On Monday and Tuesday I participated in the Court of Master Sommolier's Level One Certification course and exam. It was both interesting, scary and, at times, very boring.
There are only about 175 Master Sommoliers in the entire world. Along with the 100 Masters of Wine (another certification program), they make up the top wine geeks in the entire universe. I have a lot of respect for these people who have to learn a lot of arcane, but interesting, information. One of my friends in the wine world call this whole set up useless. Anyway, this course and test is the entrance exam to reach the lowest rank in this nomenclaturaof the wine world.
The class started at the ungodly hour of 8AM with a flight of wines to warm up. It also introduced us to the scoring system used by the Court in evaluating wines. One of the most prized skills of most Soms is the ability to name wines blindly. It is a skill that can be learned and through the frequent tastings (4 the first day, 3 the next) we surveyed the wine world and learned the markers for varieties and locations, This was very interesting.
We then started the classroom review of the wine world. This was the dreadful. It was extremely boring. Having just completed 5 weeks of wine studies, the classic wine regions were all review. There were some new world regions that we discussed that I would have loved to discussed further, like Australia, New Zealand, Chile and Argentina, but as we wizzed by all regions, these were given short shift.
We completed our whirlwind tour of the beverage world with a review of spirits, beer, and wine and food parings. The spirit world was fascinating, as I had no idea about any of this. We learned about how England almost collapsed as a result of the Gin revolution and about the Whiskey rebellion of the 1790s. Great stuff! Food and wine paring was redundant as we did two days of this in the Immersion program, and after all, I am a trained chef who has been doing this for 20 years.
At 4:3) on day 2 we took our exam. Thank God we only needed 60% to pass. That meant 42 out of 70 questions. The first question was where was the Edna Valley located. As this is a favorite region of mine, I knew where it is located, but it was an indication of what was to come. We were asked about obscure appellations from obscure wine producing regions. And I am eternally grateful to Robert McPherson from my Immersion program for telling me what's in Drambuie (honey and whisky). It was one of the hardest tests that I have ever taken in my entire life. I can only imagine what level 2 is like.
I passed, along with everyone else who took the class and test that day. Of my 4 fellow immersion program attendees who took this exam, 2 went on the next day to take level 2, only one passed. In fact, only about half passed the next level. There you need to do a blind tasting of two wines, a service practical, and a brutal test on theory. Again, you need 60% on all three to pass. Eventually, I will take this test, but after 2 months of school, it's time to find employment.
Was it worth it. I think so. I am now certified by both the CIA and the COS as having a significant base of knowledge in wine and beverages. In the COS course, I tasted some great wines from regions that I have never tasted before, and found some that I really enjoyed. If all this helps me get a job, then it will really be worth it.
Thanks again for reading my blog.
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