Any Sommelier FTers?
 

This past weekend I passed my Court of Master Sommeliers Certified Sommelier examination. I don't know if I'll attempt go get Advanced (and then onward to Master), but I was just curious if any FTers had gotten any wine accreditations. I know there are quite a few aficionados on the board.

Chris

Congratulations, JayhawkCO. I'm curious, what was your personal experience with how much time and effort the certification required? Did you pursue it for fun or as a credential to obtain a job?

Thank you!

So, my background is/was very helpful in getting the requisite information to pass the test. I'm currently the Food and Beverage Director at a luxury hotel here in Denver (one that has its own thread on FT where someone said my restaurant had a great wine list. :D) So, our wine list has a Wine Spectator 1 Glass Award (which isn't all that tough to get), and since we sell so much wine at my restaurant, reps are constantly tasting me on new wines every week to try to sell them to me. I probably taste 30-50 wines per week ranging from typical Napa Cabs to single vineyard Barolo and onto more esoteric varietals like Assyrtiko and Lagrein (two of my favorites at the moment). So for me, I didn't spend so much time on studying on my own as much as I've just been paying attention and learning ever since I've had control over wine lists and fine dining restaurants.

So, the Certified Examination (which is Level 2) consists of three parts: tasting, theory, and service. They "blinded" us on four wines -- two reds, two whites and we had to identify color, fruit aromas & flavors, non-fruit aromas & flavors, acid level, tannin level, alcohol level, sweetness level, and then call a country, varietal, and approximate age. I'm pretty sure based on the feedback that I got that I got all four grapes correct (Sauvignon Blanc, Gewürztraminer, Sangiovese, and Shiraz/Syrah were my guesses), but I might have missed the country on the Gewurz. Bluntly, my palate is not always all that sensitive to individual flavors and aromas, but I tend to do pretty well on the "overall picture". The theory was 45 questions on regions, vineyards, producers, winemaking, wine business, spirits, beer, and sake. This is the part where individual studying helped as I haven't tasted a ton of, for example, Franciacorta, but I knew that they specialized in sparkling wines, which was the question that I had about it. The service part was where most students fail. I've been pouring wine either as a server, bartender, or manager for 18 years now, so pouring wine is not difficult. However, while you're doing wine presentations, you're getting berated with questions about what's in certain cocktails, what region certain wines are from, what liqueurs taste like, etc. That's what throws off most of those without as much experience as I have physically in restaurants. It's one thing to practice at home; it's another to be getting crushed on a Friday night and then you're pouring wine to a needy table.

So, this is all a very long-winded way of saying I "studied" for a total of about 4 hours. Someone that doesn't have my background? Probably would take reading at least 3-4 books and then tasting a ton of wine to be able to do the blind tasting portion. The service would be the wildcard where I couldn't even estimate how much time you'd have to put into that. If someone went from "I know Cab is red" to a level of passing this test, maybe 6 months of pretty dedicated studying and a ton of money out of pocket to taste.

I took the test to gauge myself against others more than to advance my career. It doesn't hurt to have certifications obviously, but I'm already, from a career perspective, a lot farther along than a lot of my fellow students who are still servers/bartenders. I never actually cared if I took any of the tests (I know what I know), but my boss bugged me to do it and the company was paying for it so why not? If anyone has an interest in wine and knows a decent amount, I would definitely recommend doing the Intro Class & Exam which is two days of class where you're learning from four Master Somms and then you take a test. If I hadn't been an "advanced student", I would have learned a ton in that class.

Chris

Congratulations! Welcome to the club! I head a wine program at a starred British restaurant in Singapore that’s also ranked 32nd in Asia’s 50 best as well!

The description is intriguing, but I'm not sure how you turn fish and chips into something sublime...on the other hand, I'm the first to admit that I know nothing. :)

you’d be surprised ;)

What has fish and chips got to do with a British restaurant? As much as hot dogs has to do with a US restaurant I expect.

The restaurant description said he has an innovative take on fish and chips.

Not in the industry but got the CMS Introductory Sommelier certification a few years ago. Have also studied WSET Wine before and am now studying WSET Sake now. All because I like to eat and drink!

Thanks for the story, JayhawkCO. I imagined your boss encouraged you to test for the cert because even though it's a minor thing overall in your career and in the general operation of the restaurant/hotel, it is a thing that counts. It could raise your WS rating from 1 glass to 2 or more, or your rating with other publications, resulting in inclusion in an article or list that drives incremental traffic to the business. Your marketing team can work the credential into the PR. "Enjoy an exquisite meal at our in-house restaurant with wine carefully curated by our Certified Sommelier," etc. Good luck!