A very special and heartfelt thanks goes out to Leslie Rudd! It was my great honor to be selected as one of the MS to participate in the Rudd Roundtable last weekend in Napa Valley where the some of the best and brightest talent in our industry gathered together to study and share some great information about preparing ourselves and each other for the Master Sommelier Diploma Examination and for excellence in the roles we have in our industry. For those that don't know the Roundtable is sponsored by The Leslie Rudd Educational Foundation's generous and gracious donation to the Guild of Master Sommeliers for the purposes of the advancement of students of The Court of Master Sommeliers of the Americas.
The highest scoring Advanced Exam passes of the past year and a few handpicked Master Candidates have the amazing experience to spend a couple days one on one with several MS that dedicate their time and attention to these bright professionals. Over the course of the event there were several "best study practices" identified to assist anybody interested in advancing in the industry. I was delighted to work with the team to deliver some structured classes and also some very free form panel discussions about preparing ourselves for the future. I would like to begin an ongoing dialog here focused on the study habits an best tips we can come up with as a community to help us al to embrace the rapidly changing world of wines and spirits and share the best ways to be educated, enlightened and at the top of our game as the top beverage professionals we are.
There have been several very good forums written recently about sources for pronunciation and translation, etc.. as this blog progresses we will also address those as well. It is my hope that this blog becomes the ongoing location for up to date and most recent study practices that work. So, Please add on whenever you can, when you find great information, when you do something that really works- share it!!
Ok gang, here we go. Lets talk about theory first here. While as a Master Sommelier there isn't really a way to help candidates with theory. It is all in the books, on websites and wikis and you must ferret out that information and somehow memorize it. We are all aware that there are lists of questions that we have shared and used to create our flash cards and while studying on flashcards is needed, there are more enhanced ways to weave a tapestry of information for yourself. If you were asked a question you have studied you are stoked, if it is one you don't know , you are bummed. And in an examination setting , especially a verbal exam, you may be so nervous you forget the simplest bit of information you have known for years! And remember at the Master Level we are expecting you to be able to know the information intimately, to be able to teach this info with confidence and mastery, not just struggle to answer a single question....So, I strongly suggest that you do not just ask and answer the thousand questions you have on cards... but create a web, a tapestry of data for your mind to be able to follow any of many strands of thought to remember.
Some of the best tools for this are:
I hope you can all add a few items here... lets talk more about theory and I will go onto tasting and service each in the days to come , but lets be focused and leave no stones unturned here... ( what kind of stone...? wet river rock, slate, granite?... just kidding)
My best wishes to you all!
Very well said Gentlemen,
In addition I would like to say it was an absolute honor to be apart of the round table this year. I would like to thank all of the Masters for taking the time to share their knowledge with the next generation of knowledge thirsty sommeliers. I have already integrated many of these tips into my study habits. This past weekend was incredibly inspirational and it was an absolute blessing to be able to take part. Thanks again to everyone who helped put this together including Leslie Rudd, Blakesley Chappellet and all the Masters!!!! Not to forget to thank Mr. Johnston, who donated dozens of incredible bottles to the guild cellar.....I can still taste the Dal Forno Romano 94!!! Also, congratulations to Michael Engelman for winning the Johnston Medall!!!!
The one study tip I stress for others beginning to really hit the books is to trace maps. This opens up the mind like nothing else I have ever done.
- Go purchase tracing paper from an arts and crafts store like Michaels (Strathmore 300 Series Tracing Paper 11" by 14" is what I use)
-Lay a map underneath the tracing paper of a country you are about to study. (Make sure it is as current as possible with all detailed wine regions broken down.)
- With a pencil, trace every detail and border of the map. Then retrace each subregion with a different color of marker over the pencil.
-Find all bodies of water and use a blue color to define them. I then give a letter to each region on the map and have a letter reference code on the side of the paper where "A" refers to a region.
-Once you are done understanding each regions location, subregions, bodies of water etc. then crack Sothebys, wiki's, websites etc and make flashcards of every relevant piece of information about the country and its regions.
The information you then study about the country will mean much more after you have spent 45 minutes tracing. After this you should be able to fill in a blank map of a country with its regions, rivers and relevant grapes.
Good Luck. Hope this helps. Create your own tapestry however you can!!
Ok, so Christina....
Think about how you will prapare for service, knowing it is not your strongest area. Be ready to post your best study suggestions and what you do to prepare yourself when we get there on this Blog...(won't be long, maybe by next week) . Dont forget there is a ton of theory needed in service!
