Master Sommelier. After the unexpected sensation of the original “SOMM” film, the elite title bestowed by the Court of Master Sommeliers upon a tiny set of hospitality industry obsessives has gone from obscure insider jargon to the wine world equivalent of celebrity status.
“Are you a Master Sommelier?” is usually the first question I’m asked when an uninitiated civilian learns that long ago I slung bottles on the floor in the Manhattan restaurant thunderdome — my immediate “No, I’m most definitely not,” inspiring an unintentional expression of disappointment from my new acquaintance.
“In the States, you’re [now] a legend before you’re even dead,” says U.K.-based Eric Zwiebel, an actual Master Sommelier and former director of wine and executive head sommelier at The Samling Hotel and Summer Lodge Hotel, respectively. He clarifies that in Europe, a Master Sommelier is undoubtedly still very important. But in the States, one is viewed by the public as some kind of wine god. And with fewer than 300 of these deities globally, and a typical pass rate for the exam short of 10 percent after years of intensive and expensive study, the worship is understandable.
What follows the disappointed look after revealing my lack of elite status is typically a brief volley of fun facts regarding what a sommelier actually is (wine and beverage steward in a restaurant or hotel), the levels of certification (four), and why I never attempted to chase down the elusive MS crown (long story).
But the title’s meaning is changing. With a wine and beverage world growing ever more complex and work-life balance increasing in importance, the entire idea of what a Master Sommelier is — and the motivation to pursue said rank in the first place — is becoming something of a paradox.
The Shelf Life of a Sommelier
Even among the tight circle of Master Sommeliers, Bobby Stuckey is a bit of a mythical beast. His Michelin-starred and James Beard Award-winning career — at the likes of Napa’s The French Laundry and his own Frasca Hospitality Group in Colorado — has now spanned four decades on the floor (and going strong). “This is my No. 1 passion, and I’ll probably still be at it when I’m 70,” Stuckey says. “We write my schedule so I can be active on the floor when I’m not traveling.”
But he’s admittedly an outlier. It’s hard work, late nights, and long hours; a performance of sorts, every shift the equivalent of taking the stage for another song and dance. “Our industry — not just for sommeliers — was never really designed for long-term longevity in the traditional sense,” Stuckey says. “For many professions, 55 is the median age. But in our industry, I’m often the oldest person on the floor.
Many of his fellow Master Sommeliers, most of whom have moved on to other industry pursuits outside the restaurant grind, look to him with admiration. “It’s not an easy job as you get older … and I think as a mother, for me, it’s not realistic,” says Sara Floyd, Master Sommelier and co-founder of Swirl Wine Brokers and Luli Wines in California. “Working in a restaurant is a young person’s gig. I’m really impressed with the 10 percent [of Master Sommeliers] that do work on the floor like Bobby,” she says of her longtime friend.
Zwiebel seconds the feeling with his own admission of growing floor fatigue. “I’ve been on the floor all my life, and I still love it,” he says. “But I’ve started to feel like I need to leave the floor.”
The reality is that most sommeliers — Master or otherwise — have a finite shelf life doing the actual work of Sommelier-ing.
Opportunity Lies Outside the Restaurant
So, about that paltry 10 percent or so of Master Sommeliers who actually work as a sommelier: The strange math is that the more qualified you become in the Court of Master Sommeliers, the less likely you are to work as one.
“It’s absolutely impossible to master everything in the world of wine. The global wine landscape is incredibly vast and intricate. It’s important to recognize that you can’t be all things to all people.”
Increasingly, the lure of the illustrious title is a golden ticket off the floor and into other high-level roles in the industry. “It is about the service when you’re getting [the title], but then when you become a Master Sommelier, you don’t need to do it anymore,” Zwiebel says. “[Some now] become a Master Sommelier because they want to leave the floor.”
Besides the physical and work-life demands, the restaurant world, quite simply, has an income ceiling. The financial reality is that restaurants operate on excruciatingly thin margins. And while most restaurants would love a Master Sommelier on staff, the fact is that they just aren’t able to pay accordingly, resulting in an exodus of those who have attained such a supreme qualification in the drinks industry.
