All language subtitles for Somm.2012 Eng

Man: We're all so busy with our lives,

how often do you stop
and look at something?

How often do you smell something?

It's just like we go through life

with this day-to-day routine,

and you don't really stop
and experience and breathe,

and then just appreciate
what's there.

I think that's one thing
that wine has enabled me to do,

is you stop and you take it
and you look at it,

and you smell it,
and you live life through your senses

for that quick 25 minutes.

It's like nothing else matters,
other than this liquid.

# Fill up our cups #

# We must talk some more #

# You can sleep on my bed #

# I'm fine on the floor #

# All the answers you have #

# Will be questioned tonight #

# Both wrong, yet both right #

# There's no black or white #

# Drink with me, talk to me #

# Tell me your scores #

# Let's work past the past #

# I'm not done being yours #

# You're perfectly flawed #

# And I've watched you grow #

# Your vintage is rare #

# I hope that you know #

# Sun shines some days #

# But night always falls #

# You dream life in countryside #

# Live in white walls #

# Your potential remains #

# But your doubt still sustains #

# Unlatch the gate #

# And unearth your fate #

# Please drink with me now #

# We must talk some more #

# You can sleep on my bed #

# I'm fine on the floor #

# All the answers you have #

# Will be questioned tonight #

# Both wrong, yet both right #

# There's no black or white #

Cauble: I think it's an interesting...

interesting passion that
we've all developed, you know?

I mean,
you have this plant

for thousands
and thousands of years.

People have been dedicating
their life

to make something amazing
out of it, you know?

We're at the culmination
of the best...

the best knowledge
about the best wine-making.

Sommeliers are professionals
that are supposedly experts

about knowing about
beverage and wine,

so it's an amazing art

to be able to understand
the whole world,

and it's an amazing thing
to show it to people.

I thought that the chef
had it figured out.

Somms now have become the new
rock stars of our industry,

and you have a whole, you know,

a completely different level of person

now wanting to be a somm.

Wines today must have stories,

and those stories we tell
the guests by flavor,

and the story of the wine,

not the brand of the wine,
not the label of the wine.

One thing about the somm
that's important,

it's like going to the racetrack
and you get the tout sheet.

Buying a new bottle of wine
is always a wager.

I bet my 50 bucks, my ten bucks,
my 100 bucks...

I bet 100 bucks
I like this bottle of wine.

You feel a lot better
on that bet if somebody,

say, at the racetrack, says,

"Oh, I know this horse,
I know that jockey. They're gonna do good."

So that helps the people
with their wager

to buy that bottle of wine.

Is it gonna be a finisher for 'em?

Is the bet gonna pay off?

And they help
people make good bets.

Usually, people
with a sports background

or some highly competitive nature

tend to find their way
into the somm profession.

They want to be experts in a given field.

They want to be the best
they can be in a given field.

So there's this diploma called
the Master Sommelier diploma.

It's the highest achievement
you can make

in the world of wine.

Over 40 years, there's only
been, like, 170 in the world.

- Forty years!
- When someone tells you,

"This is something that
a lot of people can't do,"

people will either go,
"Wow, that's impressive,"

or they say,
"Wow, I want to do that."

This is not practice anymore, you know?

It's like, this is why you
train, is for this day.

I cried when my parents died.

I cried when my children were born.

The only other time
outside of that that I cried

was when I passed this exam.

The exam is three parts.

There is a theory exam.

It's a comprehensive knowledge
of wine laws, wine regions.

Name a winery from Ukraine.

It's pretty amazing, the amount
of information you have to know.

The entire world of wine,
spirits, sake, beer, cigars,

the regions, the sub-regions,
the districts, the villages.

It's in five languages:

Portuguese, Spanish, Italian,
German, French, Hungarian.

And you've got service.

The service portion of the exam,

we set up a mock restaurant environment.

You have to demonstrate
cool, calm, collect,

professional behavior

in this radically bizarre environment,

and it's very difficult.

And then there's the tasting.

You have three whites, three reds...

basically four minutes,
ten seconds per wine...

and you need to describe
the wine accurately.

You're describing the structure,
the body, the alcohol,

whether the wine's from a warm
climate or a cool climate,

new world, old world,

possible varietals, possible age range,

and take a deep breath and say
what you think the wine is.

I've never worked harder
at anything, you know,

coming up to this,

so... every moment of my life
has been, you know,

waking up, how am I gonna
prepare for this exam?

Before I go to bed, I'm gonna
stay an extra three hours up,

and sleep less
to prepare for this exam.

You know, I'm gonna choose not to go out,

and stay home and study, you know?

Ian is about as talented of an individual

as you'll see in this profession.

He's the Rudd Scholar
of our last advanced exam,

which is the highest scorer.

I think Ian gravitated towards wine

because, first of all, it's an intoxicant.

And it's fun.

So it goes into that valve,

- and then it just goes free-run... gravity... down.
- Yeah, down there.

And some people like to put
all the juice into a tank

and let it settle overnight.

I just go straight into the barrel.

I think the most important thing
in Ian's life is wine.

And then family,

and then, of course, me.

I have some vintage footage of
when he was a little knucklehead

at eight and ten years old,

and he's holding a glass of wine

at a Thanksgiving dinner,

and talking about
the nuances of the wine.

Tastes like it has no alcohol.

But I don't know where that came from,

because at that point in time,

no one in our family was
into describing wine,

and going over the flavor profiles.

Wine one is a white wine,
clear star bright.

There's no evidence
of gas or flocculation.

The wine has a light straw core,

consistent degree
and reflections in the edge,

medium concentration of color.

Aroma's coming out of, like,
this lime candy, lime zest.

( Deep breath ) Crushed apples...
Underripe green mango.

Underripe melon, melon skin.

- Green pineapple.
- And palate?

Wine is bone dry.

Really this crushed slate
and crushed chalky note.

Like, crushed hillside.

There's white florals,
almost like a fresh-cut flower...

white flowers, white lilies.
No evidence of oak.

There's a... Kind of a fresh...

Like, a freshly opened
can of tennis balls,

and, like, a... Seriously.

And a fresh new rubber hose, I get.

That's a new one. Good. I like that.

Structure.

Acid's medium plus.

Alcohol's medium.

Complexity's medium plus.

In conclusion, this wine
is from the new world,

from a temperate climate.

Possible grapes are Riesling.

Possible countries are Australia.

Age range is one to three years.

I think this can only be one thing.

Uh, this wine is from Australia,

this wine is from south Australia,

this wine is, uh, from Clare Valley,

2009, Riesling, high-quality producer.

- Wine one is Clare Valley Riesling.
- Good.

If you're really serious,

if you really want to become an M.S.,
you can't do it alone.

You have to... You have to find
a great support group, a mentor,

and you need to be in an environment

where there's wine around you
all the time.

So, uh, whenever you're ready.

Wine number two is a clear,
star bright white wine

of, uh, medium concentration.

Uh, again, got a paler yellow
here with glints of green.

