One of the proudest moments in my career as a sommelier came in May of this year when i received my Certified sommelier pin through The Court of Master Sommeliers Worldwide, a task id set myself just 4 months before attempting it after fellow South African Sommelier and work colleague Francis Krone became only the 4th South African sommelier to achieve this, it was his words of encouragement and mentorship that drove me towards being just the 5th, and youngest sommelier in South Africa to wear the Purple pin. On arrival home from Liverpool where i took the examination i thought to myself while certification is an amazing reward for all the long hours studying, tasting, analysing and ofcoarse service, i want more!!!! and yes The Coart of Master Sommeliers offers more, the advanced level of the programme.
What it takes to become a advanced sommelier im not sure of exactly, why is this? because currently in South Africa there are no sommeliers that have gained there advanced pin, so frankly i have no one to ask how they did it or what it took or which tasting groups to join, what books or websites to study from. Its something that definitly concerns me in the South African sommelier community and i keep asking myself WHY? why is there no advanced sommelier in the 9th largest wine producing country in the world? could it be our lack of exposure to wines from around the world? could it be a lack of desire to achieve? could it be funding to take the exams? could it simply be arrogance? and certainly i think its because there is a lack of mentorship in South Africa.
What are countries like Australia doing right that we are not? in the year 2011 Australia gained 2 new Master sommeliers to there industry in Michael Engelman and Franck Moreau, and recently in the last advanced examinations of the seven candidates from around the world who gained there advanced pin 4 where from Australia, Another Australian advanced sommelier Daniel Wagener had his 1st attempt at his Masters pin. So judging by these amazing results there sommelier profession in Australia is certainly on the up. If they can do it why cant we?
Iv had the pleasure of meeting sommeliers that have advanced and Master pins and it simply come down to dedication and hard work, and alot of sacrifices, its comes down to putting in study time every day be it at 3am after a long service or skipping a night out with the lads because you know you must be able to revise the 15 sub AVA,s of Napa Valley in your sleep, Ian Cauble (Advanced sommelier and Master sommelier candidate as well as world junior sommelier of the year) gave me some of his study tips, study every day, dont skip a day, trace maps of regions, sub regions, rivers, mountains, use flash cards to revise, have a set with you wherever you are, at work, in the mall, whenever you have a second pull them out and flip through them, flash cards are not there to learn from they simply refresh you memory of what you have studied already so that eventually you can remember the premier cru vineyards of Chablis as easy as the 5 first growths of bordeaux, do mock services with fellow sommeliers we all know something that our sommelier colleauges dont know so we need to share our knowledge with each other.
So with this i say yes we can as South African sommeliers can achieve the advanced pin its just a question of whether we want it enough or not, and i for one will tell you, i want it more than anything, July 2012 is just 6months away!!! |
| Left: Me, Right: Francis Krone |
