Certifiable

I did it! Woooohooooo. And yes- I actually think I made that exact sound many times yesterday. Yesterday being the day I became a Certified Sommelier. Certified! Or as my friend Joy says- “Legit!”

It was a long day that started at 8AM. I arrived at Spago (the location for the LA exams this year) and checked in. I got my time slot for the champagne service portion of the exam- 10:30. I was first! Always. The curse of having a last name that begins with A. I looked around and couldn’t help but notice that once again I was in the minority. Out of maybe 35 people, there were 6 women. A sea of dudes. A sea of dudes in suits.

We were shuffled inside to one of the private dining rooms which were set up with tables and glasses of wine. This would be the blind tasting. We had one red and one white. We also had exactly one hour to complete the blind tasting as well as a written theory exam. The exam was 40 questions in length with short answer, multiple choice and matching. The first few questions in I was all “this is easy!”…then I got to the Bordeaux questions….damn! I am seriously weak on my French knowledge. This was when I started to freak out. But I pulled myself together and did my best. And I guess, this time, my best was good enough.

The service portion of the exam was nerve wracking to say the LEAST. A room full of master sommeliers, champagne flutes and silver trays…..I won’t go into details because, well, I’m not supposed to. I am of the fraternity now! The brotherhood! Sommelier-town! But- seriously- give me a glass of wine and I’ll probably tell ya. Anyway- we reconvened later that afternoon to get our results. I have to be honest and say that I thought there was a good chance I failed. Some of the questions on the theory exam were hard and I didn’t know if I had gotten enough right. We were thankfully greeted with a glass of champagne (to celebrate or drown our sorrows) and we stood there. In a little cluster of anxiety.  And waited. They called the names one by one of those that would receive a pin. And it was a truly surreal moment hearing my name called. Whiiitttneeeey Adaaaaaams. Whitne-What?! Me? Yes- ME!

Thank you to my friends and fam for rooting for me and also being just as excited as I was to get a little pin. And to the Master Sommeliers that proctored the exam- Keith Goldston, Darius Allyn, Michael Jordan (no- not that one), Peter Neptune and Steven Poe. And to my study pal Dee (who also passed!) And to Chris Miller at Spago who gave us generous pours of some fine ass champagne just when we needed it.

-Whitney

Certified Sommelier

Tagged as: certified sommelier exam, certified sommelier pin, sommelier-town, spago