Richard Vayda is the Director of Wine Studies at the Institute of Culinary Education. He is also a senior instructor in the school’s Culinary Management Diploma program. Vayda’s education includes a master’s degree in Foodservice Management from NYU, studies at The Sorbonne in Paris, a certificate from The Sommelier Society of America, as well as visits to all of the world’s major winemaking areas. His love affair with wine and food began in his Italian and Russian family, where he started to make homemade wine as a teenager. Vayda has also opened and owned restaurants, cafés, and lounges in Connecticut and New York. Some of his favorite wines are rosés from Provence, aged cabernets, and of course, Champagne. Wine Essentials Exam: https://wine.ice.edu/v1/exam_code.asp