PreSOMM

Mid-American School of Wine

Mid-American School of Wine (now known as PreSOMM) was created in 2013 to provide the greater St. Louis area with an avenue for beginner and intermediate wine education. They offer the advantage of starting the long and rewarding journey of learning wine theory and good beverage service while fulfilling a higher appreciation for the wine culture, regions, viticulture, and fine dining industry.

Denise Mueller

Four St. Louis-area natives founded the school to offer wine courses for every level of knowledge. Co-founder Denise Mueller now runs the school.

Ms. Mueller attended Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, where she obtained a Bachelor of Science in Mass Communications with an emphasis on Advertising and Strategic Media. In addition, Denise is a Certified Sommelier accredited through the Court of Master Sommeliers.

Along with running this wine school, she currently serves on the steering committee for PROMO Missouri, an LGBT advocacy non-profit. She also works as an adjunct professor at Saint Louis University and is the Programs Coordinator at Sasha’s Wine Bar Group.

PreSOMM

PreSOMM now offers a series of wine education books via its website and Amazon. The school created its wine certification course rather than working with WSET or SWE. The PreSomm Wine Course provides its students with a higher level of wine theory and wine service, prepares them for job promotions in the hospitality field, and inspires future education certifications such as Introductory-level Sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers (CMS) or Certified Specialist of Wine through Society of Wine Educators.

A Court of Master Sommelier Prep Program?

The school previously offered the Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW) Preparatory Course and the Level One Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) program. However, now they focus on preparing students to move on to the highly controversial Court of Master Sommeliers.

They recently featured a quote from a student, which establishes their continued dedication to the Court.

Given my positive experience, I decided to take the Court of Master Sommelier Introductory course and sit for its exam. The course provided the necessary foundation for the comprehensive and challenging CMS Intro Class allowing me to pass it on the first try.

I wholeheartedly recommend PreSomm to anyone interested in formalizing their wine education.

Ron Fox