Wine Academy of Las Vegas

Founded in 2018, the Wine Academy of Las Vegas is the region’s first local WSET-affiliated school. Primarily for hospitality professionals seeking certification, many attend to develop their wine skills. This school believes WSET-certified programs represent the world standard for wine experts. Despite that belief, they also offer the French Wine Scholar and Italian Wine Scholar programs from the Wine Scholar Guild.

The school is just minutes from the Las Vegas strip. Certified professionals teach their wine courses with a deep background in hospitality and hospitality and wine education. Gina Marano runs the school; her experience includes managing restaurants, House of Blues, Foundation Room, and Four Seasons. She is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, specializing in researching consumer behavior in the wine industry.

Oddly enough, there used to be a Los Angeles Wine Academy that disappeared sometime in early 2022. They do not seem to be connected.