About

Philosophy
Savant Wines was founded with the belief that every wine has a story to tell.  We believe that unique wines of exceptional value exist at every price point.  We believe that by better understanding our clients’ needs, we can find the wines they want – even if they don’t know what they’re looking for.

We promise that when you take a wine class from us, we will answer every question and engage you with wines that have a unique story to tell.  While we guarantee that you will have fun, our wine classes are not social drinking events.  We figure you are taking a wine class from us because you actually want to learn something about wine.  We give you the tools to analyze and evaluate wine with a common sense approach, grounded by industry standards.  You will walk away from our classes having a better understanding of why wines taste the way they do.

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Shelby Ledgerwood, CWE, is a wine educator and consultant based in Southern California.  She has worked in the food and wine industries for over 20 years in Honolulu, San Francisco and Los Angeles.  Shelby began teaching and writing about wine exclusively in 1999, and founded Savant Wines in 2005.  Savant Wines is a wine education and consulting company whose notable clients include Sopexa and The Namale Resort in Fiji.  As a speaker, Shelby has been retained to conduct wine education seminars for such notable audiences as Costco, Gelson’s Markets, Whole Foods Market, The Patina Restaurant Group, Sur La Table, Wyndham Hotels and The Mission Inn.

Shelby Ledgerwood is a senior instructor in the Wine Education and Management Certificate Program at UCLA Extension.  She is a former Academic Instructor of wine at The California School of Culinary Arts (Le Cordon Bleu) in Pasadena, and over the years has taught wine appreciation classes for the public at Pierce and Glendale Community Colleges in greater Los Angeles.  Shelby holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Hawaii and is a certified instructor by the California Bureau of Private Post Secondary Schools and Vocational Education.

Shelby Ledgerwood is a Certified Wine Educator (CWE) and a Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW) with the Society of Wine Educators.  She became a candidate for the Master of Wine in 2005, writing her first exams in 2008.  She holds credentials from numerous wine organizations such as: The Court of Master Sommeliers, The Wine and Spirits Education Trust, The Wine Academy of Spain and The Napa Valley Vintners Wine Educators Academy.  Shelby Ledgerwood is one of a few wine instructors in the USA who hold certificates from both L’Ecole du Vin de Bordeaux (CIVB) and L’Ecole du Vin de Bourgogne (BIVB).

Shelby Ledgerwood is a past scholarship recipient of the Wine Appreciation Guild and has been a judge for several international wine competitions.  She has written several manuals about wine for clients and her personal writings appear on her blog at www.savantwines.com.  She travels internationally on a regular basis, buying wine on behalf of her clients.  Shelby Ledgerwood is a member of the Society of Wine Educators, Women Chefs & Restaurateurs, The American Institute of Wine and Food and The California Restaurant Association.