SOMM

SOMM is a Documentary about 4 American Sommeliers attempting to pass the prestigious master sommelier exam, it took two years of filming in 6 countries and finally the trailer has been released. Watch the trailer here http://www.jbwpro.com/JBWpro/SOMM.html.

This documentary is a revolution in the hospitality industry, in an industry dominated by chefs, sommeliers have always taken a backseat until now, in the trailer there are chefs getting quoted saying " i thought the chefs had it all, somms are the new rock stars of the industry" some people might debate this as the term "rock star" is not what the Court of Master Sommeliers teachers you, the Court teaches you humility, and although these 4 sommeliers seem like, and in there own right are "rock stars" they belong to the Court and i assure you they are as Humble as anyone.

I for one cannot wait to see the film, it will shed light on the sommelier profession and put across the message of how hard and gruelling these exams are, and only the best of the best and most dedicated and talented sommeliers eventually make it to arguably the highest achievement in the world of wine.

What i hope this film will do is inspire more sommeliers to pursue these exams as well as getting more young people in the industry to consider a sommelier profession, the sommelier community is almost like a brotherhood where the more there are trying to achieve the same goal the easier it is. So with that i say watch this trailer, share this trailer and most of all be inspired!!!

Advanced Pin, a dream? or a possibility?

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?

We have all the access to the information with website like the guild of sommeliers, books like Tom Stevensons wine Encyclopedia, The wine Opus and so on, there is an endless supply of information, we have import companies such as Great Domaines and International wine company where we can get access to wines from around the world to taste for the blind tasting section of the exam, we have competitions such as The Chaine des Rottiseurs junior sommelier of year to put us through the format of these exams and we have sommeliers such as Francis Krone, Neil Grant, Miguel Chang, Higgo Jacobs who know the service aspect required to pass these exams.

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