In early October 2018, the board of the Court of Master Sommeliers, Americas (CMSA) voted unanimously to suspend indefinitely the Master Sommelier credential awarded to all but one of an unprecedented 24 candidates who had passed its stringent annual membership exam a month previously at the Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis. The decision was taken after the CMSA's board learned that one of its own members, Reggie Narito, had passed advance information about two of the six wines candidates had to identify during the blind tasting section, considered the most challenging of the three portions of the exam. Two of the successful candidates, to whom the information was known to have been passed (a third had failed), unsolicited, were barred from retaking the exam for five years. All the others were allowed to make up the exam in December at no charge; six passed. Narito was expelled from the organization and lost his Master Sommelier title.
Aspiring Master Sommeliers often spend years, and considerable sums of money, acquiring the knowledge and experience necessary to pass the exam, the highest credential of the four the CMSA offers, which is only given to those invited to or recommended for it by those already members of the organization. The exam has an 8 percent pass rate; more people have been in space than become Master Sommeliers, entitled to append "MS" to their names in any wine-related context. Those who succeed have often been rewarded with increased income and more lucrative jobs in the wine industry.
For those reasons, the candidates whose titles were suspended protested the CMSA's decision as not only costing them economically, but casting aspersions on their professional integrity, since they were never offered a chance to prove their innocence. The CMSA defended the decision as the only way to preserve the title's integrity since it could not be determined how many candidates had seen the tip as opposed to merely being sent it. It sustained its decision on internal appeal, but in the process left itself open to public criticism of its internal investigation of the incident as cursory, secretive, and perhaps tainted by conflicts of interest. Rumors that the board's real motivation had been preventing public disclosure of earlier exams tainted by cheating were given credence in 2021 when a Vice article reported that a former candidate said the board had been aware of cheating on the exam almost 10 years earlier yet took no action save tightening testing procedures for the next exam. The affair has also given rise to more general criticism of the opacity of the exam administration process and CMSA's governance in general.
Some of those suspended have continued to pursue the title, and a few succeeded. Others, alienated by the CMSA's handling of the matter and a later sexual harassment scandal, have lost interest in ever becoming Master Sommeliers; some have decided to pursue the competing Master of Wine certification. One of the latter, Dan Pilkey, continued to use the "MS" post-nominal in social media posts about wine, and wear the lapel pin, even after the board suspended it. The CMSA sued him for infringement of its collective membership mark; the case was dismissed on procedural grounds and not refiled.
Background
The first Master Sommelier exam was held in the United Kingdom in 1969; the Court of Master Sommeliers was established as a governing body for the exam in that country eight years later. In 1986, the first American exam was held, and the American branch of the Court formally organized in its wake. The Court's goal is to "encourage improved standards of beverage knowledge and service in hotels and restaurants." Many of those who have earned the title work outside the hospitality sector, for wineries or distributors. or as consultants.
Master Sommelier is the highest of four levels of certification the Court confers. Before attempting the annual exam candidates are required to have already passed the Introductory, Certified and Advanced Sommelier courses and exams, and worked in the hospitality industry in a wine-related capacity for at least 10 years. Candidates can only take the exam if invited or recommended by a member of the Court, and must still pay the exam fee of US$995 for each of three portions.
The three portions are:
Theory: A 50-minute oral exam in which the candidate is asked questions meant to elicit answers demonstrating their knowledge of viticulture such as what grape varietals are grown and made into wine in various countries and wine-producing regions, the winemaking process and its science and history, and the laws that govern the wine industries in key regions such as, but not limited to, the United States, Australia, and the European Union and its member countries like France. Knowledge of beer, spirits and cigars must also be demonstrated. Candidates must pass the Theory portion before they can take the other two; the pass rate is roughly 10 percent. Practical Service: A test of the candidate's professional skills in which examiners play the part of diners whom the candidate is to recommend and properly serve wine appropriate to the dish purportedly ordered, sitting at a table set by the candidate. Examiners often act like difficult customers in order to test the candidate's ability to, as the Court puts it, "handle questions and complaints with skill, elegance and diplomacy". Tasting: Considered the most challenging portion since it requires candidates to correctly identify the vintage, year and region of six wines, three red and three white, served blindly, as well as comment on and describe the taste, in 25 minutes. It has been recalled as "a total mindfuck" by those who have taken it since unlike the other two portions, if the candidate fails it there is no way to learn from the experience and improve for the next attempt as the wines used are changed each time.