Um, no evidence of gas or sediment.

Wine viscosity is...

Again, we'll call that medium.

I got into wine because I was
working in a restaurant

to get through college.

It was a restaurant
that served a lot of wine.

My degree was in geography.

He started in wine

pretty much right when we met,

uh, starting going through the court.

Our relationship has been congruent

with his testimonials through the test.

When you dig into a specific
region of the world,

you're not just learning
about the grapes or the vines,

you're learning about the people,

you're learning about the history
of the culture, the food.

It's almost a way of traveling
through the world.

Wine number three
is more of a medium gold,

with green reflections,
moving into a watery meniscus.

Wine is day bright,

no evidence of gas,
flocculants, or sediment.

Concentration is medium.

My husband's a bull in a china shop.

He's a, you know,
like a man's man, athletic.

I basically was a baseball player

who supplemented college
with restaurant jobs.

He was never gonna make it
as a professional athlete,

so, uh, and...

So he ended up evaluating wine.

I've got into this relatively recently,

so I have very little seasoning,
very little experience.

He went from really knowing
nothing about wine,

other than he wanted
to be in this industry,

to passing his advanced in a year.

I wasn't entrenched in this world

like a lot of people in my industry are.

In some respects, I feel
kind of like a black sheep,

like the Philistine of the court.

You know why I like Pearl Jam?

Because I don't know lyrics very well,

and I can just make 'em up,
and it still sounds good.

High energy. I mean...

( imitating Pearl Jam lyrics )

People that meet him
for the first time are like,

"Is he always like this?"
it's like, "Yeah, he is."

Wine number four is a red wine.

This wine is... Star bright.

This wine is a bright red ruby color,

fit into a hot pink vin variation.

Medium concentration.

Very, very light standing in the tears.

Viscosity is medium-plus.
No gas, no sediment.

On the nose, wine is clean,
no obvious flaws.

This wine has a moderate-plus intensity,

moderate-plus power on the nose.

This wine is very young,
very bright, very youthful.

Wine Experience magazine
had just named me

best new sommelier in America,

along with my good buddy Ian Cauble.

I wanted to be a particular person

that I saw in a restaurant:

dapper, Italian-cut suit,

pointed-toe shoes,

wonderful black serviette
draped over his forearm,

bottle held high.

I told myself, I can be him,

I have to be him, I will be him.

When I first met Dlynn,

I knew that he was gonna be one
of those rising stars,

because he had those
intangibles, you know?

He was engaging,
he was personable, he's smart.

Dlynn's an actor, and he has
a beautiful form, man.

We call him Señor Smooth.

When you look good,

you're confident, you feel good.

The best way to take care of
your guests, by looking good.

You're following some of the most
dedicated, obsessed people.

Sage, truffle, wet forest floor,

decaying soil,
decaying dried red rose petals.

That... That decaying animal skin.

Wine on its own is not a complicated thing.

We're talking about fermented
grape juice, right?

There's basically only
one species of grape vine

that we use to make wine,

and that's called Vitis Vinifera.

The history of wine is fascinating.

It's been spread by humans
since the neolithic period,

it's been written about since
the third millennium B.C.

When you study wine, you study history,

because it's all hooked up.

If you've ever bothered to read the Bible,

it tends to be part of the Sacrament.

( Speaking Italian )

McClintic: The ancient Greeks
brought it to Italy.

The Romans brought it to
France, Germany, Spain,

and most of Europe,

where the oldest vineyards
still make wine today.

The Roman Army marched on wine.

They didn't drink water... too dangerous
to drink water, so they drank wine.

( Speaking French )

The Romans did all the original plantings,

and then, in the Dark Ages,

what came out of it were the monks,

and obviously, in their world,

what are the things they did all day?

Eat, sleep, pray, work, drink.

Out of those five,
what sounds like the most fun?

The bottle I'm showing you is
Johannesburg Riesling from 1735,

which is one of the oldest,

if not the oldest still-existing
white wines in the world.

McClintic: When the Spanish
discovered the New World,

they brought Vitis Vinifera.

Now it grows in Chile,
Argentina, Mexico, California.

The Dutch, the French, and the British

spread it to their empires:

the eastern United States,
Australia, New Zealand,

South Africa, Canada, and so on.

If you think about wine,
it's about where men went.

It's about history, rivers.

It's about geology, geography,

and all these things are
opened up to your mind

as you taste, you know?
It's such a cool thing.

The world of wine is always growing.

How could someone possibly know
everything about it?

It's not just history.

It's the way it's grown,
it's the way it's made,

how it's stored,
why certain years were good,

how to serve it,

what to eat with every
different kind of wine.

That's why the
Court of Master Sommeliers exists.

The highest level is
called the Master Exam.

It's a three-day test that can
only be taken once a year,

and it covers just about everything.

The first exam was held
in the U.K. In 1969.

In 1984, an American passed
all three parts on his first try.

That was Fred Dame.

So now I have a glass of wine,
I'm like, is this it? Am I done?

All that. All that.

There's the diploma, I've got this, that.

I've got one of the greatest
wine cellars in America.

This is as far as we go?
I don't think so.

I think we'll bring this to America.

We all owe Fred, period.

We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him.

You always want to have a chance
to be better than you are,

and you do that by setting
incredibly hard levels for people to...

Not only to prepare themselves for it,

but to understand who they are.

If I didn't have children,

I never would have passed the Master's.

I never would have worked that hard.

Hands down, the most difficult thing
I've ever done in my life.

No question, it's the hardest thing
I've ever done, period.

I see these young kids now,

they tell me they're gonna be a master,

I laugh and I go, "Good luck with that!"

To be an outstanding sommelier,

you have to be incredible...
an incredible taster,

and not only just to taste wine,

but also to identify wine
without knowing the label,

'cause that's the way
you can explain to a guest.

What happens when you
learn to blind taste

is it increases your perception.

You know what's going on
in the wine,

so you can evaluate the wine better.

You understand what's in the glass,

and the only way we can
explain that to the guests

is by knowing the wine ourselves.

When you get to that point

of being able to very regularly
identify, you know, the wine,

you know that your senses and
your understanding of the wine

are to the point where you really get it.

All right, gentlemen,
you've got two weeks left.

You're each gonna do two wines.

They're fast balls, they're ready to go.

I just want you to get 'em right.

Describe 'em well,
do 'em in time, you know your format,

but the wines are there to be gotten,

so figure out
what's important in the wine,

and what you need to know,
and get the wine right.

Get the wine right.

You've got about eight minutes
to do these two wines,

- and they're ready for you.
- Am I going through the grid?

You're going through the grid.

Sugar, acid, tannins.
How's the alcohol body?

Fruit, earth, wood.
Non-fruit, non-earth, non-wood.

Complexity, balance, finish. There was
the grid, right? That's the tasting grid.

All right, wine number one
is a medium straw

kind of lemon yellow
with golden green reflections

moving into a watery meniscus.

Nose is clean, uh, youthful.

High-intensity aromas.