“A lot of people want a sommelier, but they don’t want to pay a sommelier on the floor enough,” Zwiebel says. Even if one adores providing service — as most Master Sommeliers I’ve spoken with clearly do — the monetary payout for many isn’t enough to justify the beating the body takes and the undeniably difficult hours involved. “That’s the reality I’m facing now,” he adds. “For the first time in my life, my priority is not to be on the floor.”
The consolation for many, like Sara Floyd, is that they’re still able to fulfill that love of advocacy and education in other roles. “This is an industry of passion. … It’s history relived in tactile form. [I’m] still a storyteller,” she says of her wine brokerage, Swirl. Through avenues like brokerages, brand ambassadorships, and regional and country advocacy, Master Sommeliers are still able to scratch that itch to a certain degree via alternative means.
Jack of All Trades, Master of None?
And what of the title itself?
“I don’t think it’s possible to be a true master of all things wine anymore. It’s like the practice of medicine. It’s a lifelong journey.”
Setting aside the movement to retire the “M-word” across the board — which it absolutely should be when contextually linked to appalling institutions of the past — in this case, while not of the historically problematic ilk, it still conjures up the idea of knowing everything about wine.
But the wine world has expanded so dramatically over the past 30 years — and its heritage rediscovered in dozens of previously neglected swaths of Europe — that even for the best of the best professionals, there’s now just way too much to know.
“It’s absolutely impossible to master everything in the world of wine,” says Emily Wines, Master Sommelier and vice president of wine experience for Cooper’s Hawk Winery and Restaurants. “The global wine landscape is incredibly vast and intricate.” She adds that as a result, success often means focusing on a specific niche of the wine world. “It’s important to recognize that you can’t be all things to all people,” she says.
Stuckey agrees that knowing every new intricacy of the global winescape is just too much to handle. “I don’t think it’s possible to be a true master of all things wine anymore,” he says. “It’s like the practice of medicine. It’s a lifelong journey.”
“[It] serves a similar purpose to a college degree. A formal recognition of the skills and knowledge necessary for success in a specialized field where no traditional degree exists.”
But according to Floyd, it’s still imperative to have absolute knowledge of the classics. “That’s something that makes it very special,” she adds. In that domain — as well as in the execution of impeccable service and warm hospitality — the title still retains its original meaning. It’s a core from which specialization can branch out and flourish.
A Post-Scandal Future for Master Sommeliers
The Court still periodically updates its curriculum according to changing wine world realities, and has been retooling after a brutal stretch of post-scandal soul searching.
Over the past several years, the Court of Master Sommeliers was rocked by two major events: first a cheating scandal, then the revelation of a subculture of misogyny and sexual harassment.
“It needed to get exposed. Many of us women were relieved,” says Floyd of the latter scandal. “It allowed us to not feel excluded. We always felt that the men ruled the roost.” She points out that when your profession involves late nights and alcohol, the likelihood of harassment incidents increases dramatically. “[But] the majority of the Court are incredible, wonderful, moral people. This was just a small percentage of people that kind of ruined it for everyone else,” she says. “Emily Wines did a lot of selfless hard work to get it right and fix a broken model of the Court.”
Wines has been instrumental in the official restructuring efforts to reinforce the Court’s modern relevance on multiple levels. “We’ve implemented a culture of much deeper accountability, introduced third-party reporting mechanisms to ensure transparency and safety for students, and embraced a fundamental shift in our organizational culture,” Wines says. “These measures are designed to not only prevent misconduct, but to rebuild trust and ensure such behavior becomes exceedingly rare or eliminated altogether.”
The overarching goal is to repair the Court’s tarnished reputation and to reestablish its leadership role in the industry.
And while the meaning of Master Sommelier — and why the title is pursued in the first place — is becoming paradoxical, it still represents a lodestar for wine and beverage education. “[It] serves a similar purpose to a college degree,” Wines says. “A formal recognition of the skills and knowledge necessary for success in a specialized field where no traditional degree exists.”
The title remains aspirationally relevant, and it still matters, according to Floyd. “The thing that gets me frustrated is people that don’t think any of this is necessary,” she says. “I hate pretentiousness, [and] knowledge makes it less pretentious.” And for a wine industry looking to get back on track after suffering global setbacks, some reinvigorated, unpretentious leadership from the Court and its Master Sommeliers will be a welcome ally.
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