JESSICA WAUGH
Owner/Founder
Jessica Waugh, fell in love with wine at an early age and, although trained in architecture as a certified residential architect, she decided to make her passion for wine, her career. In 2016, she began her educator journey with SGWS Nevada, most recently as the Director of Wine Education. Before moving into education, Jessica was a sommelier, most recently for Gordon Ramsay at his steakhouse on the Las Vegas strip. Prior to Gordon Ramsay Steak, she fulfilled many wine roles in prestigious restaurants such as Aureole, Nove Italiano, and N9NE Steakhouse, including Wine Director and lead sommelier. Having been an F&B professional for roughly 20 years, Jessica has worked every position from busser to general manager, finding her true calling as a sommelier and educator.
Jessica passed the Advanced Sommelier Exam in 2016 with the highest score, granting her the Rudd Scholarship. She also passed the Master Sommelier exam in 2018, however, due to abuse of power and proctor tampering, and a portion of the exam being invalidated, she cannot use her Master Sommelier title. Jessica was one of the few to accomplish the feat before turning 30 years of age and even fewer as a woman.
Jessica became a WSET 3 Wine Educator in 2018 and a WSET 3 Sake Educator in 2019. Other credentials she has achieved are: Certified Wine Specialist (2022), Spanish Wine Scholar Instructor (2021), Spanish Wine Specialist (2021), Certified CBD Consultant (2021), French Wine Scholar Instructor (2019), WSET 2 Award in Spirits (2018), Advanced Sake Professional (2017), Italian Wine Professional Instructor (2016), and Certified Beer Server (2015).
It is Jessica's ambition to utilize her skills and knowledge to mentor others wanting to learn and grow in the business, and to inspire others to do what they love. In September of 2020, Jessica launched JWaugh Education to help aide students of all levels expand their beverage knowledge.
INTERVIEWS
PRESS LINKS
Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, Young Sommelier Competition