In the wine exam trenches

Spring 2025 has been an absolute whirlwind- filled with adventure, expanding job responsibilities and another season preparing for MS and MW in tandem. As this site serves as my personal way of looking back on this journey, I’m going to document both the S2 Seminar experience and MS theory exam recap.

A snippet from my spring 2025 study schedule for MS Theory/MW Practical.

Stage 2 Practical Only Seminar in Odney

The most magical Harry Potter style residential wine learning experience there is! I attended the “practical only” seminar this year which was entirely focused on tasting. Bella & I both are on our Oura ring journey which had us waking up early every cold, rainy February UK morning to get our steps in before the day began. Don’t worry, we still ordered half pints most evenings with fellow students at the pubs. I am learning that passing MW practical is really a testament of grit. As tiresome as it can be, you must not lose sight of the end goal. I’ve been running 9 million miles an hour so far in 2025 and sometimes have this feeling of just wanting things to be finished and wrapped up for a bit. But I know myself- and I know this is a lifelong journey of learning so I might as well enjoy the process and try not to rush through it. This seminar was a good reminder of even though I’m showing up at the same time to the same place for the same exercises, I have grown exponentially in the last year and it showed in my tasting abilities.

It was also a week that left me feeling grateful for this community and the journey. We had many thought-provoking discussions and tasted some incredible wines. It’s always the coolest experience to realize you’re in a room of some of the top beverage professionals in the world. And to think that this is a lifelong community you are becoming a part of. I hope that the next time I return to the Odney side, it’s as an MW leading one of the sessions!

Stage 2 Practical Only seminar called for many nights at our favorite pub in Cookham: Bel & The Dragon

MS Theory Exam Recap

I flew to Portland, Oregon for my 2nd attempt at MS Theory at the end of April (…straight from a vacation in Turks & Caicos). While it was nice to shut my brain off right before, boomeranging across the country and back on a red eye right after did a number on me. I am still awaiting my results. This experience was more challenging than last year’s, and I will need to make adjustments to my study plan. After passing MW Theory last year and having studied pretty diligently this spring, I had expected an easier time of it this go around. That was not the case. But while the outcome is likely far away from what I’d wanted, I still felt that I had made so much progress over last year. Most importantly: gone was the imposter syndrome. I have done a lot of mental prep work in order to feel like I’m showing up to these exams knowing I deserve to be there- this definitely showed through in my fortitude throughout the process and hopefully, my overall performance.

Getting ready to head down to take the exam- ft. the famous Royal Sonesta PDX wallpaper!

Next up…

I am now in prep mode for MW Practical, taking place in two weeks in London. I have done several mock exams throughout the year and have tasted pretty consistently. I feel as ready as I am going to be. Here’s the thing about the trenches, though- the only way out is through. And I know that one day I’m going to look back on this chapter of intense studying and grinding and only feel the magic of it and not the pain and suffering. So, cheers to the journey!

On drinking the world's most expensive wine

On Friday January 10th, 2025, 5 of us braved the ice and snow to gather for a magical evening at Elizabeth’s in DC. Jerry Kolins, a recent Diploma graduate of CWS and also Certified Sommelier, invited myself and his other “professors” to dine with him to celebrate his passing both exams in 2024. He generously offered to bring (from his cellar in San Diego), open and share a bottle of 2003 Romanée-Conti (est. around $19k a bottle) and 2000 Montrachet (est. around $7k a bottle). Naturally, we all RSVP’d ‘YES!’

Jerry had purchased both of these bottles upon release from a wine shop in San Diego and had held on to them all this time. The other attendees were Kasia White (CWS instructor), Caroline Hermann MW, and Mike Markarian (fellow MS candidate), whom is also the head Sommelier at Elizabeth’s. Outside of Jerry, it was ALL of our first times getting to try DRC. So special!

Below are my tasting notes:

The 2000 Montrachet presents a stunning color of spun gold, nearly honey-hued. On the nose, it is lifted and elegant, with an ethereal yet concentrated profile. Extremely nuanced with layers of toasted nuts, lemon meringue, buttercream icing, marzipan, and delicate white florals are interwoven with a precise minerality component of oyster shell and crushed chalk. There is a decidedly umami character, with notes of aged parmesan and cream of mushroom. On the palate, it is both round and focused, delivering crystalline acidity and decadent creaminess. Mouthwateringly savory and delicious, the wine feels remarkably youthful, showing the energy and finesse of something much younger than 25 years.

