The Corkscrew | The hard road to becoming a master sommelier

As you read this, I will have just started a very difficult exam, one that I’ve been preparing for since 2009 – the test for the Advanced Sommelier Certificate, which I need before I can take the even more arduous exam to become a master sommelier (MS).

Since its inception, in 1969, the Court of Master Sommeliers has granted the MS title to only 234 individuals worldwide (the longer-established Master of Wine has seen 391 graduates). It’s notoriously difficult: the movie Somm (2013) and its 2015 sequel, Into the Bottle, describe the level of commitment and knowledge required – and the madness involved. Of all the master sommeliers, only a handful passed the exam on their first attempt.

In the run-up to the test, I haven’t had much of a social life: I work and I study. Why? It’s not due to ego, rather it’s an intense curiosity. The first MS I met, Evan Goldstein, was so enthusiastic about what was on his plate and in his glass I couldn’t help but be mesmerised and inspired. Every MS I’ve met since has been just as passionate and generous in sharing their time and wisdom. Dimitri Mesnard, who qualified in 2003, is my mentor, and has said it would be challenging for him to pass the exam today because there’s so much more to know.

The Court of Master Sommeliers exam has three parts: service, blind tasting and knowledge.

For the service exam, the candidate faces a table of masters acting the part of knowledgeable customers in a restaurant. They pepper the candidate with questions, asking for suggested drink pairings (not just wine, but beer, spirits and anything else that appears on a drinks menu) and which vineyard makes a particular wine. It’s a test of grace under pressure, as one has to deftly prepare the bottle while interacting with the “customers”. It’s nerve wracking and mis­haps, such as tipping over a tray of flutes filled with champagne and dropping an open bottle of red wine into the lap of a guest, are not unheard of. I try to tell myself it’s like being at work but, of course, it’s not: it’s much harder, because I don’t normally have to serve a tableful of master sommeliers.

The knowledge part is just as daunting. I’ve been poring over years of tasting notes, going through stacks of books and studying by country, production method and grape varieties, memorising maps, reading about spirits, cocktails, sake and liqueurs.