A 75 percent score is required on each portion to pass (in contrast to the 60 percent passing criterion for the lower-level exams). Once they have passed Theory, candidates must pass the other two sections in the next three years to become Master Sommeliers; if they do not they must start the process again. In the history of the exam only nine people have passed all three portions on their first attempt; the Court has awarded them a trophy known as the Krug Cup. Overall it is estimated that of out every 70 candidates only one eventually passes, as happened in one 2013 sitting of the exam. , 269 people have passed the exam and become Master Sommeliers, fewer people than have been in space. The exam's overall pass rate is 8 percent, leading to it being called one of the world's most difficult tests to pass.
To prepare for the exam, as shown in the 2012 documentary film Somm and its sequels, aspiring Master Sommeliers cultivate relationships with those already Masters as a form of mentoring. They spend large quantities of their own money purchasing expensive wines to practice for the tasting portion. Often they go into debt in the process, knowing that passing the exam and earning the MS will approximately double their income, to around $160,000, and allow them to pay those debts off. They also forgo a social life to study 20–30 hours a week, and often retain sports psychologists. "It requires a level of dedication that's almost a sickness", one Master said in 2021; it has also been compared to the process of becoming a Shaolin warrior monk.
2018 exam
In early September 2018, 141 candidates, including some from outside the U.S., attempted the exam at the Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis over three days. On the morning of the Tasting portion, one of the candidates, Elton Nichols, recalled later receiving an email from Reggie Narito, at the time vice president for fine wines at California-based Young's Market Company and not only a Master Sommelier, but a member of the Court's board and one of the exam proctors that day. The subject line was "Heads up" with "PG, CndP" in the body. Nichols, who was acquainted slightly with Narito, having gone to Narito's house in the Bay Area from his own home in Seattle several times to taste wines along with other aspiring Master Sommeliers, understood this to mean pinot gris and Châteauneuf-du-Pape, two of the wines that candidates would be challenged to identify that day.
Nichols immediately deleted the email, but did nothing else. If, he reasoned, a Master Sommelier as prominent within the Court as Narito was involved in giving candidates advance information they were not supposed to have, others might also be, and informing any of the Court's officials present would not be productive. Nichols took the exam and passed, although he missed identifying one of the two wines in Narito's email. At the end of the day he would be one of 24 candidates to become Master Sommeliers, a success rate never achieved on any other exam. One had passed all three portions on his first attempt and was awarded the Krug Cup.
Cheating allegations, investigation and aftermath
The newly credentialed Masters swiftly enjoyed the benefits of their position, receiving salary increases at their present jobs and fielding offers for new positions and business opportunities. Five weeks after the exam, the Court's board was approached by an attorney for one of that year's unsuccessful candidates, a woman who had also received Narito's email and, it was later disclosed, had previously been romantically involved with the Court's vice president, Matt Stamp. The attorney shared the email with the board, which immediately convened a special committee of its own to investigate.
After a three-day investigation over the first weekend of October, the special committee reported to an emergency meeting of the full board, from which it had recused Narito. After the special committee reported on the methodology of its investigation, the board voted unanimously, after much discussion, to revoke Narito's title and expel him from the Court, an action the board has never publicly confirmed; it is recorded in the meeting's minutes. Narito reportedly parted ways with his employer, as well; neither confirmed it to the media but shortly afterwards, Narito's LinkedIn profile indicated he was looking for work, which a Young's spokeswoman pointed out to the media.
The special committee then explained to the board that while it had learned that the email had been sent to just three candidates, and it did not appear that any of the recipients had solicited the information from Narito, it was impossible to tell if those three had shared the email with others. After much debate, the board voted, again unanimously, with several members including the vice president recusing themselves, to suspend the Master Sommelier titles of 23 of those who had gained it in September, including Krug Cup winner Van Wagner. The one remaining new Master kept his title due to having passed the Tasting portion in a previous year.
To offset the loss of their titles, the board scheduled a makeup exam for December and waived the fee for those who wanted to retake it, except two: Nichols and the other successful candidate who had received the email. They were barred from retaking the exam for five years, after which they would have to petition the board to be allowed to take it again. Most of the rest took the makeup exam, which only six passed.