salary picture on the published occupations closest to the work instead.

The nearest is waiters and waitresses, since a working sommelier in most American restaurants runs wine service alongside or on top of table service, and the Handbook's own profile of that occupation does not mention sommeliers or wine service at all (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, waiters and waitresses, May 2025). Bartenders bracket it from the beverage side, since both occupations sell alcohol under the same category of state and house rules.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, waiters and waitresses, bartenders and chefs and head cooks, May 2025 wage data and 2025 to 2035 projections.

For example, waiters and waitresses are projected to grow 2 percent through 2035 with about 423,100 openings a year, and bartenders 5 percent with about 121,200 openings a year (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025-35 projections). Neither figure describes sommeliers specifically, and this page states that plainly rather than borrowing a number that does not fit the job.

What salary you can expect as a sommelier

Therefore, with no published federal wage figure for sommeliers, treat the adjacent occupations above as the band a base wage sits inside, and expect the real pay picture to include gratuities, service charges or a beverage bonus that the wage tables cannot capture.

At the service end, a working sommelier's base often prices near bartenders and waiters, median $34,340 and $35,230 respectively as of May 2025 (BLS, May 2025), before tips and any wine-specific bonus. As a program grows to the scale a wine director runs, several restaurants or a hotel property, total compensation moves toward the chefs and head cooks band, median $62,470 as of May 2025 (BLS, May 2025), and beyond it once bonus structures tied to beverage revenue or cost performance are added.

Still, three things move the number inside that range. Certification level is the first, since a verified Advanced Sommelier or WSET Level 4 credential is rare enough to negotiate against directly. List scale is the second: a $640,000 multi-property cellar is a different budget responsibility than a single 200-label list, even at the same job title. Cost performance is the third, since a sommelier who can state a held beverage cost percentage across a stated period is showing the number an owner actually watches every month.

Key takeaways for a sommelier resume

1. State your exact position on both the Court of Master Sommeliers Americas and the WSET ladders, with the year.
2. As a rule, never blur the two ladders together; name each body and level separately.
3. In addition, give the list in labels, bottles and dollars, not as "wine list management."
4. Also state beverage cost as a percentage held across a stated period.
5. Name the by-the-glass program and its share of revenue.
6. Say plainly that no pass rate is published for any exam level, and do not imply one.
7. Keep it one page until you are directing beverage across more than one property.

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Pair it with a matching sommelier cover letter.