by Jerry Kolins, DipWSET, Certified Sommelier
Wine is elegant, an acknowledged accompaniment to any celebratory occasion. Most of us who enjoy wine let our olfactory senses and taste buds signal our level of pleasure. However, to the wine connoisseur, wine requires a disciplined approach. The Wine and Spirit Educational Trust (WSET) developed a Systematic Approach to Tasting (SAT) wine. The Court of Master Sommeliers-America has a similar disciplined approach, as illustrated by their Deductive Tasting grid, which includes each variable a student needs to assess. These organizations expect their students to evaluate a wine on roughly 20 different traits/characteristics that assist in identifying a wine when served as an unknown. Some people call such tastings “blind tasting,” but our eyes are most certainly wide open during these tastings.
If you enjoy wine and embrace discipline, these two organizations offer certifications and/or diplomas in wine. Those with the requisite wine knowledge to achieve a diploma may apply for the highest certification in the field – a Master of Wine (MW) offered by the Institute of Masters of Wine headquartered in London. There are about 500 Masters of Wine in the world.
The Wine and Spirit Educational Trust (WSET) has around 100,000 students worldwide in roughly 20 countries and approximately 40-50 Approved Program Providers. About 500-700 students graduate each year, and graduation is held at Guildhall in London. Since its inception in 1969, about 13,000 diplomas have been awarded worldwide.
In my process of attaining the WSET diploma, the level of knowledge required to achieve passing scores on some of the exams caught me by surprise. For the first time in my life, I failed an examination. I still smile, thinking about how I graduated from medical school with solid grades yet failed my first attempt at the sparkling and fortified wine exam. Because of the significant amount of preparation that goes into taking the exam, any decision to retake the exam requires commitment, obsession, passion, and resilience. (Money also helps; my course of study costs about $10,000 in tuition in total.) I will attend my WSET graduation ceremony in London in April 2025.
On October 29, I passed the Certified Sommelier exam administered by the Court of Master Sommeliers-America. This represented the culmination of almost four years of continuous study, beginning January 2021 through October 2024.
The sommelier test is conducted in a single day, and you start at 8 AM tasting four unknown wines—two white and two red. Tasting wines at 8 a.m. was quite a physical and emotional challenge. I don’t prefer to drink (or taste) until after 4 p.m.
Next, you must take a 45-question written exam. Finally, you are assigned a table and must serve a Master Sommelier. The table is set for six, one master sommelier, and five imaginary guests. I was expected to pour the champagne/sparkling wine according to protocol for six guests.
Everything had been going well until the exam was nearly over. The last step was to clear the champagne glasses from the table. I almost lost control of the tray! This near miss was listed as an opportunity for improvement. Thankfully, I still passed.
I failed this same exam just two months prior, in August. I had passed the blind tasting and theory portions of the exam with ease but found the service portion to be overwhelming. One must pass all three portions of the exam – and all three on the same day. If you don’t pass one and desire to retake the test, you must retake all three portions.
So, between August and October, in diligent preparation to retake the Certified Sommelier exam, I got a job in a restaurant as a volunteer sommelier. When customers or guests came in and didn’t order wine, I bused the tables and washed the dishes. I’ve found a new career, and I love it! But I am still not ready to quit my day job.
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