by whitney on May 14, 2010
The day before my big certified exam, I did a mock Court of Master Sommelier style blind tasting again. I did one before, remember? That one didn’t turn out so great. Big fat fail. But that was a few months ago. And with 2 more months of not only working in 2 wine shops but going to Italy again….I had a A LOT more wine under my tasting belt. So, I had higher hopes for the outcome of this blind tasting. Jill over at domaineLA brown bagged some wines for me (she marked W for the white that I would need to chill.) I brought ‘em home and got down to business.
And I did pretty well this time around! I was on target with use of oak aging or the lack thereof and also right on point with old world vs. new world, alcohol percentages and more importantly varietals and country. The wines? For the white we had a 2008 Old World (French) viognier. My guess? 2008 Chardonnay from France. I have to say the wine was too cold straight out of the refrigerator and a lot of the tropical notes were muted. The acidity seemed higher than it actually was which threw me off a bit.
The red? A 2005 tempranillo (30% cabernet) from Spain. My guess? 2006 tempranillo from Spain. Off on the aging a bit but my guess on mixed French and American oak was semi-spot on (it was just American.) This gave me enough of the confidence I needed to rock out on the actual exam the next day. Although- I may have been off on a varietal but everything was correct. According to my feedback, that is. I still have no idea what the wines from the exam were and I never will. Yep- they’re not telling. The mystery remains…
As for these blind tastings? I think I’ll take a breather for a minute and rest on my certified laurels for as long as possible. Which will be for almost… exactly one minute.
by whitney on May 11, 2010
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
by whitney on April 20, 2010
It’s time to get serious. Seriously studious. I told you about my certified sommelier exam that I was set to take in Las Vegas (big pimpin’ style at the Bellagio.) Yeah- that didn’t happen. Life got in the way…a trip to italy, starting a new business…so, i thought it would be better to give myself more time to really focus and devote adequate time to studying. I rescheduled to take the exam right here in LA at the big pimpin’ in its own right Spago in Beverly Hills. So- the countdown begins. 3 weeks. Me and some Master Sommeliers in the extremely colorful interiors of Spago.
I ran into someone that just took the exam in Vegas…and failed. What?? It got me a bit freaked out because this is someone that works in the business and is no dummy. She is taking the exam again the same day as me in Beverly Hills and we are promptly forming a study group. My house will soon become flash card central. Pray for me. In addition to prayers, I will also be accepting as many sparkling wines as possible. If you would also like to come over and grill me with hard vintage questions and berate me while I try to open those bottles perfectly and elegantly that would be nice too.
by whitney on February 8, 2010
Fail. A big fat F. That is the grade I would have received on my blind tasting exam. If that exam took place in my friend Rachel’s living room this afternoon. Luckily for me, it does not actually occur until March. In Vegas. Where, if I screw up, I can drown my sorrows in whisky and blackjack.
But, let us remain positive, shall we? OK- down to the nitty. The blind tasting: one of the more daunting tasks in the Court of Master Sommelier certified sommelier exam. 15 minutes will be given to taste a red wine and a white wine and correctly identify the grape varietal, the country of origin and the vintage. Yeah…not hard at all. When will I ever need to be able to do that in “real life” situations? Probably never. But, by training the olfactory senses in this intense way, it better enables us wine folk to inevitably understand value in a wine, regional and varietal identity, styles of winemaking, etc.
The Court is comprised of some nice people who have had to take this very same exam at some point in the early stages of their careers. Therefore, they kindly email us test-takers the exact format of the tasting exam ahead of time. They have also devised a Deductive Tasting method to help us out and break down each element of a wine into a clue to its grape and origin. There are 3 main categories: sight, nose and palate. Thoroughly examine each element of those categories one by one to then deduce what the wine could be (and what it definitely can’t be). Here is a simple breakdown of the deductive method and how what you see, smell and taste translate to a clue about what the wine in the glass could be.
[click to continue…]