Maybe a little lanolin, wet wool,

chalky limestone minerality.

Mandarin. Tangerine peel.
Hawthorne. Acacia.

Get some chamomile on it...
want to confirm the salinity.

Character is coming out of grapefruit pith,

uh, uh, lemon seeds,
little bit of lime skin.

The skill of blind tasting

or what I'd rather call
deductive tasting, it's learned.

You're driving down this road,

and it goes in two directions, right?

And you're seeing two wines,
Cab Franc and Syrah.

One path takes you to Chinon,

one path takes you to
the Northern Rhone, all right?

When you hit that point
and you're looking at,

is that olive,
or is that green bell pepper?

Right? Is that tobacco,
or is that smoked meat?

- And what did you decide?
- Smoked meat.

Who makes great Samurai swords?

The person that's gonna
make a great Samurai sword

is the person who had a teacher

who had a teacher who had a teacher.

We always think of this with wine:

"Oh, he must be a natural wine taster."

Nobody ever says, "They must be
a natural Samurai sword maker."

Every week,
has to go to the farmers' market.

Even today, I go. I smell everything.

I smell the herbs, I smell the plants,

I smell all the dishes I eat,

because you have to keep
your palate alive.

It's something you
have to just keep on doing,

so that when you get to
a wine glass and you smell it,

automatically you think,

"Okay, that's what jasmine smells like.

That's what key lime smells like."

How many people have actually smelled

a dried violet versus a rotten violet

versus a fresh violet?

And those are characters
in wine you smell.

A young Nebbiolo will have that violet
and raspberry flavor,

an old Nebbiolo is gonna have
a dried violet flavor.

If you've never smelled a dried violet,

how are you gonna know
what's in the wine?

"Well, it has a lemon peel note."

Oh, well, where did
they get the lemon peels?

Is that from
the same vineyard? No way.

The stuff is not in the wine,

but all of the...

all of the chemical compounds

that make anything smell like it smells,

um, can be created by fermentation.

Basically,
it's just a combination of yeast,

and then aging, and then
the fruit in the vineyard.

Smell is a really funny thing.

It's so personal,

and we all have
these smells that come up,

where you're, like, "Oh, my God,
I know that smell."

Sauvignon blanc, people...
Smells like cat pee and it does.

Actually, you know,
you get a Sauvignon blanc

from New Zealand, and it does
smell a little like cat pee.

We use the word "black currant bud."

That's kind of our code.
That's the way we describe cat pee.

One of our favorites for Riesling

is "pool toy," you know?

It's like the brand-new plastic

that you're blowing up for your child
to go play with in the pool.

Clare Valley Riesling,
you actually put your nose in there,

and it smells a little bit like
a freshly opened tennis ball,

and a little bit of synthetic rubber,

like just-opened rubber hose.

Ian's fresh tennis ball is a new one,

but it's, like,
the third time I've heard it now.

I don't think I'll ever use it,
'cause I think it's ridiculous.

One of my favorite descriptors
is, um, uh, "granny purse."

Or your grandmother's closet.

It's, like, "First of all,
I don't know your grandmother.

Second of all, I don't know
what the hell her closet smells like."

You can picture this kind of
dusty old leather smell,

maybe a little bit of perfume
or lipstick or something.

An important descriptor in wine

is being able to describe the earth.

Some wines aren't earthy at all.

Some are organic, and taste
like compost or garden soil.

Some are more like wet rocks or slate.

It's like a sidewalk on a hot day,
after there's water on it.

You know how rocks or minerals
are a common smell in a lot of wines?

Start licking rocks...
No, cut that!

No, but if you start...
you've never done that?

Yeah, like, you, like, lick rocks,

or, like, just to understand
what that is.

To become so obsessed
with the subject

that you're gonna dedicate
so much energy and passion

and time and emotional...
you know, heartbreak...

into it that you have to be,

just, you know, maybe a little bit off.

- Take it home.
- Okay, there's meat on this wine.

This wine is from France,
this wine is from the Rhone Valley,

this wine is from the Northern Rhone.
This is Saint-Joseph, 2008,

cold vintage, high-quality producer.

Great job. I mean,
you're in the zone, right?

You're doing exactly what you need to do.

- It's exactly the way you need to taste.
- Fantastic.

So you're, you were... You're there.

Way to go, Dad!

- All: Dad!
- Dear old Dad.

Oh, "Dad." We call him Dad.

We call Ian dad because he,
uh, he loves to be the father.

Like, he likes to sit you down,

tell you exactly what you're doing wrong,
why you're doing it.

Here's to Dad.

- Here's to Dad.
- To Dad.

There's two ways to approach it.

You can either, you know,
have the spit cups out,

have the timer out, and be doing
like very formal tastings,

um, or you can kind of just, you know,

have a relaxed night,
and have a couple of drinks.

When the guys get together,

it's like a storm comes through here.

There's a lot of trash-talking,

- there's a lot of making fun of each other.
- It's like wine geeks unite.

( Imitating hobbits ) "I love you, Sam."
"I love you, Frodo."

"Aw, Sam."

I know! Every scene, right?

- "Sam! Frodo!"
- "Mr. Frodo!"

Wait, what is that from?

( laughing ) Oh, my God!

Yeah, they hound each other
pretty hard,

but I think, more than anything else,

it's just to motivate each other.

The competitive nature,
they all feed off of it.

It's kind of necessary in this environment.

It pushes one another forward.

They'll spend the whole evening

just giving each other a hard time.

The wine is...
Clearly... Ripe...

But has acid, too,
and a lot of herbaciousness.

It's got black pepper and smoky meat.

It is un-oaked.

Takes me to one place:
Northern Rhone.

I think this is Southern Rhone.

I think this is Southern Rhone
with a lot of Syrah.

I'm gonna call '04, uh...
'04 Vacqueyras.

That is a ballsy call, dude.
'04 Vacqueyras? Why?

All right, you lay your balls on the table.

I laid my balls out,
and said Cote Rotie '08.

- Are you stickin' with your Northern Rhone call, or...?
- Of course! I can't call...

I can't go back now just 'cause

- Caubler's trying to talk me out of it.
- Shit's Northern Rhone.

- Is it Northern?
- It's Northern Rhone.

- Who is it?
- Ogier.

It's funny. They're like...

they're like guys in a locker room,
with wine bottles.

Ian, what's a fresh-cut garden hose?

You've never smelled that before?

Why do you cut your garden hose
in the first place?

Yeah, Willy... Willy...
Willy Sharrot actually taught me that.

Willy Sharrot.

Liz: I say that all the time...
new water hose.

- Yeah, water hose.
- Fresh-cut water hose. I say that all the time.

- You can't freshly cut a garden hose.
- Just say synthetic rubber.

So who taught you that?

Why don't you tell me how to
taste, then? I mean, shit, fuck.

It's not like they're consuming,
you know, Pellegrino all night.

So, as it goes on,

I think that opening more bottles
sounds like a great idea...

those great ideas you have
at 2:00 in the morning.

