Jessica Waugh

Jessica Waugh, Assistant Director of Wine Education for SGWS Nevada like many, fell into the wine business. Jessica is originally trained in architecture, she designed her grandmother’s house, but decided to step away from architecture to pursue her thirst for wine. She fell in love with wine at an early age and decided to make her passion her career.

She has been a F&B professional for over 15 years - working every position from busser to general manager - and as a sommelier in such prestigious Las Vegas restaurants as N9NE Steakhouse, Nove Italiano, Aureole, and Gordon Ramsay Steak. Jessica passed the Advanced Sommelier exam through the Court of Master Sommeliers in 2016 with the highest score, granting her the Rudd Scholarship. In 2018, she successfully passed three portions of the Masters Sommelier exam. With the tasting portion rescheduled, Jessica plans to reclaim her title in September 2019.

Beyond wine, Jessica became an Advanced Sake Professional in 2017 and created the SGWS Academy of Sake and Fine Service. Other accreditations that Jessica has completed are WSET Level 3 Award in Wine, WSET Educator Program, ISG Diploma, Italian Wine Professional, French Wine Scholar, and the Certified Beer Server.

In her current role as a wine and sake educator, Jessica loves that she gets to teach her passion for a living. Her fondest moments are when she sees the lightbulb go off in others when she’s teaching a class. Jessica’s super power is that she makes wine and sake approachable for all audiences. It is her ambition to use her skills and knowledge to mentor others wanting to learn and grow in the business. It is her goal each day to inspire others to also do what they love.