The 2003 Romanée-Conti is medium ruby- revealing none of its 20+ year age away on sight and giving way to a wine that combines richness with structure. High-toned and opulent, it unfurls with nearly kaleidoscopic development- aromas of biblical spices (frankincense, myrrh, sandalwood) and dried rose petals give way to a darker fruit core of kirsch and Chambord. Distinctly savory with sage, bay leaf, and earthy undertones, adding layers of complexity. The palate is plush yet precise, with suede-like moderate tannins and mouthcoating acidity that combine to give the wine a silky mouthfeel. It is seamlessly integrated and refined, showcasing no baked or oxidative quality on nose or palate, rendering it utterly remarkable for the vintage.

Thank you very much, Jerry, for this most incredible experience!

2024: A (Wine) Year in Review

2024 was one of the most action (and wine)-packed years of my life. Sitting here nearing the end of December, it seems like little has changed: we are still living in DC, I am still managing the Mid-Atlantic for JFW, still teaching, we still travel as much as we can, and I am still an MS/MW candidate. But that’s just surface level.

Things changed for me on a fundamental level this year. This was the year that actually made me fall in love with wine again. The year that I prioritized balance- I saw ALL of my closest friends, multiple times. The year I sat for BOTH Master Sommelier and Master of Wine exams. I am a huge believer in manifestation and staying aligned with your goals. In order to do that, it’s important to reflect, review and recalibrate. Below I’m going to break down my biggest highlights/takeaways from this year, as well as my favorite wines of 2024!

The highlights…

CAREER:

• I sat for both MS and MW. I PASSED MW Theory on my first attempt. I passed Italian Wine Scholar and Champagne Master Level. I served as a final round judge for Virginia Governor’s Cup. I mentored- A LOT. I served as a maître d’ at the July 2024 Certified exam in Durham- the exact place & time I’d taken my very first certification (Level 1 Somm) in 2019!

• I closed out another fiscal year with my company and kicked off my 3rd year as a Region Manager. I grew a lot this year in my role- taking on more responsibility, getting more creative and overall getting more aligned on what I want to do and be.

• I really leaned into education this year: I started hosting tasting group for the DC sommeliers. I taught more and more creative classes at Capital Wine School- a month-long Champagne Academy & a travel series to name a few. I also spearheaded a wine academy for my distributor sales team. I created an MW centric tasting group. I’ve learned that education really fuels me and I feel so much more aligned with my purpose when I look for these opportunities.

PERSONAL:

• I attended the bachelorettes, the weddings, the 30th birthday celebrations, the girls weekends, the dinners, the parties. My word for this year was BALANCE. I am most proud of how much I prioritized my people this year.

• I also stayed consistent health-wise- sticking to regular workouts, cleaning up my diet, and focusing on my sleep. I feel much better going into the holidays this year than I have in years past.

• I traveled wide and far- Bulgaria, UK several times, Belize, Turks & Caicos, France and Scotland- both for MW programming but also to spend time with some of my favorite people.

Biggest takeaways:

• I am set on passing my exams this upcoming year. I need to work on consistency of dedicated studying, instead of just distracting myself by creating classes on the areas I am weakest in. I need to build in the hours each morning if I want to succeed here.

• Health truly is wealth. I want to continue to find routines that fuel me for success. I learned the importance of sleep this year on overall performance- thank you Oura ring and also turning 30 to make me realize I could no longer chug espresso martinis and expect to be productive the next morning.

• You are your own biggest advocate.

THE WINES!

This was the year that made me fall in love with wine again. Once exams were over, I packed it up for the summer and leaned into having fun- ordering the cool wines, going out for a glass after classes, sourcing jeroboams for birthdays, etc. I now look forward to the nuance and creativity in wine more so than ever and finally kicked the whole “I study it all the time so I want something else to drink” notion. Here are some of my top favorites from 2024:

1. NV Dremont Père et Fils et Savart Ephémérè 017 Blanc de Noirs- holy Champagne gods, I’m never going to stop thinking about this wine.

2. 2022 Comm. G.B. Burlotto Verduno Pelaverga- a treat from Bella for MW course days. Delicious, crunchy light-bodied red from the Piedmont.

3. 2023 Alphonse Mellot ‘La Moussiere’ Sancerre- lifted, mineral-focused and juicy, I couldn’t get enough of this wine this year.