( Faux Australian accent )
Hey, mate, you want another wine,

or you done, or how do you feel?

They do it until they are
just, like, exhausted.

I could never imagine
keeping a friend if I...

...played with them
like they play with each other.

Ian's definitely the most serious one,

I want to say.

- ( Tapping glass )
- Dad has the floor.

- Does she wanna step it up?
- You want the whole thing?

- I want you to fuckin' go for it.
- Okay, it's a red wine.

This wine is medium clear.
The wine is bright.

There's no evidence of gas or flocculation.

The wine has a dark ruby core,
consistent to the edge,

where there is an orange rim.

I'll call the viscosity medium-plus.

- Medium-plus?
- Do you want to change my call?

- I was just repeating it.
- Why don't you finish it up?

- Go with your heart, dude.
- I'm not gonna continue.

- What?!
- Oh, my God!

- No, no, no. If he wants to continue, he can call it.
- Let him rock the wine.

- Do you want to do the wine?
- Let him rock the wine. Let Ian rock the wine.

No, I just don't need
the whole peanut gallery.

- If you wanna do it, you can do it.
- The children are acting up.

I've had a long day,
and I'm gonna do the wine or what?

We're trying to focus for the exam,

and I think that's my point.

That's what I love about you,

is you get upset and then,
immediately, you're over it.

You've got that thing. Yeah. You're not quite
over it now, but you're gonna be there.

Yeah, I kind of
don't want to do the wine now.

You have to do the wine
after you did that whole bit, man,

there's no way of
gettin' out of that shit.

I think it's just,
after the last 25 minutes of,

like, constantly fuckin' with me,

and I've just hit a point of, like,
not wanting to take any more.

You guys are all my best friends,
and you understand.

And, uh, untuck it, taste the wine,

and let's go ahead and do it.

Wine's clean, developing...

Medium-plus intensity aromas.

( laughing )

( faux Australian accent )
Hey, mate, stay focused.

Dude, this is just gonna
go to the next person.

I'm just too irritated right now.

I can understand it, but you
dish it out a lot, brother.

- I know. Hey...
- We bring it on each other.

I understand that.
It just gets to a point sometimes...

- Dude, it's all good.
- It just gets to a point when it's just irritating.

Well, let's show Ian some respect.

- To Dad?
- To Dad.

I'm not even in on that,
because you'll get pissed at me.

- It's all good.
- He likes "Dad." He knows he's Dad.

I'm all good with it.

A lot of times, they'll leave
their spit buckets out,

and I end up cleaning 'em.

The spit bucket is this thing that I find

at 8:00 in the morning.

You know, it's like when they
don't want to drink the wine,

they spit it in the spit bucket,
and I come home,

and there's actual spit wine
that's, like, a pink shade,

and I have to clean it out,

and they often use our dishware...

You know, like, our cups,
or back into a wine glass.

Yeah. The spit bucket's gross.

The happiest person
when you pass is not you,

it's your spouse.

And they're just like, "Thank God."

Like, you know,
"Can... Can we be done with this?"

Sometimes I'm like,
"Wow, this is such a cool world

that I get to be a part of and see,"

and they are so brilliant,
and then, at the same time,

they are just egomaniacs
who are so self-absorbed.

Your husband or boyfriend disappears,

becomes a shell of themselves for...
months on end,

only to probably, 95% chance,
get defeated.

It's hard!

My wife basically told me,

upon my fourth attempt at the M.S. exam,

"Honey, if you don't pass it
this time, we need to talk."

You miss a lot of...
A lot of life moments go by

when you're preparing for this,
and I'll be honest, it's tough,

and it's worth it in the end.

I tell everyone, "Listen,
everything that you've missed

comes back tenfold."

Theory probably takes the most time,

just because you have so much
to go through.

The theory exam is an oral examination

where a panel of the masters barrage you

with some of the most obscure questions

you could possibly imagine about wine.

What are the approve QWPSR
regions of Romania? Bulgaria?

Even the language alone...
Klosterneuburger Mostwaage...

I mean, pronouncing these words.

Germany seems to be hard for people,

and yes, yes, it's got big, long words,

and an interesting language, and...

( German accent ) We start with the...
( speaks German phrase )

( speaking German )

Then we have...
( speaking German phrases )

- ( speaking German )
- ( speaking German phrase )

- ( speaking German )
- ( speaking German phrase )

( speaking German )

( speaking German )

You have...
What did I forget?

( Speaks German word )
Did I say that?

People have a difficulty
with Italy, for some reason.

The names of the grapes,
there's 3,000 in Italy alone.

It's not uncommon
that these guys are spending

eight, ten hours a day every day

living and breathing this stuff.

The other wives that I know
dread the note cards,

and the hours and hours of studying

where they just have to be...
It's like another job.

Flash cards everywhere.

I think I've got somewhere

probably in the vicinity
of 4,000 flash cards.

Standing in the line at the grocery store,

going through my flash cards,
at a stop light.

- Note cards.
- Flash cards.

We are going to have a bonfire
with all of his note cards.

And I go to bed if I can,
but sometimes I'll be like,

"You can't remember that flash card."

You go back to the desk
for a quick second.

You're just manic. It's crazy.

It's a blank one.

Sometimes you get so tired
that you forget to write the answer on it.

That's the worst part.

# The first thing in the morning #

# The last thing at night #

# I contemplate my reasons #

# 'Cause I wanna know it's right #

# I might just be demented #

# But I'll stay here and fight #

# 'Cause I want you #

# Without you I get lonely #

# And stuck in my head #

# Obsession is the reason #

# That I lay awake in bed #

# I kick myself for balking #

# When I should have said
that I want you #

Ian's day is definitely different.

He, uh, he sleeps in very late.

He's more of a night guy,

so he does his studying at late night.

Ian's big at tracing maps.

Before you can study
a specific region of the world,

you have to understand
the geography of it,

so I've found that, um, tracing
maps has been a huge help.

What I do is,
I'll take a major map area

from some professional site
and lay it over the top,

and then trace it,

and then basically look at a number,

and I should know where that region is

and how it refers to the world of wine.

And I should know the laws about it,

so, you know,
Mentrida or wherever it might be,

or Rioja, what the sub-regions are,

or Cantabria... ( lists Spanish regions ),
or wherever it might be.

You know, if you try to remember something,

and you don't have a specific
reference to where that area is,

it doesn't really make any sense.

Now, when I get a question,

immediately, my mind goes to
a specific area of the world,

I can see a map and see the region,

and then, the information
unfolds in my brain,

and that's how I kind of, um,
now memorize information

and catalogue it in my brain,

because, you know, the mind's weird...

And if you create
these geographical locations,

you can then store information there.

I don't know how that works,

but, uh, it, uh, it does. It does.

- Ian...
- Ian is... Is tracing maps and...

- ( laughing ) Ian is, uh...
- Sitting in front of Skype, waiting for me to call him.

Ian is hard to be around right now.

