Caroline Hermann

The Climb

Caroline Hermann’s early work sits at the intersection of regulation, analysis, and international context. She trained at Mount Holyoke before moving into a teaching fellowship in Greece, then banking equity analysis in Prague, and then practicing environmental law from 2000. The sequence shows a professional set built for reading systems closely: law for structure, finance for scrutiny, and teaching for translation across audiences. By 2005, wine had entered the mix in a commercial and regulatory sense. Each step kept her close to the mechanics that shape how wine moves, is described, and is governed. Today, Hermann is Import-Export Program manager for wine, beer, and spirits of U.S. Department of Treasury’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). The work is broad, but the throughline is consistent: standards, interpretation, and the practical language of trade.

Today

As Import-Export Program manager for wine, beer, and spirits at the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau in the United States, Hermann works in a field where precision is part of the job description. She also serves as a Certified WSET instructor for wine and sake, teaches wine industry professionals at Capital Wine School in Washington, DC, and judges wine competitions. On that balance, she has said, "What I really like is thinking through issues that come across my desk from a more expansive perspective yet within the boundaries of our regulations and policy." The line tracks with the rest of her career: broad enough to accommodate cross-border commerce, narrow enough to stay inside the rules that govern it.

In Their Words “What I really like is thinking through issues that come across my desk from a more expansive perspective yet within the boundaries of our regulations and policy.” “It was really in those years when I understood the close connection between regional food and regional wine pairings.” The second quotation points to a different kind of training: one grounded in place, pairing, and the way food and wine reflect the same regional context. For Hermann, that understanding seems to sit alongside the legal and regulatory work, not apart from it. Across the roles she has held, the common thread is careful reading—of rules, of markets, and of the relationships that shape how wine is understood and used.

Recognition

Caroline Hermann has received Institute of Masters of Wine, Master of Wine (2018).