Thank you Michael E!
Great information. I agree completely with the points you discussed. As we did share about travelling to regions you have difficulty with, it is the best way to learn. I went to Germany twice because I had a hard time with pronounciation and couldn'e remember the villages names. (ok , also because I have a rampant love affair with German Riesling!) I had to go to Austria because I couldn't nail Gruner Veltliner in a blind tasting and wanted to learn what was typical... (still don't know! ) had to go there to get my arms around the concepts. It works!
Also ... the wine shop! Brilliant! Go look at bottles! Buy some! Drink them with your friends! talk about how the same varietal can have such a different expression depending where it is grown.
More than anything , those of you that are MS candidates or are about to take an Advanced exam need to be TEACHING!!! As Michael said it keeps you sharp, current and helps you to develop the ability to discuss freely and comfortably express what wines and spirits are all about . Face it gang, we are also entertainers... we have to tell the cool stories to our guests to add value to the fermented grape juice every now and then!! It also helps you with pronounciation and forces you to stay current with classifications and vintages. Because we only know more than our students for one day- once we teach it to them - we have to go out and get more information to teach tomorrow- WE HAVE TO LEARN some more!!! So it drives US to learn.
I have to say this post is incredibly helpful. Some of the methods I had never thought of. I can't wait for the part on service because that is my weakest point.
Master Jordan,
Thank you for starting up this blog. As one of the lucky Master candidates fortunate enough to be invited to Napa for that event, I also would love to share my feeling and impressions. I couldn't have explained anything better than you did.
I totally agree with studying a region in depth, In my studies I break down every country and usually focus on a couple a month. To do this I use books and websites as source materials, I try to find as much information as possible and build my own wiki to study on my computer. I try to start with my weakest points and finish with the regions I feel most comfortable with. I do believe that a lot of the memorization is done by reviewing each piece over and over again in repetition.
I can't agree more with the tapestry method. It is like how an athlete trains using many different exercises to improve and reach the next level.
I often draw maps just as you said, filling in regions, cities, river, mountains... I think that it makes it easier to memorize everything when you can visualize it and I'm sure that everyone has guests on a daily basis asking where such and such is located, for example where Montlouis-sur-Loire is located. Guests may know Vouvray better as an appellation; being able to say that Montlouis is just across the river is great. I prefer to use a color code for the grapes, red for the red wines, green for the white wines, orange for the rose...just another way to remember the production styles.
After the wiki and map drawing I use flashcards. Just as Master Jordan says it and as it was mentioned a couple of weeks ago in a forum, you need to make a lot of them. I don’t stick only to the sub-regions but really try to expand on everything about each topic.
I would like to add a couple of extra points that were mentioned last week at the Roundtable and tools that I personally use:
·Travel to and visit vineyards as much as possible. It truly makes it easier in my opinion to remember the geography, history, soils, producers, local food;
·Go in wine shops and look at the bottles. I find it easier to look at a label and remember where the producer is from or read the label to get a better understanding of everything listed;
· Look at restaurants’ wine lists online. This allows me to hear about new producers the industry is paying attention to, appellations, prices applied by other restaurants;
·Drink wine! It may sound stupid but when I study a region the only thing I want to do is to try these wines I’m learning about. Very often it might be wines we work less with: Portugal, Greece, Eastern Europe... if I'm able to try them I find it easier to remember the grapes, styles, producer name, etc and then I’m more motivated to know more about the region;
·Go to tastings and meet the winemakers. The value of sharing information, impressions and knowledge with others at the tastings and most importantly with the winemakers is massive. I often find that this side of building experience is too often underrated;
· Hold or teach wine classes at work or start tasting groups. As mentioned previously, knowing facts about a region is one thing, being able to teach those facts is another skill entirely. This always motivates me to gain more knowledge and I believe also builds one’s ability to offer better service;
· Quality and consistency over quantity and inconsistency. I think that it is not about how many hours you study but much effort you put into the time you spend studying and being sure to study regularly. It is just like going to the gym, working out your body on a regular basis 3-4 times week (consistency) is more important and effective than having a crazily intense workout one day (cramming) and then not doing anything for the rest of the week and expecting results. It is ineffective for getting results. I believe the same principle applies to studying. You need to study regularly rather than inconsistently being sure to focus on quality.
At the end, your last phrase states it perfectly we have to live and breathe this stuff to truly know it.
Best of luck to everyone,
Michaël