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Andrea Immer
James Beard Award winner
- Discipline
- Other
i. Biography
James Beard Award recognition tracks Andrea Immer from Southern Methodist University to Morgan Stanley and then into wine at Windows on the World in New York City. The sequence is exact: finance, then cellar work, then beverage leadership, then teaching. At each step, the work stayed centered on wine, with Andrea Immer moving across roles that required different kinds of discipline but the same technical fluency.
The Climb
Andrea Immer trained at Southern Methodist University before beginning her career as an investment banker at Morgan Stanley. That early work sits far from the cellar, but it brought a strictness of method that reads clearly in what came next. In 1990, she moved into wine as wine department staff at Windows on the World in New York City, a shift that placed her inside a service operation where wine had to be managed, explained, and delivered with consistency. At Windows on the World, Andrea Immer became the first female cellar master at Windows on the World, a concrete marker of access in a field that had not made that path easy. She later served as Beverage Director and Cellarmaster at Windows on the World, then moved into broader leadership as Corporate Director of Beverage Programs at Starwood and Dean of Wine Studies at International Culinary Center. The progression is easy to read in trade terms: cellar responsibility, beverage oversight, then instruction built from operating experience. Today, Andrea is Master Sommelier of Delta Air Lines since 2008. The role fits a career built across service, management, and education, with wine as the throughline and formal recognition as the measure of its reach.
Today
She serves as Dean of Wine Studies at the International Culinary Center in New York City. The position extends the same work her career has already established: organizing wine knowledge, teaching it, and carrying it from the floor and the cellar into a classroom setting. It is less a departure than a transfer of accumulated practice into instruction.
Signature
Andrea Immer is known for wine expertise. That expertise has been built in successive rooms: finance, cellar, beverage program, classroom. The value lies in the range of the work and in the continuity running through it, with Andrea Immer using each role to deepen the next.
Recognition
Andrea's honors include James Beard Award, Wine Literary Award, and Best Sommelier in the United States (1997).
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Andrea
What is Andrea Immer's current role?
As of 2026, Andrea Immer is Master Sommelier of Delta Air Lines.
Where did Andrea Immer train or study?
Andrea Immer trained at Southern Methodist University.
What recognition has Andrea Immer received?
James Beard Award.
