When Jason Wise's documentary, "Somm," premieres at the Napa Valley Film Festival on Nov. 7, the curtain will be raised on one of the most secretive processes in the world of wine education.
"Somm," shot over three years in Germany, France, Italy and San Francisco, follows four friends as they prepare for the grueling Master Sommelier examination, which has a less than 10 percent pass rate and a reputation for producing every physical incarnation of stress on the body. Those ulcers? They're not from the tannins in the wines. Just saying.
Does that make the test too hard? Some think so. Here are some other possible reasons for the stress:
• Fewer than 200 people have passed since the exam's inception in 1969.
• You have to be familiar with every wine grape varietal in the world. There are 10,000, at least, known to man.
• To pass the level four Master Sommelier exam, you need marks of at least 75 percent, and the level of difficulty is dramatically higher than the level three Advanced Sommelier exam for which you need a 65 percent or higher.
• It's not just hard on your brain. It's hard on your wallet. Most master sommeliers estimate spending at least $100,000 in the course of their studies and preparation.
• Master sommeliers and advanced sommeliers preparing for the exam openly admit to lost time with spouses and kids. When it comes to crunch time, all they do is study.
© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.
• Read more articles by Jessica Yadegaran
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "Report Abuse" link to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
• Don't flag other users' comments just because you don't agree with their point of view. Please only flag comments that violate these guidelines.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "Report Abuse" link to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them.
Order Reprint
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "Report Abuse" link below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.