What to expect from the Master Sommelier Exams
The Introductory Exam
Cost: $495
Exams/year: 35 or so
Requirements: A minimum of three years of restaurant experience is recommended. From personal experience, those with less experience are, at least occasionally, permitted to take the Introductory Exam. When I took the exam in 2003 a priest and truck driver, neither of whom had any restaurant experience, took the exam and passed.
What to expect: The Introductory Exam is a multiple choice exam that follows a two-day classroom. The classroom covers the main wine regions of the world, their wines and laws. In between the lectures, the participating Sommeliers will introduce that the M.S. tasting grid and walk the attendees through several rounds of blind tasting. The second day concludes with a multiple choice exam. A score of 60% is required to pass. The pass rate seems to be around 70%. The Introductory Syllabus can be downloaded here.
The Certified Exam
Cost: $295
Requirements: Successful completion of the Introductory Exam
Exams/yr: 26 or so
What to Expect: The Certified Exam is the most recent addition to the exam series. According to mastersommeliers.org "The Certified Sommelier represents the primary certification for wine and beverage professionals in the hospitality industry. Through the creation of the examination, the Court will identify beverage professionals whose knowledge, training, skills and demeanor are eligible of the title 'Certified Sommelier'." Unofficially, the Certified Exam acts to slow people down. It seems that too many people where taking the Advanced Exam woefully under-prepared and the Certified was added as an intermediate. The Certified Exam differs from the Intro and Advanced in that it is an exam only. The exam consists of three portions: the theory, blind tasting and service.
Theory - The theory is multiple-choice and short answer. Although it covers a greater depth and range of information than does the Introductory Exam, it is still rather basic information. You can download a recommended reading list here. With an understanding of the major appellations of the world's major wine countries in hand, one should be able to pass the exam. For example: one might expect a question about Barolo and Nebbiolo; Gattinara, Carema and Ghemme, not likely. One might be asked to name the states in which Barossa, Margaret River and Hunter Valley sit; the sub-zones of the Great Southern are not likely to appear. My biggest piece of advice…if you plan on taking the Certified, study like it's the Advanced. Better to be over-prepared than under-prepared. Sample Certified Exams can be downloaded here.
Service - If you ask a Master what the service portion entails they'll tell you to expect to open a bottle of wine at a table, decant a bottle or do Champagne service. In reality, it's banquet Champagne service. You'll most likely be asked to open a bottle at a side station, pour X number of glasses, serve Y number of them, clear the table and return for some questions. Of course, that having been said, they'll probably start mixing it up. Even if they do, the Champagne service is the hardest of these things to do table-side. As for the questions, have some basic recommendations in mind, the less ordinary they are the better. Example: for a dessert wine recommendation, don't offer Port (they may not even let you). Offer Madeira, Maury or Monastrell Dulce. The more exotic your recommendation, assuming it makes sense, the better for you. But be warned, if you recommend something; be prepared to name a producer. Two critical points: 1.You do not have to pour-out the entire bottle. If they ask for 8 glasses, pour 1.5 in each and leave a bunch in the bottle. You don't need to empty it. 2. You can have a catastrophic accident and still pass the exam. I managed to drop an entire tray of Champagne on the floor and, in the process, sprayed bubbly all over my testing MS. Just remember: no one mistake can fail you. If you have an accident, excuse yourself while you clean it up and go on about your way. After my mishap I offered to clean it up and kept working. Despite a catastrophic accident, I passed. Download Service Standards here.
Tasting - Meatballs. Two big slow pitches right over the plate. The wines will be textbook examples. If memory serves, you get 15 minutes for the two wines. You'll be expected to taste them, fill out the basic tasting grid and give a few fruit descriptors. I can't stress enough that these are not tricky wines! Several of my fellow testers stood outside after the blind tasting and discussed how they thought the red might have been barrique-aged Sangiovese from a warm vintage or some sort of strange cool-climate Syrah. These guys were reading way too much into it; you would never see either of those at the Certified (not to mention the fact that it was clearly red Burgundy). Download the Advanced Tasting Grid and Instructions.
The Advanced Exam
Cost: $895
Requirements: Successful completion of the Certified Exam
Exams/yr: 3
What you expect: To fail. This is where the testing really gets difficult. The fact that the average pass rate plummets from 65% for the Certified to 20% for the Advanced is a good indicator of exactly how difficult the exam is. That pass rate of 20% is for each exam session. Given that most people take the exam several times before passing, the pass rate for 1st timers is substantially lower than 20%. Unlike the Master, all three sections of the Advance must be passed at one time. The minimum pass rate for every section is 60%.
Theory - The theory portion involves two parts. The first gives the test-taker a faux wine list and10 minutes to make as many corrections as possible. The second portion is 80 short-answer and multiple-choice questions. For the Certified Exam one should be able to name a sweet wine appellation of Bordeaux. For the Advanced Exam be prepared to name them all, give their precise location, their minimum must weight requirements and the communes they cover. You may not be asked for these things, but they are all fair game. Spirits, Beer and Ciders are all fair game. Sample Advanced Exams can be downloaded here.
Blind Tasting - Again, here's where the where they weed-out the weaklings. The entire scheme of blind tasting changes at this point. For the exam you will be expected to taste 6 wine (3 white and 3 red) in 25 minutes. You will taste and speak you way through the entire thing. The tasting grid for the Advanced and Master is much more detailed and involved. Without serious practice this style of tasting is staggeringly difficult to pass. The testing MS's will go through the grid and mark-off the points that you hit. In order to successfully pass the grid and the clock need to be second nature. Those who pass the tasting usually develop a system whereby they approach each wine the same way every time. They quickly and methodically run down their checklist hitting every point as they go. One cannot expect to pass the blind tasting without serious tasting practice. It is expensive, difficult to arrange and time-consuming but it's the only way. For those in the business, ask a distributor to put together a sealed mixed case from the list of potential wines. If you're not in the business, ask a trusted retailer. Although I've never tried it, some people make physical and mental profiles of wines and have found it helpful. You can download the Advanced Tasting Grid here, a Cheat Sheet here and a list of wines you might expect to see here.
Service - Apparently this can vary a fair bit. The exact number of stations may vary but the things you'll be expected to do seem to be consistent. Expect to take the order for, choose and place glassware for, present and decant a bottle of red wine. Expect to present and place glassware for and open a bottle of Champagne tableside. Expect to pour cordials and/or spirits on a gueridon and serve them from a tray. Expect to choose, serve and place glassware for a mutli-course dinner with wine. Expect to answer questions about vintages for Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, Rhone, Loire, Port, California, Italy dating back to the 1970's. Expect to pair wines for a multiple-course meal. Odds are good that you'll be expected to offer both a New and Old World alternative. Expect to be shot down if a wine overlaps something you've recommended before. You can download Service Standards here.
The Master Exam
Cost: $800
Exams/year: 3 (one in Healdsburg, one in London, one US east coast)
Requirements: Successful completion of the Advanced Exam. Invitation only.
What to expect: From what i've heard, an amplified version of the Advanced. Although it is still comprised of Theory, Service and Tasting sections, the percentage needed to pass is higher, 70%. However, unlike the Advanced Exam, one need not pass them all at one time. They may be passed in successive tries. Rather than being written, the Theory section is oral...if you don't know an answer, there's no going back. I've heard that the Service can be quite rough. Rumor has it that you can expect to see dirty linen mixed in with clean, decanters that can't hold a full bottle of wine and cradles that won't easily hold a bottle. You may expect to see Sake bottles, "spilled" glasses of wine and irrate "customers." The wines you need to recommend may include sample flights. Sample Master Exams can be downloaded here.