I'm about to call Dustin Wilson
on Skype in about 20 minutes,

and trying to, you know,
make sure I know my flash cards,

or else he's gonna, you know,
break me down and, uh...

I think he feels like if he doesn't

put enough pressure on himself,
then he's not doing it right.

You wake up,
and what is your first thought?

You know, it's...

The flash cards
you haven't remembered.

It's the wines that could possibly
come up on the exam

that you don't completely feel,
you know, confident with.

If Dustin and I did that to ourselves,

we'd be, like,
crying in the fetal position.

This is just...
It's just pure dedication.

It's just pure obsession.
There's no other way around it.

But somehow,
he puts himself through hell,

and manages to show up
on game day and perform.

I've seen it time and time again,

at competitions and exams.
We love the guy.

We want to see him crush,
but we don't...

he's not doing himself
any favors right now.

It's the only way he knows
how to be for this stuff.

I think sleep's very important.

Sleep's incredibly important

for you to be able to retain
knowledge and... and do this.

Um...

Where was I... What was I talking about?

He's the only person that can be
that way and still pull it out.

It's possible that it'll never stop,

but then it's possible that,
nine days from now,

it'll be over,

and the thought of that
is just so amazing...

the thought of, like, when I sit
there and think about,

the feeling if I do pass this exam.

It will just be the most glorious thing

ever to have happened, you know?

And it's, like, all I want,
is to pass this, so bad.

I want it to be done.

I dream about being on a beach

without a thought of a flash card.

I dream about, like, you know,
drinking a beer,

and, like, just not thinking
about wine for a little bit.

I wonder if I can.
Like, I just doubt I can.

I-I want to pass this and be done with it,

and I want my life to start,
and my marriage to be cool.

To get back to a normal life
would be phenomenal.

You know? I do have a wife,
I've been told.

You know, Rachel's been watching me do this

for our entire relationship.

We're gonna have a ton of time
to actually go on a date.

All the work that I've done,
what I've learned,

I just have to let it...
let it happen, really.

The other thing that will
take tremendous focus

is trying to steer clear of Ian...

sorry, buddy, to say this...

steering clear of him at the exam,

'cause he is going to want
to just pound flash cards,

and just sit there and do theory all day.

( Inhales deeply )

All right, yeah, I need about
two minutes to get set up here.

You know, usually we take our clothes off,

um, but, uh, tonight,
we're gonna leave our clothes on.

Uh... Boutage.

Boutage is, uh, taking the dirt
and covering the stump

and the base of the roots,
usually protecting from frost.

Good. The name of the bacteria...?

That causes Pierce's Disease.

Oh, it's spread by the glassy
winged sharpshooter.

Oh, we talked about this one.

So if I said,
"Name three bacterial diseases,"

you would say,
"Three bacterial diseases are,

(1) Pierce's Disease,
(2) Crown Gall, (3) Bacterial Blight."

All right, buddy, well, listen, uh,

tomorrow night, midnight, see you then.

- Okay.
- Later, buddy.

- Good night.
- All right, good work. 'bye.

When you work in a restaurant,
if you have a tough table

or uncooperative clients,

or people that are just plain nasty,

you don't just throw up your hands,
pack your bags, and leave.

Let's go do service.

Dlynn, you're gonna start at number three,
in the back with Fred.

What we set up was an almost
impossible situation...

and it was planned that way...

to see how these candidates responded

under a tremendous pressure
from two very difficult customers.

You like...?

- Pink wine.
- Pink wine. Wonderful.

- How do we like it, Gene?
- Cold!

- Very cold.
- Cold.

- You know how you spell cold, son?
- C-O-L-D.

Okay. It's cold now.

You would probably like
your white wine or rosé wine

to be at...
at about 48 to 53 degrees.

- You know what conversion is?
- Pardon?

Conversion.
I want you to convert this wine.

- To... To Celsius?
- Cold.

Cold, cold, cold. Cold. Cold.

Well, uh, yes, indeed, uh...

Co-oo-old.

I can't express myself any more clearly.

Because... Because I'm making you wait,

I will take care of the cocktails for you.

- I just want cold wine.
- Now he's trying to bribe us with free drinks!

What kind of operation
you runnin' here, son? Cold!

We want cold wine.

Maybe we should spell it out
and hold it up. "cold."

- Maybe.
- Let me try that. See, co-oo-old. Cold.

Gentlemen,
I believe this may do it for you.

And I apologize,
I'm currently out of the 1998.

I do have the 1997 Littorai,
1997 Vin Gris.

Okay. Let's do it.

Let's have some.
That's as cold as it's gonna get, right?

Yes, indeed.

Brutal. Absolutely brutal.

Chilling wine is a very tough thing to do,

but there are some really
great tricks to it

if you know what you're doing,
and not very many of them did,

so as a result, it was a total failure.

If you don't know it, get out,

you don't deserve to be a somm.

Fix it, learn it, do it, go.

Okay, today's tasting
is for Brian McClintic.

I see him at his exam in a couple of weeks,

and, uh, the reds I picked
are pretty straightforward...

just a couple of little twists today,
see if he's on his game.

Fred Dame is...
He's larger than life.

He is... He is such a personality.

I think that most other candidates

as well as most other masters
would probably agree with me

that Fred is probably one
of the most intimidating people

in the entire court.

I was afraid of Fred.

The whites are kind of funny today,

because I picked, uh, aromatic whites...

two aromatic whites to start,
which are always difficult.

Fred Dame is supposed to instill
the fear of God in people.

We'll see if Mr. McClintic
has his, uh, has his wits about him.

I've heard legends about
his tasting abilities.

The legend of him "Daming" the exam.

I've heard the story
that he went to his M.S. exam.

"Daming" it means that you just smell it,

and you know the vintage,
the grape variety, the country,

the sub-region, just on the nose.

So, uh, you know,
it's kind of like three seconds,

say, "What is it?"

You've got how many days left there, champ?

We have ten days left.

- You ready?
- Ready as I'm gonna be.

- That's not good enough.
- Yes, I'm ready.

That's a better answer. I don't want
to hear that other kind of answer.

- ( Chuckling )
- Very intriguing. Why do you...

You find this amusing? This is it.

- You've got ten days.
- All right.

Otherwise it's another year.

- Wanna wait another year?
- No.

- No, that would suck, wouldn't it?
- That would suck.

He still, to some degree, intimidates me.

Six wines, 25 minutes.

And I need your best effort.

- Give you everything I got.
- That's what I expect.

Fred Dame's got a photographic memory.

You can click down five dominoes,

and realize where those dominoes are
gonna go. Fred can do a thousand.

You like the little trap I laid for you?
You sure fell for it.

Did I? That doesn't sound good.

- Two and three.
- Did I flip-flop 'em?

No, the minute you called Chardonnay,
I knew you were doomed,

'cause the third one is a Chardonnay.

He can be really scary.

I've seen him yell at people
during their tastings.

You punished yourself because
you went to the Old World.

- Remember, this is the Masters.
- Right.

