"If anyone orders Merlot, I'm leaving. I am not drinking any f***ing Merlot!"
Who doesn’t remember Paul Giamatti’s iconic line from Sideways? It is, to a lot of people, the wine movie. But, to a lot of wine snobs, that title may well be reserved for Somm, a 2012 documentary about Brian McClintic the Master Sommelier Test, the qualifying test for the highest honor a sommelier can receive. A sommelier’s job may well be among the most widely mocked—not least for the extraordinary amounts of snobbery involved—but it is also among the hardest. To become a Master Sommelier, a title currently held only by about 274 people in the world, is akin to getting a PhD but with far higher failure rates. To say nothing of the costs involved in what is one of the most expensive hobbies in the world. So what exactly does becoming a Master Sommelier entail? And, perhaps to the novices among us, what even is a sommelier?
Well, a sommelier is someone who may know the answer to questions like "Val d’Orbeau, Domain de L’Hortus, Mas Julien & St. Martin de la Garrigue are located in what AC?" (a practice question for the Master Sommelier test, as it happens) The word "Sommelier" comes from French and it roughly translates to "corkside helper" or "wine steward"... basically a wine guru. But all gurus are not equal. A ‘Master Sommelier’ is the grandest and wisest of them all – it is a title granted if you pass a set of exams set by Court of Master Sommeliers. Sounds like an occult group from Harry Potter specializing in potions, doesn’t it?
The court has four stages of certification that grow in depth and complexity with each stage – Introductory, Certified, Advanced, and finally, Master. To be invited to take the Master Sommelier exam, you must have passed the Advanced exam, been recommended or requested to take the exam, and have already worked in the industry for at least ten years. The exam covers all aspects of the wine, beer, liquor, spirits, cocktails, and hospitality industries from a business, service, and philosophical perspective. A three-part test is administered, consisting of theory (a prerequisite for the other two parts), a blind wine tasting with a panel, and service duties, which can be taken in any order. If you take the blind tasting and service exam in successive years, you may pass both. Once you pass the first element, you have a three-year period in which to finish all three parts; therefore, you can attempt one element per year for three years in a row and become a Master Sommelier. If all three parts are not completed within three years, they are reset to zero and must be retaken.
The Master Sommelier certification examination is typically administered twice a year in the United States and once a year in the United Kingdom. Master sommeliers may obtain a minimum score of 75% in each of the three sections to receive a passing grade. In some cases, as few as 1 in 70 applicants is admitted to the Master Sommelier program. Master Sommeliers are generally admitted two to three times and take the exam two to three times. Up to six attempts may be necessary for candidates to pass the Master level. Only 14 individuals have ever achieved a Master passing grade on the first try, with one receiving the Remi Krug Cup as a result. So, it is a test with a notoriously high fail rate and is widely thought of as one of the toughest exams in the world. That does sound like fertile ground for us JEE-CAT-obsessed Indians. No wonder then that the youngest person to ever achieve the title of Master Sommelier is Alpana Singh, an Indian-American restaurateur who achieved the feat at the tender age of 21.
The first Master Sommelier examination was held in the United Kingdom in 1969; the Court of Master Sommeliers was established in 1977 as an international examining body for sommeliers. This title is not to be confused with "Master of Wine," which is a qualification issued by The Institute of Masters of Wine in the United Kingdom. Sonal Holland is the first Indian to have achieved the title of Master of Wine.
If it all sounds quaint and cute, well, it’s not all roses (and cherries and notes of bergamot). Ugliness has reared its head in these settings as well. In 2018, the CMS - America's board of directors learned that one of its members, Reggie Narito, had provided advance information about two of the six wines tested during the blind tasting section of the exam, which was considered the most demanding portion. Two of the successful candidates (a third candidate failed), who had apparently been informed of the information, were prevented from taking the test again for three years. Narito was expelled from the CMSA and deprived of his Master Sommelier award. 2020 also saw the New York Times revealing a pattern of sexual harassment among members of the Court of Master Sommeliers, Americas.
The ugliness notwithstanding, becoming a Master Sommelier is the singular achievement for wine professionals around the world. It requires dedication, hard work, passion, and a singular love of the grape in its many forms. As, to quote Sideways again, "Only somebody who really takes the time to understand Pinot's potential can then coax it into its fullest expression. Then, I mean, oh its flavors, they're just the most haunting and brilliant and thrilling and subtle and... ancient on the planet."