Inclusion criteria
Taste Masters is an artisan recognition platform, not a venue review site. Inclusion turns on the artisan's craft rather than on the operating premises of any one restaurant, bar, cellar, or shop. An artisan qualifies for a Taste Masters profile when at least one of the following sits in the public record: a recognized formal credential (Meilleur Ouvrier de France, Court of Master Sommeliers Master Sommelier diploma, Institute of Masters of Wine, certified Bocuse d'Or finalist or winner, James Beard winner, San Pellegrino Young Chef regional or grand finalist, World Cheese Awards Super Gold, Good Food Awards, International Wine Challenge Trophy); a named training lineage corroborated in trade-publication record (head sommelier at a named restaurant, sous-chef at a named house, cellar master at a named domaine, head fromager at a named maison); a documented body of recognized output (a named cuvée under a recognized AOP, a recognized release under a Label Rouge or DOP, a published menu at a Michelin-starred operation); or a category of working practice (alpage transhumance, vin jaune extended-flor, jamón ibérico de bellota curing) that places the artisan within a recognized regional or technical school. Inclusion is editorial. There is no sponsored slot, no paid placement, and no fee-based listing tier on Taste Masters.
Verification methodology
The rule is two independent records before publication: every claimed credential, every named training relationship, and every cited competition placement is checked against at least two citable sources before a profile goes live.
The first record is typically the issuing body's own public registry: the Court of Master Sommeliers Master Sommelier list, the Institute of Masters of Wine member register, the official Bocuse d'Or finalist roster, the Meilleur Ouvrier de France gazette publication, the James Beard Foundation winners and semifinalists archive, the San Pellegrino Young Chef finalist record, the World Cheese Awards database, the Good Food Awards winners list, and the regional AOP and DOP councils for denomination-of-origin compliance.
The second record is corroboration from a named trade publication (Star Chefs, The Art of Plating, Vinous, The Drop, Cured, Decanter, Wine Spectator, World of Fine Wine, Imbibe, Punch, or equivalent), or from the artisan's own publicly released materials. A claim that appears only in a single secondary source does not qualify for publication. Where a claim cannot be corroborated, the claim is removed from the profile rather than softened with hedging language.
Lineage discipline
Lineage is the connective tissue of the trade and is treated as load-bearing factual claim, not biographical color. A statement that an artisan trained under a named chef, worked the cellar at a named domaine, or held a head-sommelier post at a named restaurant must be corroborated against named, citable record before publication. Stages at recognized kitchens (Noma, El Bulli, The French Laundry, Per Se, Mugaritz, Eleven Madison Park, Geranium, Azurmendi) are among the most frequently miscited CV lines in the trade and receive specific scrutiny. Multi-stop training sequences are rendered in the order the artisan worked through them, not reordered by relative fame of the houses. Anonymous "studied with the masters of the region" phrasings are not used; the houses are named or the line is dropped. Where lineage is genuinely unclear in public record, Taste Masters states the gap rather than fills it.
Conflicts of interest and affiliations
Where an artisan featured in a profile holds a consultancy with a supplier brand, a commercial endorsement with an equipment maker, an ownership stake in a distribution business, or a paid ambassadorship, those affiliations are disclosed inline within the profile when the affiliation is material to the technique or output described.
Editorial staff and contributors do not accept hosted travel, hosted tastings, or paid press trips from any artisan, operation, or commercial sponsor named in Taste Masters copy. Where a contributor has a pre-existing professional relationship with an artisan being profiled (former colleague, prior consulting work, a shared business interest), the contributor is recused from the profile.
Corrections
To request a correction, reach out to the editorial team with the URL of the artisan profile or editorial page, the specific claim in question, and citable source material supporting the correction. A dedicated editorial inbox will be published shortly.
Requests are reviewed against the verification framework above. Corrections to factual claims (credentials, training lineage, competition placement, dates of operation, AOP or DOP designation, recognition tier) are processed within five working days where the request includes the supporting record. Corrections to interpretive framing (technical positioning, peer-set comparison, lineage characterization) are reviewed by the editorial team and may be incorporated, footnoted, or declined depending on the underlying record. The corrections log is maintained internally and the profile is updated in place, with significant changes annotated.
About the editor
Hugo Marchetti is the Director of Editorial Standards of Taste Masters and the editor under whose byline the platform's verification work, long-form lineage explainers, and craft deep-dives are published. The standards described above are the spine of the work, and the named pieces under the Marchetti byline are bound by them. A more detailed framing of the editorial role and areas of focus is published on the editor's page. Where readers, artisans, peer publications, or operating houses identify factual gaps or errors in a published piece, the corrections process above is the mechanism.