Today I sat the certified sommelier exam with The Court of Master Sommeliers. Of the three parts, I failed two. I didn’t put I the hard yards for the theory and so I have no one to blame but myself. It was more geography than anything else, something which is very different from the WSET. There were no questions about wine style or questions which required any insight – just straight geography, with some matching of grape to region. I also failed on service, which was unsurprising given that I have never professionally poured a glass of wine in my life. Still, I had done some prep work but clearly not enough. Finally I did pass the tasting section. I did better with the white than the red, and the structural analysis was my strong point, but alas you need to pass all three in one go.

So I’m a bit gutted, but not completely surprised. Really disappointed with the service result. I didn’t fail by a huge margin. The theory was a wash, but the service was close. Alas, now it’s done and there are a load of things about which I haven’t even been able to think with exams looming. Tomorrow I sleep in and play games, and then it’s on to the rest of my life.