4. 2023 G.D. Vajra Nebbiolo- have been craving Nebbiolo like a madwoman this fall (probably should get that checked out).. this is fragrant and high-toned and I’m obsessed.

5. 2020 Giant Steps ‘Applejack Vineyard’ Pinot Noir- as good as wine gets. I am loving all things Giant Steps- pure, crisp, elegant and insanely nuanced.

6. 2007 Clos de Tart (magnum)- didn’t suck. Enjoyed it at the judge’s BYOB affair and it was everything you’d dream of and more.

7. NV Billecart-Salmon Brut Rose- she just gets better & better. Like a Werther’s strawberry & cream candy.

8. 2020 Capensis Chardonnay- we visited here last November, and I couldn’t shut up about this wine this year. It’s amazingly complex and packed with finesse. Anytime I saw it on a menu, it was a must-order!

9. 2020 Domaine du Tunnel Cornas- Cornas was my favorite Syrah expression over and over again this year. This one we enjoyed in the square in Avignon and it was the perfect meaty, punchy treat to end our French vacation on.

10. 2014 Red Newt Cellars ‘Lahoma Vineyards’ Riesling (magnum)- this wine, and the vibes of drinking it on a boat on the chilly Seneca Lake during a storm with fellow industry professionals on Riesling Camp, was epic.

11. Any and every Assyrtiko I got my hands on. And also Chenin. And of course Riesling and Champagne.

See what I mean?! I’m obsessed!

MW Student Starter Pack

I have sent this to enough people at this point that I am sharing on here in case it is helpful to any prospective/new/current MW students. Reminder this is just what worked for ME and that everyone is different- the MW is all about developing your own, unique approach!

Books: 

• Understanding Wine Technology by David Bird

• Viticulture by Stephen Skelton

• Flawless by Jamie Goode (great as an audiobook)

• How Champions Think

• Oxford Companion to Wine- mostly I used the online Jancis subscription version since it's searchable

Podcasts/other media:

• Big Vin Theory- a podcast by a fellow MW student who interviews key people in wine. SO HELPFUL. Plus will give you a good idea of how deep you need to go when interviewing wine professionals

• Sam Cole-Johnson’s ‘Wine News in 5’ available on Spotify or via her Instagram page

• Susie & Peter did a great podcast ‘Becoming a Master of Wine’, just search MW in spotify 

• Nova Cadamatre's MW blog- this is phenomenal to read about her trials/journey each year and how she finally overcame it

• Sign up for Drink Business daily emails

Tasting:

• You need to taste widely & often- I recommend a tasting group of any kind to start for exposure to different styles

• Really only have 11 minutes per wine in the exam (LOTS of writing involved), so you need to be able to ID the wine in under 2 minutes

• VERBAL TASTING was invaluable to me for this!

What I’d suggest doing to get started:

1. Build spreadsheet to catalog last 10 years of exam questions & wines

2. Start looking for similarities/frequency of topics/wines

-Divide questions into 6-8 subtopics per theory paper

-Start reading examiner’s reports- best guide as to what is expected

MW Stage 2 Exam Results

Results day was Friday, September 13th and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t sitting on pins and needles all summer.. After nearly 21 hours of testing in June in London, I was hoping against hope I’d knocked down at least one part of the MW. I got theory, the most time consuming piece, and now will just need to focus on tasting (practical) over the next year- which I got quite close on this year! I had a flight to Scotland the evening of receiving results, and decided to record my thoughts while they were still fresh:

WOW- I am very excited to have received a theory pass on my first attempt at S2! I felt optimistic leaving the exams (some say you know immediately if you have failed- I knew this with MS Theory, but here I felt cautiously hopeful) and had agonized all summer over what my MW fate would be. I did not actually write many dedicated essays throughout this last year (but I did do PLENTY of outlines and definition work) and spread myself rather thin studying for MS, taking on more responsibilities at work, and teaching. The theory portion consisted of 13 different essays over 4 days on an array of subjects. You have to use direct quotes from industry leaders from around the world and demonstrate the ability to understand different approaches. The practical portion of the MW is notoriously difficult and outside of attending DC course days, I didn’t do any bootcamps or dedicated MW flights. This is a program about communication and also mastery- and mastery is not solely achieved by holing up and studying. I threw myself headfirst into being a wine industry professional throughout the year and those ultimately were the examples I called upon.

