So I failed

by Garry Clark

On a pleasantly warm Tuesday afternoon in early October, 16 sommeliers from around the world gathered in a function room at the Hotel du Vin in Harrogate. As we took our seats at the carefully arranged tables, it would be fair to say there was a subdued atmosphere in the room. Anxiety leached from every pore, certainly in my body, as we stared at the two papers in front of us. In a few minutes time we were about to sit the first of three examinations that would determine if we qualified as Advanced Sommeliers in the Court of Master Sommeliers. My stomach was turning somersaults and my palms sweating as Brian Julyan MS took us through what was about to happen.   It started with a small wine list correction – we were given a page of a wine-list and asked to identify and correct 10 mistakes on the list in just five minutes. Our time began and we all turned the paper over. Scanning quickly over the writing I easily spotted about eight mistakes and set to work identifying and correcting them on my page. I had just started on the sixth when the alarm went off and our time was up. All across the room I could hear muttered expletives and sharp intakes of breath. I sat there stunned, no way could that have been five minutes, but I guess times passes quite quickly. As our papers were collected, a quick glance around the room showed almost everyone to be as stunned as I was by the passing of time. I took some small consolation that this paper was counted as part of the practical examination, and I felt confident in my answers. That part over, the real test began.

 Again we were briefed by Brian and then we were given an hour to complete the paper, 24 multiple choice questions and about 64 short answer questions. As our time started and we turned over the papers, the adrenaline rush starts to kick in. First question, I’ve no idea; move onto question two – equally clueless. As the adrenaline courses through my bloodstream the panic starts. I try to keep my cool and remember that in any given multiple choice question there is usually always one answer that can be eliminated straight away. This reduces the odds to one in three. I narrow it further down to a fifty-fifty choice and take a stab at the answer that looks right. I move through the multiple choice questions and move onto the short answer questions. It’s not good, I can feel the exam slipping away from me as each further question leaves me grasping for the answers. I feel frustrated that words are popping into my head as I read the questions but I’m not confident that they are the right answers.

Name the four satellite communes of St Emilion – in my head the answers pops in – St George, Puisseguin, Lussac and Montagne. I lack confidence in my answers and so leave that one blank for now. A huge mistake.

What is the equivalent of Pinneau de Charantes in Armagnac? – again my head tells me it’s Floc de Gasgoigne but it is another question I leave blank. I honestly felt like crying. As I close my eyes and try to visualise the books, the maps, my wine-list, anything that will help get me back on track, all I can see is a blurry mess. I’ve blown it. I wasn’t prepared enough for the theory; I studied the wrong things and didn’t give enough attention to the key areas. As time was called on the exam I knew that I had failed. There were too many questions I didn’t answer, too many questions that I took a wild stab in the dark at.

That night, I sat in my hotel room, debating whether to pack up and head home. I decided to stay and see it through. After all it would give me a valuable insight into the rest of the exam process and give me a measure of how close I might have come to passing if the theory had been covered more effectively in my preparations. We had been given a time for our practical examination, and I was one of the last to go, alongside Clement Robert from Summer Lodge. So that night I studied my vintages, tried to cover as much on wines as possible – prestige cuvees of champagne, second wines of Bordeaux, anything I thought might be thrown at me in my practical assessment.   To be continued.