A fine achievement

The Court of Master Sommeliers was established in London in 1969, as a training school for wine knowledge and service. It offers four levels of wine knowledge from the basic entry level to the stratospheric Master Sommelier diploma. There are only two hundred and thirty-six individuals who have acquired this prestigious award, which allows them to place the letters MS behind their name and wear the coveted gold and burgundy pin.

In Canada, we have only four very talented people who have achieved this accolade. You might recall one of them from last week’s article about a must-read book on volcanic soils, whose author is John Szabo MS. He passed the exam in 2004, and was joined by Bruce Wallner in 2009, Jennifer Heuther in 2012, and Elyse Lambert in 2015.

Each applicant can invest as much as $30,000 to $40,000 in pursuit of this diploma. The exam itself is broken down to three parts: they are theory, service and blind tasting. All components of the exam demand flawless, correct responses—and it is not uncommon for applicants to take up to six attempts before they pass. The blind taste test requires identification of varietal, region and vintage. An encyclopedic amount of knowledge of the world’s wine regions and districts is therefore required, as well as the ability to identify the better year for each region. You need a refined palate as well as an incredible memory. And it also means tasting a wide range of wines—with some vintage wines commanding a healthy premium— which explains the high price of the training.

The Court of Master Sommeliers also offers courses for sommelier and advanced sommelier diplomas, which award successful candidate with pins according to their achieved level.

Today is the Scottish Bard’s (Robbie Burn’s) Day. Don’t forget to raise a dram in celebration, while Ode to a Haggis is spoken over the “Great Chieftain o’ the Puddingrace”

I was ever so dismayed when I heard of the passing of Grant Howes last Saturday. Grant was instrumental in literally putting Prince Edward County on the map. He was among the first of many people we grew to know when we moved here. When we would stop by for a pizza al fresco, he would join us and talk with great passion on his range of ciders. He and his partner Jenifer crafted ciders that are reminiscent of hard English ciders. “From little acorns mighty oak trees grow”, and such was the growth of the County Cider Company.

His death leaves a gap in our hospitality community that will be impossible to ignore. At this time, Kimberly and I wish to extend our deepest condolences to Jenifer.