You may not have heard of the organization, but in 1977, the Court of Master Sommeliers was established to provide a worldwide certification of in the art, science and history that is required to become a sommelier. The exam is brutal. Over the past forty years, only 211 candidates worldwide have earned the Master Sommelier Diploma.
The feature-length documentary follows four men as they study to pass the exhaustive exam, which is given once every year. Not only do the candidates have to be masters in service, but they need to know wine history, regions, and be able to identify a where a wine was produced, just from a taste.
If there is a lesson to be learned in the film it is how subjective wine tasting can be. Rapid cuts between the students compare their descriptions of the same wine – “It’s medium-high acid”, “it’s low acidity”, “no oak whatsoever”, “highly oaked”… At other times, tasting notes are very similar. Sauvignon Blanc is frequently described as smelling like cat pee, more kindly termed “blackcurrant bud”. Other candidates refer to the smell of a “newly opened can of tennis balls” or even “the odor of pool toys” – both of which I completely understood.
Rather than being a dry documentary, “Somm” develops the characters enough so that, on some level, we care about the outcome of the testing. By the end, it is easy to get caught up in the suspense, and if nothing else, you’ll have a new respect for those who actually pass the exam and become Master Sommeliers. Overall, I enjoyed a recent rainy evening curled up with the dog, a good bottle of wine, and the movie.
It is interesting to note, that there are six in the Northwest – Greg Harrington, Robert Bigelow, Christopher Tanghe, Joseph Linder and Shayn Bjornholm in Seattle, and Nate Ready in Dundee Oregon. Portland needs to step it up.
Four men will do anything to pass the most difficult test you’ve NEVER heard of… SOMM takes the viewer on a humorous, emotional and illuminating look into a mysterious world – the Court of Master Sommeliers and the massively intimidating Master Sommelier Exam. The Court of Master Sommeliers is one of the world’s most prestigious, secretive, and exclusive organizations. Since its inception almost 40 years ago, less than 200 candidates have reached the exalted Master level. The exam covers literally every nuance of the world of wine, spirits and cigars. Those who have passed have put at risk their personal lives, their well- being, and often their sanity to pull it off. Shrouded in secrecy, access to the Court Of Master Sommeliers has always been strictly regulated and cameras have never been allowed anywhere near the exam, until now. How much do you think you know about wine? SOMM will make you think again. SOMM takes you on the ultimate insider’s tour into a world of obsession, hope, and friendship in red, blanc and sometimes rose. (c) Samuel Goldwyn
Running time is 1:33.
jimster says
There is no reason Portland to step it up in this category. There is no restaurant in this city that carries a wine list that an MS Ned’s to preside over and there is no demand for the position. This test (series of tests) are incredibly time consuming and very expensive. Portland diners do not demand a list of such an extent and detail that an MS is in any way required to be a buyer or Somm at a restaurant in this city. There are well educated if not highly certified Somms in Portland. Places like Dallas, Aspen, SoCal, NYC and the like are much more likely to have MS certified folk than Portland. We don’t have lists deep in a variety of places, vintages or with lots of trophy wines on them. It is not our thing. Tat being said the quality of the buyers at restaurants in Portland is, in general, quite good. Andy Zalman at Higgins may not be an MS but that dude knows as much about wine from a technical and experiential perspective as anyone you could hope to meet. There are others that would carry similar personal credentials.
pdxyogi says
Agreed. I fail to see any urgency for Portland to “step it up”. The market neither demands nor merits it. Knowing a restaurant has an MS will make no difference in my going there.
Food Dude says
Yeah, but we were supposed to be the food mecca for the world. I read it in the paper all the time!
But yeah, I kind of meant that in a sarcastic way. It is interesting though that there is one in Oregon, just not in PDX.
I agree about some of Portland somms… Ken Collura and Andy Zalman come to mind.
Andy Zalman says
Thank you folks for the kind comments!
Andy Zalman
psp2pdx says
With the time and effort it takes to get to MS, it makes sense to keep those skills honed in bigger cities. Besides, who wants to spend the money to drink fine wine when you can’t hear conversation at your own table? While Portland may be a ‘food mecca’, there is a lack of refinement in the dining scene. This is ‘hipster’ dining, grunge dining….whatever – it’s like waiting for your teenager to become an adult. The talent is here…….when we demand more maybe we’ll get more.
