The Board of Directors of the Court of Master Sommeliers, Americas universally condemns racism, prejudice, and racially motivated violence in all its forms. We stand in solidarity with the Black community against racial injustice and support calls for reform.

With great humility we commit to listening, learning, advocating and acting for change in our industry and our communities. We resolve to support initiatives for inclusion and diversity in the hospitality industry and to support organizations that create opportunities for the Black community and people of color to thrive as sommeliers, winemakers, distributors, retailers and beverage industry leaders. We pledge to do more within our organization to inspire and support those seeking to become Master Sommeliers.

In January we made a small but significant first step to encouraging more diversity in our industry by supporting the efforts of Wine Empowered (www.wine-empowered.com), a New York based non-profit committed to empowering women and people of color through tuition-free wine education.  Organizationally, we are committed to seeking out more opportunities like this and others. 

We encourage Master Sommeliers and beverage professionals to seek out and support Black-owned wine businesses. GuildSomm (www.guildsomm.com) has published a list available HERE.