TRACY WALDRON, DipWSET 

WSET Certified Educator for Wines and Spirits

Tracy Waldron is a wine, spirits, sake, and hospitality expert, with more than 20 years’ experience in all aspects of the hospitality and beverage trade. She is one of approximately 9,500 people worldwide to have ever attained the prestigious WSET Diploma in Wines & Spirits. WSET (Wine & Spirits Education Trust) is the only internationally recognized credential in the beverage industry, and is considered the “gold standard” for beverage education worldwide.

She is one of only a few hundred WSET Certified Wine and Spirits Educators in the US, as well as a Certified Sake Professional by the Japanese Sake Education Council.

Tracy spent more than a decade in Napa Valley, where she worked as a Sommelier for a Michelin-starred restaurant; was Director of Sales, Marketing and Hospitality for an iconic luxury winery; and eventually began making wine for her own label, Analog Wine Co. She then traveled extensively throughout many of the wine, spirits, and sake regions of the world as Director of a Manhattan-based import and distribution company.

In 2016, Tracy turned her attention exclusively to educating the next generation of industry leaders. As the owner of the Virginia Wine & Spirits Academy and holder of multiple beverage educator certifications, she builds entertaining seminars for corporations and individual enthusiasts, and teaches the prestigious Wine & Spirits Education Trust (WSET) and Wine Scholar Guild professional certifications. She is known for her ability to educate both colleagues and consumers with passion and a complete lack of pretense.

Tracy is a Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW), holds the WSET Level 3 Certificate with Distinction, and the WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wines & Spirits (dipWSET). She is a WSET Certified Educator for both Wines and Spirits, a Spanish Wine Scholar with Highest Honors (SWS), a Certified Sherry Wines Specialist with Highest Honors (CSWS), and a Japanese Sake Education Council Certified Sake Professional (CSP).