Bernard G says
I agree with just about everything said BUT, a few observations: with many wine lists 3x retail, I know I do not feel happy with ordering an unknown wine (attention restaurants, I would buy more wine at 2x/retail, but that is a whole other conversation!). If I’m paying 3x retail, AND I have a great experience with the wine/food pairing that TRANSFORMS a meal from good to great, I will never forget that meal.
Two examples: Years ago Erica Landon provided a great experience at 1001 with the pairing, even showing us the map where the grapes were grown, and we will never forget that one meal. For our honeymoon four years ago, we asked the somm at the French Laundry to pair just two glasses (the only thing that fit our budget) for us, and the pairing was exceptional and transformed even that already stellar meal.
I suggest that if Portland restaurants had quality somms (and restaurants had quality wine lists to merit a good somm), more diners would feel comfortable ordering wine. Again, if I am paying 3x retail, I might as well get something for my money, otherwise I’ll have a Wandering Aengus Cider!
Tom says
Most Portland restaurants are much closer to 3X wholesale NOT retail
Bernard G says
Tom, I wish you were right! Which restaurants are the 3x wholesale places? We would love to know!
Tom says
Bernard,
With all due respect your “wish you were right!” is highly misguided. The two restaurants listed in this thread are nowhere close to being your claimed 3X retail. If you review the wine lists for both Higgins and Andina I think you will realize your claim is incorrect.
I represent a small winery out of Walla Walla that was featured in Monday’s Oregonian. All Portland restaurants carrying our wine mark it up below 3 times wholesale, making it below your preferred 2X retail price. These restaurants include: Le Pigeon, Little Bird, Aviary, Metrovino, Andina, Jamison, Departure, South Park, and Paulee. Being familiar with all their wine lists I can say this is a norm and not an exception.
It is very frustrating when customers make uneducated claims about restaurants over-pricing their wine list. Wine usually is the lowest marked-up beverage in a restaurant. Any idea what the margins are on soda, beer and hard alcohol? I assure you in pretty much every restaurant those beverages are marked-up significantly more than wine. Then on top of it, a restaurant incurs the expense of proper stemware and staff training; neither of which are required for soda and beer sales. The one Portland restaurant I know that sells your referenced Wandering Aengus Cider actually sells it at 214% retail, which probably places it just above 3X wholesale, thus at a higher margin than any of the above listed restaurants’ majority of wine.
You make the 3X retail comment three times in your post. Which specific restaurants do you think are pricing their wine list accordingly?
Bernard G says
Tom,
Thank you so much for your insight, your post made me curious and I researched the wine lists your mentioned. You gave me a great idea for a blog series on our site: what are the wine markups in local establishments? At first I thought you were off your rocker and drinking too much of the wine you represent, but then I started to see a deeper picture. i checked the wine lists (when available) online and compared to winesearcher.com retail prices. I looked at random sampling of wines generally found locally. It’s not a scientific study but we definitely see some trends. The retail prices vary too, but we get some good info with a general search.
Here is a quick summary of the results:
Your first mention, Higgins, by far SHOCKED me the most with the best deals of all your places. A sampling of the wines showed a range of 1.71-2.17x retail (not wholesale, which customers have no idea what those prices are). The 2001 Abeja Chardonnay is priced at $60 with a $35 retail, resulting in a 1.71x retail. That’s a GREAT value compared to all the other restaurants on yours (or anyone else’s) list. Makes me want to go to Higgins for the first time in years!
Moving on to Andina, there was a much bigger range with the 2012 Patricia Green Sauvignon Blanc at $40 (retail $16) for a 2.5x cost, and three others ranging from 2.75x-3.1x. The Casa Lapostolle Cabernet was the highest at a whopping 4.23x retail! Overall, a pretty big variance at Andina.
Portland behemoth Le Pigeon had a very small range, seven wines on their list ranged from 2.66-3.33x retail, for an average of exactly 3x. The Walter Scott Pinot Blanc (tasty) is $44 and $15 retail (2.95x). The Kermit Lynch import Clos La Coutale Cahors priced at $40 is a 3.33x retail price ($12).