- Can't do that.
- That hurt. ( chuckles ) Here.

He's a lot more fun after a glass of wine.

Even more fun after two.

Your comment, "The only thing
that comes to mind..."

Possible grape varietals include...

I consider Muscadet neutral.

Pinot Grigio's neutral, Chablis.

The only things that are coming to mind.

I don't give a squat
what comes to your mind.

Neither does anybody else.

And all this "I think" and all,
is just wasting time, all right?

Get rid of it. Now, number five.

This sucks.

He said, "Let's go play some pool.
I'm really good at it."

And, uh, I went,
"This guy does everything!"

I mean, and you know, I was
Wisconsin Junior State Champion,

and I was a road player, right?

I played... I'm...
I'm fairly proficient in pocket billiards,

and I went, "Fred plays...
This guy is a God, right?"

And then, we went fishing,
and I brought up all this wine

to impress the great Fred Dame, right?

So I brought up these really fancy wines,

and so, we're going halibut fishing...

pretty bloody, gutty kind of fishing.

There's a lot of shooting the halibut
in the brain so it dies...

And we went to this little
upscale poolroom in Aspen.

And he goes, "Mr. Bjornholm,
bring the 1990 Jamet Cote Rotie.

It's fantastic stuff."

I said, "well, Fred, you know, come on,

we're out in the middle of the ocean,

and we can't bring glass
on the boat and, you know,

there's blood and guts every... "

and he's like, "Mr. Bjornholm..."

But I was so scared,
I drank wine like it was water,

which I've never done in my life
till that point then,

and I've never done it again.

I drank it like a glass of water.
Glug glug glug.

I was scared of Fred Dame.

Oh, man, there was, like,
octopus, you know,

wrapping around my leg
and gripping onto me,

and I'm sitting there
with this Styrofoam cup

of one of the greatest wines,

one of the greatest vintages of Cote Rotie,

from one of the greatest producers.

And Fred's like,
"Mr. Bjornholm, pour me some!"

I put a cue in his hand,

and in two seconds, I went,
"This guy is a man,"

because he couldn't play at all! Ha ha!

And to this day,

it remains the greatest "glass"
of wine I've ever had.

Back to the drawing board.
Couldn't get 'em out now.

No, no. Now, that...
That is absolutely the wrong attitude.

That... you have no chance.
Don't even bother going. Save the money.

You're not going
back to the drawing board.

You're doing exactly
what you did, all right?

You're a very good taster.
All the things are there.

- Just don't make it harder than it is.
- Thank you.

- Nice job.
- Thanks for taking the time.

- This is helpful.
- You're gonna be okay.

Believe me,
when I was actually

going through the whole process,
there were a number of times

where I asked myself whether I
was actually... why I was doing it.

Six months later,

suddenly the phone starts
ringing for opportunities...

um, to travel, to speak, um, to teach.

Slowly but surely,

your life gets better
and better and better,

and I'm a great example of that.

When I first started in this program,
I didn't even own a suit.

I borrowed a suit
for the Master's exam.

It has been valuable beyond words for me,

for my business,

and I'm sure that these guys will probably
figure that out when they pass as well.

Your head looks like it's
in good shape, nice and shaved.

- It's a little scruffly today.
- A little scruffy today?

- I'll be nice and polished up for the exam, though.
- Excellent.

Your tastings have always been very fluid.

They have great pacing,
with a lot of great descriptors,

and I suspect that today
will be no different.

Ian, haven't seen you in a little bit,

but you've been tasting well, I hear.

So, we'll go through this tasting,
and remember, um,

it's a timed tasting.

- Are you doing relaxation techniques?
- Absolutely not.

I drink coffee all the time
and stay up late and study.

Well, relax.
Take care of yourself.

Eat right. Sleep right.

Go watch a movie, go have a massage.

Do the things that'll help you relax.

- Doesn't that sound good?
- Sounds good.

But I really think that that's a key thing,

but above all, especially now,
as you get closer,

and you can tell that there's kind of like

the light at the end of the tunnel,
so to speak,

um, anxiety and nervousness
manifests itself

in different ways with different people.

So just, you know,
maybe for the next week or so,

um, maybe do one or two
more tastings and relax.

So when you get to the first one,

I'll go ahead and start timing you.

- Ready?
- Yep. When you're ready, you're ready.

Wine one is a white wine.
The wine is clear. The wine is day bright.

There is no evidence of gas
or flocculation in my glass.

Nose is clean, youthful.
Medium-plus intensity of aromas.

We've got kind of candied citrus here.

- Lemon curd.
- Really ripe lemon, candied lemon.

Palate?

Dry wine. Medium-plus body.

( Inhales sharply ) Alcohol.

( Breathes audibly )

Wine's dry. Medium-plus body.

Wine is dry. Full body.

No signs of new oak on the wine.

There's a lot of new French oak
on this wine.

Appears to be some oak on this wine,

some vanilla, some clove,
cinnamon, baking spices.

Cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, baking spices.

I want to change that.

There is cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, vanilla,
some baking spices.

Acid's medium.

Acidity on the wine is...
( smacking lips )... Medium.

Acid is, uh, medium-plus.

In its conclusion,
this is an Old World wine...

Possible grape varietals include
Chardonnay, Marsanne-Roussanne.

This wine is from the New World,
from a warm climate,

due to the medium acid
and the high alcohol.

Very glossy, very
extracted, lots of glycerol.

Chardonnay from Burgundy.

It's possible this is a very ripe,
modern Burgundy as well,

but I have to go with my gut here.

Final conclusion,
this is Chardonnay, from France.

It's from Burgundy.

I'm gonna say Old World, France.

Um, it's Burgundy.

Uh... I'll call this 2006.

Final conclusion, this wine
is from the United States.

This wine is from California.

This wine is from Sonoma County.

This wine is from the Russian River Valley.

The grape is Chardonnay, um,
from the 2008 vintage,

from a high-quality producer.

Wine number two is a...

White wine. The wine is clear.

- Viscosity is...
- Medium-plus.

- Medium-plus.
- I'd call viscosity high on this as well.

- The nose of the wine is clean...
- Clean, youthful.

First thing that's coming out here
is some peachy apricot notes.

- Canned peaches.
- Little bit of peach... Slightly oxidized white peach.

Doesn't appear to be
any new oak on the wine.

- No signs of oak.
- Light hint of oak on the palate.

- Well, this wine is dry.
- The wine is dry.

The acid is medium-minus.

- Medium-minus.
- Medium.

- Alcohol is high.
- High.

- High.
- This is Viognier from France,

from Rhone Valley, Northern Rhone.

- This is Condrieu.
- I think this wine is from France.

This wine is from the Rhone Valley.

This wine is from
the northern Rhone Valley.

This is a Rousanne-Marsanne blend
from the Hill of Hermitage.

New world. North America. California.

Clos Viognier, from Sonoma County,

two thousand and... 2009 vintage.

Wine number three is a clear,
star bright white wine.

It is clean, youthful, uh, again,

high intensity of aromas.
Fantastic.

