On the Radar: Elizabeth Yabrudy, CWE

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Meet Elizabeth Yabrudy: the only Venezuelan, and the only South American, to have achieved the Certified Wine Educator designation from the Society of Wine Educators.

A journalist with a M.Sc. in Electronic Publishing from City University London, Elizabeth’s interest in wine began in 2007, when she took an introductory class in wine at Bodegas Pomar, the only winery in Venezuela.  The class inspired her to explore the wine world on an informal basis, which ended up leading her to attend the Academia de Sommelier de Venezuela.  During her preparation, she did internships with Pernod Ricard and Diageo and invested herself in study.  She became a sommelier in 2009, and later that year traveled to Bordeaux and took an intensive course in the wines of France.  Then, about the year 2010, she was asked by an aunt to teach an introductory wine class in the aunt’s hometown of Carupano, and that experience was all it took.  Having been introduced to both teaching and serving as a sommelier in a restaurant, it became clear to her that she did not want to be a floor sommelier, but rather a wine educator.

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Around 2012, she began to explore more formal study options, and chose the Society of Wine Educators specifically because of the emphasis upon wine education.  She passed her CSW in December 2014, having had to travel to Montevideo, Uruguay, for the exam because there was no testing center in Venezuela. That’s dedication!  Along the way, she became involved in a project called the Diageo Bar Academy; she already had some knowledge of spirits but wanted to go deeper, so she took the CSS test in 2016.  While preparing with the CSS Study Guide, she reached the section on rum, and was delighted that at last she would be reading about something with which she was familiar, as Venezuela is an important rum producing country.  As such, she reached out to Jane Nickles, SWE’s Director of Education, and agreed to write an updated  segment on Venezuelan rum  just in time for the annual update of the CSS Study Guide. (See page 113 in the 2018 version of the CSS Study Guide for a sample of Elizabeth’s work!)

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During her preparation time for the CWE, she was working as an independent professional, teaching about wine to beginners and non-professionals, and offering formal courses like: Wine for Amateurs, Wine Aromas Recognition Workshop, Wine Varietals Recognition Workshop, and Oratory for Sommeliers Workshop.  Focused preparation is essential for the CWE, and Elizabeth took advantage of the many study tools the SWE offers, such as the CWE Study Site and the Facebook Group. In addition, she attended the CWE Boot Camp in 2017 and 2018, and as a result was part of only 12% of the people who pass the CWE on their first try.

Wine is now a part of who Elizabeth is.  She writes:  “I enjoy and respect working with wine.  I feel I am very fortunate because I managed to combine my passion for wine with my professional title as Journalist and Electronic Publisher.  For me, working with wine is a pleasure and a continual learning process.  It is a nonstop career.  It is not only about tasting, it is about learning history, culture, geography, agriculture, chemistry, enology, and gastronomy.  Being a wine educator also gives you the advantage of meeting people, people who can learn from you, and people whose curiosity you can awaken to learn more about and–as I did—fall in love with wine.”

Elizabeth is a Certified Wine Educator, Certified Specialist of Wine, Certified Specialist of Spirits, and a Sommelier from the Academia de Sommeliers de Venezuela.  She lives in Caracas and manages the tasting room of a store called Celicor Boutique, where, among other things, she plans and leads events.  She is looking forward to continuing her studies in wine and plans to keep her full focus on wine education.  Thank you for your work, Elizabeth!

Guest post written by Reverend Paul Bailey