The best thing that I did was apply for and get accepted to Riesling Camp in the Finger Lakes, a 3 day long immersive trip for industry professionals. The winemakers were so generous with their time and expertise- I think I quoted one of them in every single paper across all 5 categories. Winemaking and viticulture are my weaknesses, and I was particularly nervous for P1-P3. This trip helped me to understand things I’d previously struggled with.

I felt like the topics that they asked at the 2024 exam were quite fair and more broad than in the past and I do think I got lucky with what was being asked. I also went off the rails a few times- tackling subjects about processing aids and ingredient labeling under the new EU legislation, for example- and was really worried that I lacked sufficient knowledge to cover such a niche subject in depth. The MW is about being clear. I followed the essay structures to a T, and I also ended up sprinkling in a lot of MS theory flashcard tidbits throughout- bringing up Amarone’s blending requirements, sweetness levels of Vouvray, and other random things that came to mind that could tie into a subject and help me provide further depth to my argument.

The MW Exam was the most grueling experience of my wine life to date. It was 4 days long in London in early June, with tasting in the morning and essays in the afternoon, adding up to over 20 hours of testing. I am thrilled that I will only have to worry about tasting this upcoming year, and also relieved to see that I’m on the right track given my scores. My biggest issue continues to be sweets/fortified wines, and just like with my MS prep, that’s what I’ll be tackling first. Here is the rest of my game plan for Practical:

-Complete all 3 PAMS assignments

-Attend course days in Napa or London the week of 4/28-5/1

-Potentially start a Master-level tasting group in DC, as I’ve been the only student here since I was accepted into the program in 2022 but we now have quorum for MW and a few MS candidates as well!

-Regular dry notes practice with Bella

-Seminar- I’ll have to go to a practical only one this year, so the options are Adelaide, Odney again, or Napa

-I’d like to attend a bootcamp or two this time around. The first two years in the program, I focused a lot of my resources on MW Theory prep- paying for tutors, buying writing books, traveling to wine regions- so now I can funnel my attention to buying samples and paying for tutoring here

In short, I’m elated and fired up to tackle this upcoming year of studies. This past year was a wild ride- I was turning 30, and I felt this strong pull to make sure I did not miss out on the last year of my 20s. I traveled to South Africa, Belgium, Germany, Romania, Ireland, Bulgaria, UK (thrice!), Finger Lakes, Belize, Turks & Caicos, and the south of France throughout the year. The fact that I passed anything, honestly, is remarkable considering I was prioritizing balance and spending time with friends and loved ones. I can solidly say (as I’m on a flight to Scotland as we speak) that the jet setting is out of my system for now and I’m actually excited to lock in and study hard over the next year. My goals are to knock MS Theory out of the park, which is going to take some fine tuning and a LOT of work. I also want to pass MW Practical this time around. With that being said, time to get back to studying..

As always, onwards and upwards!

Timeline of my certification journey

I’ve had a lot of questions recently about how to attempt different certifications in tandem with others. I thought it could be useful to lay out my own timeline and how I got to this point. It’s all connected!

2017- started in the industry.

2018- signed up for my first certification, Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW), as a way to not be so green in my role. I spent almost a year studying for this and took it the following summer.

2019- getting ready to take CSW, I got a wild hair to check out the Intro to Sommelier class being offered in Durham, NC in July of 2019. I attended and passed it and I was HOOKED. I then took the CSW exam and passed in August of 2019. With some great advice from a few mentors, I decided to blaze straight ahead for the Certified Somm exam. I also took a sake (Certified Sake Professional) and a beer certification (Certified Beer Server) for work, these were great prep for CS as well.

2020- took and passed Certified Somm in Greenville, SC in February of 2020. Another wild hair ensued and I signed right up for WSET 3 Advanced through Capital Wine School in DC while still living in NC. The pandemic hit, and my exam got pushed to July, but by that time I’d moved up to the DC area. Passed with distinction and I still credit CSW being the best foundation to go for CS/WSET 3. I then decided to sign up for WSET Diploma since I was located near the school. Diploma is broken out into 6 units, and typically takes a few years to complete. Not on my watch.. Took D1 (wine production) in December of 2020.

2021- took D2 (wine business) in January, D4 (sparkling) and D5 (fortified) in June, submitted my D6 research paper in July, and took the beast D3 (wines of the world) in October. I also ended up starting and finishing all parts of the Certified Wine Educator (CWE) throughout 2021 and passed that in October.

