I’m on the flight back from London now, and my head is buzzing with motivation and lessons from the last ten days. The first six were spent in the English countryside at the MW S2 practical seminar at the Odney Club; the latter part of the trip was working out of BB&R’s headquarters and getting a deep dive into the culture and heritage of the company.
Returning to Cookham felt a bit like Groundhog Day as this was my third year in a row attending the Odney seminar- 2024 as S2 full program, 2025 as practical only, and this year again with practical only.
This year’s program.
I won’t sugarcoat it- my head was in a very different place before this trip. I’ve been completely immersed in the new gig, and on top of that, I left home with eight inches of snow/ice on the ground and a full-blown plague that had already been lingering for weeks. I didn’t really have the brain space to think about the MW seminar at all, so I just… showed up.
Ironically, arriving sick actually helped. I was more focused, less social, and didn’t try to wring every ounce of “fun” out of the experience like I usually do. That said- hilariously and devastatingly- the pub we always go to was closed for renovations. I also got a terrible room. At that point, I was feeling pretty unlucky. The energy was giving “get your shit together.” I try to always look on the bright side of things, so we pushed through.
And the mocks? They went well. Really well.
For the first time, I scored an A!
For the first time, the pass feels genuinely within reach. Now it’s about honing the writing.
The Odney Club at dawn- only time in the calendar to get some exercise in!
Here are my key takeaways and what I’ll be doing differently over the next ~113 days until the exam:
I’ve spent the last six months obsessively refining my systems, and it shows. I’m an actual machine right now: exercising, hydrating, meal-prepping, eating well, reading, sleeping. I’ve never been better set up to handle this level of stress or to take this exam head-on.
Something feels different this time. Time is tight, and I’m not wasting the little free time I do have messing around.
I’m hiring help: working with a sports psychologist to work on day-of anxiety and meeting with MWs to get very specific about what still needs work.
The same glaring gaps in my knowledge are still there. Enough is enough- it’s finally time to learn how to properly write winemaking and maturity notes (sigh). On the bright side, my origin and commercial potential notes are significantly improved. I could feel the flow on these- I’m a salesperson at my very core, and it was fun to receive feedback that not only had I read the wines well, but I uniquely positioned how to sell each of them in ways that were engaging and creative.
I won’t be able to attend tasting group as regularly, so I need a realistic plan to taste as often as possible, likely including purchasing sets of some P3 wines.
Immediate actions:
Do all past exams under timed conditions, dry notes style.
Practice style, winemaking, and quality notes relentlessly.
Notecards for all MOPs on P3.
Notecards for quality hierarchies within each growing region.
Vintage notes for the classics.
One-pagers for each country: styles, ranges, benchmarks.
As a final thought, the mood at seminar (and the wines themselves) felt different this year. The industry is in a tough spot, with declining global consumption and sales, and that reality was palpable amongst both presenters and candidates. The wines selected skewed more commercial than ever before.
It was still a good experience, but I left with a clear takeaway: in a pursuit so focused on mastery, rigor, and pressure, I want to help keep things fun. I think that balance- serious excellence without losing joy for the product & the game overall- is where I can contribute most once I’m through the finish line.
It’s time to get after it.