Not sure where to go with this.

I'm gonna go back to that wine.
Whew. Wine number five...

(exhales)
Flailing here. Um...

Wine is well balanced, uh,
with a medium-plus length,

medium-plus complexity.
Initial conclusion...

( exhales heavily )
uh, falling apart here.

Um...

Call it a Brunello Di Montalcino, 2004...

Stop. Stop the time.
When you go in and you take that test,

you're gonna have exactly
the same kind of feelings, right?

Yeah.

It's gonna be this feeling of helplessness,

that if I take a left turn,

my back's gonna be against the wall,
so this is a good thing.

At this point, you know,
being so close to the exam,

I was kind of keeping my fingers crossed
for a confidence booster.

This is what wine number two is,

and you might be familiar with this.

Oh, my God. Oh, my God!

This is a wine that, for you,
didn't have much oak on it.

- Is this Po... Is this happening right now?
- I don't know. You tell me.

Not a perfect flight today.
I wouldn't have passed my M.S.

- This is what this wine is.
- It's New World, Chard. Yep.

Did it smell like Chardonnay?

It does smell like Chardonnay.

Did it taste like Chardonnay?

It does taste like Chardonnay.

Kind of the same thing we had

when we had the older white
Burgundy before, right?

Does it look like Burgundy?
Does it taste like Burgundy?

It does not taste like Burgundy.

At this point, I need to...

I need to chill,
'cause I'm way too worked up.

This is what wine number...
Two is.

I think, uh...
Will you smell this wine?

This is my wine one.
I think that you had switched them.

I didn't pour the wine, so...

Woman: I poured the reds, but...

That's California Chardonnay.
This is Hermitage.

- No. We got it right.
- Really? Could you show me...?

- Woman: Everybody struggled with this.
- Really?

Wine number two is sweeter
than wine number one.

I'm tasting this right now,
and I taste Beringer.

I sell a lot of it.
I'm tasting this, and...

So you guys poured these?

- Let's leave it at that. You can revisit it...
- Okay, that's no problem.

We'll taste them in a minute.
I'm just very confused. I go back to them.

But there's a reason
why I put 'em side by side.

Okay? So let's go
to wine number three.

But I think you would have agreed,

and I think you even said this,
but it's like dried red fruit.

It's dried red fruit.
You keep going back to wine number one.

Yeah, I just... I just...
It's just interesting.

So, dried, uh... so dried red
fruit, um, pomegranate, so...

Could you pass me that bottle,
of hermitage?

Woman: here.
Now you can definitively...

So, Ian, what I would say is,

'cause I thought you did a great job.

I would focus a little bit
on my non-fruit aromas,

especially some of those
other ones, you know,

and whether it be honey,
whether it be tar or spice.

And then, um, some of
the wood indicators,

because I think that number... wine number
two has some definitive oak indicators

in there that, uh, is very, very strong,

as well as all three of the white wines,

to be honest with you.
Um...

But other than that,
I really don't have much to...

to criticize you for,
because I thought you did a great job.

Going back to them afterwards,
you know,

I think I called the right wines,
wine one and two, so...

I know that Ian thought that
the wines were switched up,

and he probably thinks that
as he's driving away,

but I did smell the wines,

and the wines were correctly poured.

I just didn't believe it.

It was like somebody told
me that I had brown hair.

It's like, I know I don't.

That's what you see, you know?

I'm sure a lot of that was
predicated on the anxiety

and the nervousness that
he's starting to feel now,

and I'm sure that as the week goes on,

it'll probably just get worse.

With regards to Ian, Dustin, and myself,

I think the best-case scenario is obvious.

It's... the, uh, the worst-case scenario
that's not so obvious.

How do I put this?
We, uh... Ian, Dustin, and I

are like, uh,

about as close as three people
could be right now.

We... I don't know.

Dustin and I moved in together.

Ian and I have studied
for the advanced together,

and we spend pretty much all
of our waking time together.

We're completely dependent on each other,

and... If all of us don't get through,

it's all good,

because we still have each other,

we still have the core intact.

But if one of us passes,
it's still all good,

'cause two of us are happy for that person,

and, you know,

the two people still have each other.

But the worst-case scenario is...

If two of us pass, and one of us doesn't.

And I've thought a lot about that,

and the reason why it'd be bad is because

that one person is all alone,
completely alone.

He's all by himself.

And when those other two get
through, he's happy for them,

but he's pretty much clapping by himself

when they get announced as masters.

And... When the other two get through,

their... their job is done.

They're not gonna go back to that court.

It'll be completely done,
and that person will have to...

That person will have to, like,
hike Everest by themself,

or find another group to latch onto,
because this test is...

It's almost impossible to
pass, but without people,

it's... it's incomprehensible.

Now these guys now, there's fear.

There's fear in their heart of failure.

There's fear of, of someone telling you

that you're not good enough.

The masters have pretty much
already accepted me as family,

so I have to deliver.

There is hope in their hearts right now,

that they will pass this exam
and not have to study anymore.

We want to live our lives again,

and we can't until this is over.

And, uh, that thought
is always there, you know?

And I keep thinking about,
if I don't get through, you know,

it's all good, you know, I'll learn more,

but I'm a married man, you know.
I want to be a husband.

There's a little bit of, uh, self-doubt.

I'm glad that I'm kind of worked up

and falling apart right now,

because it allows me the chance to rebuild.

There's a lot of self-confidence.

I have been, you know,
tasting incredibly well

for the last six weeks,
the best I've ever tasted in my life,

and if I just continue this going and,
I think, use my gut, um...

Uh... It's good.

What I tried to inspire
is that you are a warrior,

and that you must go in and fight,

and that you're not afraid.

You have to fight the good fight
at every opportunity you have

to pass this examination.

You have your passport?

Passport? Got it.
It's in my back pocket.

Woman: Dustin realized
he didn't have an I.D.

Hey! Grab your lunch sack, Dustin Wilson!

- Do you feel ready?
- I feel ready.

- I feel ready.
- Yeah.

I feel 100% ready.

I don't feel like we've wasted
any time since we've moved here.

It's almost surreal, tell you the truth.

I'm ready to... to, uh...
For this week to happen.

The extra 16 pounds of wine, and...

Have a good day at work.
Call you when I get there.

I'm going to Dallas.

- What flight, sir?
- Uh, 305.

It's weird, drop... dropping him
off at the airport, and...

I'm actually really nervous.

I want to say he will pass, but...
Just nervous.

Can't wait till Friday comes, and...
Then I can just...

I want to know right now.

Oh, my God. They're disgusting.

This is crazy. It is crazy.

This five days is gonna be horrible,
I can tell.

Dustin's dreamin' about
takin' his theory exam

and answering every single question right.

He's thinking about lining
up a flight of wines

and just knockin' 'em back.

Not a care in the world.

This is how you handle stress
before a big test,

right here, ladies and gentlemen.

Is that Ian? Yep.

- Oh, you ready for this?
- Hell yeah, man. Let's do it.