2022- positive Diploma results and certificate arrived in January of 2022, and MW prep began. I also was working for a spirits company at the time and flew up to Boston to take WSET 3 Spirits. I then knocked out Certified Spirits Educator (CSE). I was still tasting at the CMS group regularly, and decided to apply for the Advanced Somm Course and see if they’d let me in. They did, and I attended what is to this day one of my very favorite wine experiences of this whole crazy ride. Applied for the MW in May/June and was admitted as a Stage 1 student in September.

2023- this “school year” was spent preparing for MW Stage 1 and Advanced Somm. I passed Advanced theory in April of 2023, flew to Napa to sit my MW S1 exam in June, then flew to Phoenix to sit Advanced tasting/service in Phoenix in July. I passed both!

2024- invited to sit the Master Sommelier Theory exam in April. As I wrote about in a previous post, I was not successful, but it was still a great experience. I flew to London in June for my first attempt at MW Stage 2. I had an entire summer to wait for results, so I studied for and passed Champagne Master Level and Italian Wine Scholar through Wine Scholar Guild. In September, I found out that I passed MW Theory (by far the most time consuming part of MS and MW) but still need to pass Practical (tasting).

Goals for 2025? Full send on MS Theory and MW Practical. I cannot emphasize enough the extent to which failure can be a motivator rather than a deterrent- it is such an advantage to have seen and experienced these exams firsthand and to know what to do differently for next time!

Helping out with harvest 2024 in Sonoma on the Wine Champs trip with GuildSomm

First crack at the Master Sommelier Exam

In April 2024, I made my first attempt at the Master Sommelier theory exam. 74 candidates gathered in Atlanta, GA for the one day examination. There were a handful of us who had just passed Advanced the previous year, and many of the candidates were on their second, third or further attempts.

I found out in May that I did not pass. I was neither surprised nor disappointed by this news: I hadn’t put in the work, and really just wanted to get in the room and see what the whole thing was about. Now that I’ve received my feedback and built out my study schedule for the next year, here are my major takeaways:

1. The results document is tailored to your performance and should be used as your starting point for calibrating where to focus your studies. I was particularly weak in Italy, so I spent the summer tackling the Italian Wine Scholar certification and learned a ton of really great information that will go towards MS prep.

2. I’ve benefited from mentorship from several MS’s this year whom I had never connected with previously. Every chapter, whether it ends in success or failure, is an opportunity to learn and importantly, to expand your network. I am walking into this next year of studying feeling more supported and also capable than before.

3. It is not an impossible task. It’s 100ish verbal questions administered within an hour with 2-3 MS sitting across from you in a cleared out hotel room. I blew it up to be this big, inconceivable feat. It was not. It’s doable- you just have to put in the work! There is very little room for error.

4. This is a personal best. You cannot compare your methods/results to someone else’s. It is you vs. you in there, do what you need to do throughout the year to prepare yourself to meet the moment!

I am already excited for my next attempt in 2025. Onward and upward!

With friends old and new at the Atlanta MS Theory Exam

Master of Wine Stage 2 Seminar Recap- Odney

I’m just back from the Odney S2 seminar and my brain feels like it’s overflowing!

One of the mandatory components of being a student in the MW program is your attendance and participation in a weeklong residential seminar held sometime in January-February. Options for S2 this year were Napa, Pfalz in Germany, Odney in the UK, and Adelaide in Australia. I chose Odney as it has the reputation of being one of the best- closest to the “mothership” as the MW is a British-based program, and known for offering really strong training for the practical component. It was like living in a Harry Potter film for the week- all of us staying on the same campus at the Odney Club, sharing meals together daily, learning together, and venturing into the local town, Cookham, for half-pints every night to decompress.

The seminar is a week full of mock exams every morning with feedback, theory breakout sessions, tastings, and workshops. It’s an excellent opportunity to network with fellow students and MWs from around the globe.

Here’s a snippet of our schedule….

My biggest takeaways from the week:

1. The people. I had SO much fun spending time with friends made in year 1 of the MW, and felt like I met another 20+ lifelong friends. There’s great camaraderie and Odney is in the middle of a tiny town called Cookham which had a myriad of pubs for us students to frequent and not think about wine for a few hours each evening. On a serious note, the caliber of people in this program is astounding. It’s always such an honor to spend time with folk who are absolute masters of their craft.

2. Dry notes. At this point, it’s not really about tasting as much as you can but more about practicing as much as you can. The need for working on method of production notes in particular is a big takeaway I had- particular with fortified/sweet styles.