You would think Le Pigeon’s sister restaurant Little Bird would be the same, but it is not, it’s lower! Sampling of eight wines revealed an average of 2.39x retail, a very good deal compared to the rest of the list. Haden Fig Pinot Noir (2.5x), Fausse Piste (2.38x) and Soter (2.6x) are all very good values. Denis Jamain’s Domaine de Reuilly (a wine we love) was the highest at 2.62x.
Like Andina, Metrovino also has a large variance, ranging from 2.0x-3.5x with some really good values like the Le Galatin Rose at 2.5x, and another Walter Scott at 2.0x. The way to get the best deal is to purchase a bottle at Metrovino (vs. purchasing by the taste which skyrockets the price). The 2010 Beaujolais Cru Domaine Diochon was one of the highest at 3.5x.
Another surprise: Jamison had a few wines in the 2.33x-2.5x range (New Mexico’s Gruet Sparkling and Sokol Blosser) and a half-bottle of Bergstrom for $31 which represents a 1.63x deal.
Departure was consistent around the 2.62-2.84 range but had a Villa Wolf at 5x retail! Ouch!
Aviary and South Park did not have their wine lists posted online.
What does this mean? I was surprised by the variance on each individual list, and will have to investigate further. Do the wine “deals” vary by grape varietal? Are whites a better deal? Sparkling?
The data shows that nobody (with the exception of Higgins) is at 2x retail. Little Bird averaged 2.39x which was second, everybody else was substantially higher. I also just did a cursory search of the places on your list, many places are much, much higher than these (Irving Street Kitchen, Gruner,).
jimster says
I would say even 2.5x wholesale is closer. Paley’s mark is certainly around that as the aforementioned Higgins. 3 Doors Down, etc. Certainly way more even under 3x wholesale than even approaching 3x retail.
jimster says
Higgins is a good value. Paley’s is almost uniformly 2x wholesale. J. Christopher Sauv Blanc for $36 ($17ish wholesale), Patricia Green Cellars Olenik Vineyard Pinot Noiir for $61 ($28 wholesale), Domaine Tempier for $67 ($30 wholesale). Without getting into it 3 Doors Down’s list is similar. Ciao Vito, the last time I was there was not far off, neither was the VQ. Clearly there is a wide range but I think most places are trying to err on the side of decent value. Heck, at Oregon Wines on Broadway you can drink at regular retail mark up. Just depends on where you go and what that ownership this about moving vino.
hoonan says
Bernard,
You are right…your study isn’t scientific. If you really want to have an accurate account of mark-ups vs retail, you need to look at wine-searcher.com and only use Oregon retail establishments as your guide. Wholesale prices vary from state to state..so for example, it’s unfair to compare the retail price of a wine at a place like the Wine Exchange in California vs the local restaurants. Also, wine BTG mark-ups are generally at a higher level (generally around 3x wholesale). Both of the wines you quoted at Le Pigeon are BTG…hence, the higher mark-up. If I were to use your flawed system of judging a restaurant’s pricing, I could do this…Le Pigeon currently has the 2009 Domaine Raveneau Blanchots Chablis at $295. The lowest price on wine-searcher for this wine is $225. So, Le Pigeon is charging $70 over retail…hence a mark-up of about 1.31x retail price. I have no affiliation with Le Pigeon…I just get a little frustrated when I see someone not quite giving all the facts. By the way, Jimster knows exactly what he is talking about. And he should…he knows this industry as well as anyone on here.
Toonces says
I do not sell wine, or make wine, or am otherwise professionally employed in the wine industry. However, I would not call myself an uneducated consumer. I do buy a lot of wine in shops and in restaurants. The fact is the variance in mark ups is large. Yes, there are good values to be had. And there are terrible values. You can make your point either way. I can buy a bottle of GrĂ¼ner in a wine shop and pay $13, and see the same wine in a restaurant for $40. Obviously, a $300 bottle of wine is not marked up at the same rate.
Markups vary. Personally, I find it interesting which restaurants provide a better value on their wine lists and I do make choices based on that information.
I also have had the pleasure of experiencing the great value and service a good sommelier can provide. The whole point of this conversation is that good somms can provide guidance and make a great meal even more exceptional with the right pairing. In that case, I do not mind paying 3x retail or whatever it is. We have some great restaurants in Portland, and I think some would benefit from a sommelier. We do have a wine country, after all. But maybe Portland is still more of a beer town…