3. Our best resource at this point is each other. Other MW students are typically quite specialized in what they do- i.e., while I don’t have any knowledge of how the Chinese market works, an importer from China was there. And winemakers from around the globe, brand managers for big Champagne houses, buyers for big European retailers, etc. All of the examples we need to pass the theory papers could theoretically be found just within the group at the seminar!

4. The MW program is a lot of work and a lot of rules, but ultimately, if you follow the rules and are willing to do the work- you can get there. It was really inspiring for me to see a clear path forward and feel like I finally understand what is expected of me and how to go about doing it.

My friend Bella brought a Riesling from my birth year for us to share at the BYOB/raid the IMW cellar dinner on the final evening. What a special bottle and friend!

Study tips for any wine exam

1. Tasting groups- you need community and to be exposed to different styles of wine

2. Travel- nothing quite like seeing the places/processes up close to make a region/style stick

3. Build on your foundation- it all links together!

4. Be a student anywhere- take notes, ask questions, network

5. Podcasts- there are loads of them out there. I really liked Matthew’s World of Wine and Drink for WSET and Big Vin Theory for MW.

How I passed the Advanced Sommelier exam

I passed the Advanced Sommelier exam summer of 2023 on my first attempt.

Before I tell you how I did it, let’s back up and walk through what it takes to get here.

There are four levels to the Court of Master Sommeliers: Introductory, Certified, Advanced and Master.

I first sat the Introductory Sommelier course and exam in Durham, NC in July of 2019. It was my first true wine education and I was hooked- I loved the way that the Master Sommeliers made the material come to life. Feeling bit by the bug, I went back home and looked up the next Certified exams being offered near me. There was one in February of 2020 in Greenville, SC, and while I felt so far from ready at the time, I bit the bullet and signed up. I passed and then the pandemic happened, and I focused on completing the WSET L4 Diploma and the Certified Wine Educator (CWE) certifications. A lot of the Court programs were on pause due to the pandemic and I decided I’d come back to it once I’d completed the other certifications.

To sit the Advanced exam, you must first complete the Advanced Course, so I applied for this in the spring of 2022. I went to the course in Dallas, TX in March of 2022 and again just loved the content and the delivery. I had so much fun that week and made some fantastic friends from across the country. Some of us decided to study together on Zoom, and we all submitted applications to sit the Advanced exam in spring of 2023.

Theory was April 2023 and those who were successful in passing (60% required) would be invited to sit the Service & Tasting portions of the exam in July 2023 in Phoenix, AZ.

Here’s how I prepared for each section:

Theory- I created a syllabus based on how many weeks were remaining until the exam date, allowing for a few weeks for review. I tackled 2-3 subjects per week. Me and my study group would divide and conquer. We still have a shared Google drive where we uploaded all of our notes. As I got closer to the exam, I made flashcards from the notes. Notes were primarily gathered from GuildSomm expert guides, the compendium, and various wine books like Oxford Companion to Wine and the World Atlas of Wine.

Tasting- I attended the DC tasting group regularly throughout the year, and bumped up to at least once per week and sometimes twice as exam day got closer. The month prior, the hosts started proctoring individual 6 in 25s for candidates- doing a full verbal tasting of 6 wines in 25 minutes. I probably did upwards of 15 of these in prep and could not have gotten through this piece without the amazing DC wine community. I also recorded myself giving a textbook perfect verbal grid of each testable wine and would play them back to myself in moments of downtime. The CMS grid is about following a system, it takes time to memorize the cadence and make sure you speak to every point available. Repetition helped me a lot here.

Service- by far my biggest hurdle as I don’t work in service! Again, I could not have done this without the DC wine community. They scheduled mock service exams for us and several invited me to come and stage with them. I borrowed a decanting basket from RPM, a tray from Congressional, a decanter from a friend, etc. They showed up for me in a way that they did not have to and helped me overcome this beast of an exam. I also studied a lot of local cuisines in prep for the service portion, and did several practice exams of pouring equations and practicing costing/math.

The above really illustrates the community centric ethos that the Court of Master Sommeliers embodies. That is precisely what I enjoy so much about the pursuit of these exams- you have to collaborate with others. The generosity of time and resources offered from the local DC tasting group was absolutely the biggest reason I was able to take and pass this on my first attempt.

Planning the perfect trip to a wine region

Probably the biggest question that I get asked for are recommendations for people visiting wine regions. It could be a region I’ve visited or one that I’ve just read about. I love these types of questions because I LOVE to travel (and research travel). One of my more off-the-wall study techniques is to pretend that I’m planning a trip to a wine region- picking out the producers I’d want to see, mapping out my route and figuring out where I’d eat and what hotels/towns I’d stay in. It helps me to really understand a region holistically and bring it to life off of the page. So, here are my tips for those of you planning your next trip to a wine region:

1. Research the top wine towns of that region. Going to Cape Town? You’ll want to look at places like Stellenbosch and Franschhoek Valley. Going to the Mosel? You could stay in Bernkastel or Trier. There are of course many towns within singular wine regions, so you’ll want to research the different options and choose where you want to stay and where you may just want to visit for an afternoon. Once you narrow that down, you can plan your route.

2. I like to stay in the “bougie” areas that have nice restaurants and things to do, but aren’t necessarily the most remote or the largest options. Condé Nast is really helpful with figuring out where this is because a lot of the time their top hotels for certain parts of the world are in these more bougie areas.

3. Rent a car. It’s the best way to explore a wine region- they’re often remote and unless you are shelling out for a private driver or coach it is much cheaper than doing guided tours everywhere.

4. What kinds of activities do you want to do? Research what all there is to do and what might be going on in the region. There might be local wine festivals you could plan your trip around, or cool hikes to go on, or activities like taking a wine train between wineries. Don’t just taste wine. Wine regions are nearly always in the middle of gorgeous natural landscape. Go for a vineyard hike, take a horseback ride through a vineyard, take a local cooking class, visit a museum, bike ride through the towns, try other local beverages like beers and cocktails.

5. Pretty much anywhere outside of the US, it’s not as easy as just booking a wine tour visit on a website. You often have to fill out the contact form on a webpage or email an address listed on the website to inquire about the visit. This requires planning- many wineries around the world are available by appointment only. You’ll want to start reaching out to them more than a few weeks ahead of your visit.

6. Which wineries do you want to visit? Try to limit it to a maximum of 3 per day. I like to start by reaching out to the ones whose wines I like seeking out in the US. If you don’t know any wineries or wines of that region yet, that’s not a problem either. A quick google search can help you find wineries, or you can look at a fine dining wine list and see what producers they support from that region to get an idea of some high quality wineries. I’ll usually have a target list of who I want to see; some will get back to me and some won’t. The ones that do get back to me are who I might ask to recommend some other wineries nearby to reach out to.

7. I feel like I’ve said this a few times already, but wine regions tend to be remote. It’s a good idea to do some research on restaurants (or ask your hotel or the wineries you’re visiting for recommendations) and go ahead and make some dinner reservations.

Happy traveling!

Master of Wine stage 1 recap

Welcome to my first (and maybe only, we’ll see) blog post! I bought this website domain on a whim when unemployed during the pandemic and never bothered to do anything with it. Fast forward several years, and a LOT has happened. I’m now a student in the Master of Wine program. I applied and was accepted to the program in 2022 and managed to pass my stage 1 assessment this past June of 2023. I’m in the midst of preparing for the big, scary stage 2 exam this summer in London. This is a really niche experience of which very few other people can relate to. I’ve found solace and inspiration in reading the blogs of others over the last few years, and I figured I could also take a crack at getting my thoughts down.

14 shades of Grenache at the Seattle seminar

So, I made it through stage 1. First, a quick look back on what brought me here in the first place.

The MW journey kicked off with a phone call with my mentor back in the fall of 2020 when I was in the throes of unemployment and feeling really lost in my career. I wanted to be “pandemic proof” and was disheartened that all of the knowledge and skills I’d spent time amassing still left me back at square one. I was about to start the WSET L4 Diploma and my mentor put the bug in my ear to rip through it and beeline straight for the MW program. So, I did just that. I finished my Diploma with merit in less than 12 months and set my sights on the MW application. My mentor helped me prepare for the MW entrance exams throughout the spring of 2022 and served as my reference.

A lot of big things happened the summer of 2022. At the time I had stepped away from wine and was working for a spirits company. I absolutely loved the role and the company, but knew it was time to move on if I wanted to have any shot at becoming a Master of Wine. Shortly after finishing Diploma, I was asked to start teaching WSET for Capital Wine School. I completed the Educator Training Program over the summer and started teaching all 4 levels in August, and started my new role working for Jackson shortly after. This was all around the time that I found out I’d been accepted into the MW program. It was shaping up to be a really crazy year, to say the least!

Being that I was new in my role and trying to learn my new company and region, the MW studies really didn’t take a front seat. Throw in the added chaos of balancing a teaching schedule and different course materials and I didn’t have much time to dedicate to the program at all- I didn’t attend a single course day, and I only submitted one PAMS and one TAMS. But, this brings me to my first point in a series of takeaways from year 1:

1. Look at every thing you do as an opportunity to be a student. Just because I didn’t have time for dedicated study, doesn’t mean that I didn’t apply myself towards learning the curriculum daily. I treated my job as a place to ask questions and research topics that could come up on the exam, taking notes during marketing calls and asking our winemakers questions every chance I got.

2. Looking for a different way to study? Start teaching. I was lucky to be teaching for an MW who allowed me to design classes around wines I wanted to taste and learn more about (it’s true there is no better way to learn something than to teach it to others).

3. The MW program is what you make of it. It’s incredibly challenging and will push you to your limits, over and over again. Sprinkle in the brutal British way of giving feedback and I started to feel myself wilting over the year. You have to keep your mental fortitude strong and view it as part of the journey.

4. There is a syllabus of sorts, but the true curriculum is derived from looking at the past exams. Before I got accepted into the program, I pulled the last 10 years of exam questions and put them in a massive spreadsheet. You start to see the bigger themes of topics that you’ll need to be prepared for come exam time.

   1. The MW theory exams are divided into 5 papers, or topics. The next thing that I did was look at each paper and divide the past exam questions into 6-8 subtopics. I try to do one subtopic per week, covering relevant materials, looking at examiners’ reports and ultimately writing outlines for the topics.

5. My first seminar experience: I attended the Seattle seminar and added on the weekend in Woodinville, WA ahead of the week, which I’m so glad I did because I met some great students who became my friends that week and are still my friends today. I chaotically took an Uber to go buy an iPad the day before the seminar because one of my new friends had one and I figured it could fix all my problems (easily influenced, as per usual). Hilariously enough, the iPad is not really useful for my MW studies but is hands down the only reason I managed to pass the Advanced Sommelier exam later that year (more on that in another post sometime). The seminar was A LOT. I hadn’t been to any course days, and I hadn’t done much real studying, so I felt really far behind once I started to meet other students. A lot of people already had study groups at this point too, another thing I hadn’t really had time to think about. I felt like my brain broke and reformed about 15 times this week. I also tried to save money by not staying at the recommended hotel and accidentally ended up in a really terrible one (a homeless person tried to break into my room in the middle of the night and I had to call 911). It was an exhausting week but I came out of it finally feeling like I knew which way was up. At the end of the week, I scored a 66% on my mock (passing at the Stage 2 level) and got some really encouraging feedback that I was well equipped to pass stage 1 and should focus instead on preparing for the big exam.

6. I also applied for and went on the stage 1 student Bordeaux trip. This was an amazing experience- not just in the places I got to visit, but also because I got to see how to handle finding examples for the exams. This was another really exhausting week, but I was so happy to be back with my new MW friends and meet new ones. Highlights: ordering demi (baby) beers every chance I got with my friends Bella and Gaby, and having dinner at Chateau d’Yquem!

7. I really dialed in after I got through Advanced Somm theory in mid April, and the MW stage 1 exam wasn’t until the beginning of June. So I spent a month and a half really looking at the perennial topics and preparing for practical (tasting). I also paid to attend a practical bootcamp in early May and this was easily some of the best money I spent throughout the year. It’s invaluable to get individual feedback from MWs in a mock exam setting.

8. My tasting preparation was, I imagine, a little different from most other MW students. I live in DC and the only other MW students around me are a few hours driving away. They mailed me wine samples to use for blinds but I didn’t keep up with them and ended up wasting a lot of the samples. How did I pass tasting, then? I’ve been part of the DC CMS-focused tasting group since I moved here, and I continued to show up for that weekly. They didn't cover all of the wines that I needed to taste, but they did cover the classics with great intensity and the verbal nature of the tasting helped me to assess wines with speed. I also taught a lot of WSET classes throughout the year and having to teach tasting over and over again allowed me access to WSET samples regularly, as well.

9. The MW program is prohibitively expensive. I was awarded a few scholarships in year one that helped to lessen the financial burden and helped to cover some of the tuition fees. I booked a lot of my flights for the required travel on points and stayed with other students where possible to cut down on hotel costs.