I'm feeling more relaxed
than I was last week.

Yeah?

Yeah, it's nice to be here.

Just gotta let it flow, let things happen.

I know that... I know it's
gonna be a fair test this year.

That's what they've made it very clear.

They know that a lot of us
got that exam last year

that was, I think, a little bit aggressive,

in terms of difficulty.

( Dramatic Australian accent )
The regions of Alsace-Lorraine

share a turbulent history as a buffer

between France and Germany.

The Alsatian culture reflects
cumulative elements of both societies.

( Normal voice )
This is fun stuff.

It's 1:20 in the afternoon right now,

the day before the tasting exam.

Our fearless father is over there asleep.

He's on a strange sleeping schedule.

How many hours do you plan to
study between now and tomorrow?

I'll probably do six hours
of cards tonight. Just review.

And then, I'll probably do a lot, like,
ten hours tomorrow.

Some serious intensity, dude.

Dude, I don't want to
take this thing again.

Oh, sorry. P-r-o-c-t-o-r.
Proctor. Proctor, last name.

I just hung up with my doc, Dr. Calley.

I want to make sure my nose is...
is a, a-okay.

Man, I have got to make sure
there's no dryness.

This side's working, this side's clogged,

then it hops over here,
this side's clogged, that side's working.

People always talk about
the hype of tasting being 85% nose.

Well, at the end of the day, it's true.

Right now, I'm at the doctor's office

so she can check on my left nostril, man,

and make sure it's good to go.

My right one's clear, my left one's closed.

That kind of sucks for a somm,

when you can't smell anything,
you know what I mean?

That's like a...
a runner without any legs.

I wanted, like, just one steroid
that I could sleep on overnight,

and when I woke up, the steroid will
have kicked in if I took it now.

But she was like,
"Honestly, you don't need that.

Your nose is not bad enough."

So I'm just gonna clean it with
a neti pot in the morning,

and tonight, I am going to hit
one dose of Afrin in the left nostril,

wake up in the morning,
one more dose, and it's done.

And also, she took a look at my finger

that I cut the tip off of, basically,

and she was like,
"Uh, you needed stitches."

And I was like,
"I don't need no stinkin' stitches,"

but, yeah, I needed stitches.

Dusty's in a funny place right now.

It's like... I feel, like, abandoned.

Like, he's my man-wife,
and I feel abandoned,

like he went to the dark side with Sabato,

and they're just, like, studying together.

How about the rules for Moelleux?

Which of these is longer:
special reserve or extra reserve?

Uh, village in Anjou that can
add its name to Anjou-villages.

Wanna have a coffee-chugging contest?

I think part of it might be

he just wants to get away from Cauble,

and I'm kind of lumped into that equation,

'cause I'm roomin' with Cauble.

It all comes down to tasting.

If you're a betting man,

you can bet on theory...
you can bet on service, too...

and feel like, you know, that's a good bet,

but very few people can
you bet on in tasting.

You just don't know how
it's gonna play out.

On the nose, this wine is clean,
no obvious flaws.

This wine has a moderate-plus intensity.
This wine is youthful.

It's showing bruised aromas:
bruised apple, bruised pear, bruised peach.

Honeysuckle, chamomile, lavender,

slight botrytis, limestone, wet wool.

Hay, pistachio, tea.

You guys pumped?
"Whoa, team," anybody?

Oh. Uh, that's two.

Oh! Look what happened!
Look what happened!

And... What should we say?
Dad. Here's to Dad.

- Here's to Dad.
- One, two, three.

- All: Dad!
- I'm getting emotional.

We're your children. We always will be.

Thank you.
Even though I'm the youngest.

It's kind of weird, but...

Some people are just old souls.

They're born to be fathers, you know?

The metamorphosis begins.

I've already got the haircut.

Time to clean it up from, uh,

the unkempt mountain man look.

So... Beard is goin' bye-bye.

Daddy's a young kid again!

But that's essentially the bare bones

of what I'm gonna look like
mañana for the test.

You're not ironing your tie.

You think I'm gonna wear a wrinkled tie?

- Yeah.
- Well, maybe not today.

- Gentlemen, good morning.
- Good morning.

Mr. Cauble.

- Had a feeling you were coming for me.
- Why?

I don't know. Just 'cause you
had that smile on your face.

I always have a smile on my face.
Good to see you too.

So, you walk with them,

which feels like you're walking,
like, from Hands Across America,

coast to coast, which is essentially
just a room that's 200 yards away,

but it's like the death row walk.

And the M.S. Is talking to you,
and they're...

they're giving you...
they're like, "So, how you feel?"

And they know darn well
that you're, you know,

for lack of a better word,
crappin' bricks.

And you really don't even
want to talk to them.

You just want to get in there
and get it over with,

and you walk in this room,
and the first thing

you usually see are
your wines sittin' there,

three whites and three reds...

And four M.S.'s looking
across a table from you,

and so, you sit down,
and everything's super formal,

and, uh, they say something
to the effect of,

"Well, thank you for coming here.
How do you feel?"

And you say something like,

"It's been an honor," which it has.

And then, they're like,
"You have 25 minutes.

I will start the clock
when you touch your first wine.

We'll start when you're ready."

I don't know
what I can compare it to,

but I've felt that before.
I've felt that moment

where it's almost like
an out-of-body experience.

It usually happened in sports,
when the game's on the line.

In the bottom of the ninth, with two outs,

and you're standing in the plate,

and you're almost not even in
your own body because it's so surreal.

You don't hear the crowd,
you don't hear anything.

You don't even really remember anything.

I can't believe this is so surreal.

It's medium-minus acid.

I'm nervous, but think how nervous
my wines are right now,

just sitting there in a glass right now,

trembling as I'm about to devour 'em.

How nervous are my wines?

I wanna do it for my wife...

More than anything...

'cause she is, uh...

She... She deserves to have me

not buried in a wine book
or buried in note cards

or buried in wine glasses.

You know, she deserves a husband.

It's time, so...

That'd be a pretty cool gift to give her.

Ice on the ground. Wow.

Medium-plus acid.

It's 11:00. Those guys have
already tasted, Ian and Brian.

Dustin hasn't. He's right after me.

This is all a sheet of ice. That's fun.

Why don't people know
how to drive in this, man?

Seriously. You can't...
You have to have momentum, dude.

High gear! High gear!

We are here, brother.

This is the second year
Dustin and I have taken it together,

and we usually kind of remove ourselves

from the rest of the world.

It's nice to kind of escape that chaos,

and all the pandemonium
that goes on around it,

so we can kind of relax beforehand,

'cause there's enough stress

without all those people around,
so we do our thing here,

and then go over and taste six wines,

come back and regroup
and get ready for the next stage.

The first thing that happens when
everybody gets out of the tasting

is they want to find
the other people that were tasting

simultaneously in another room.

And you beat yourself up
because someone called this,

or someone called that.

There were two wines I knew,
and there were

four wines that it came down
to two things on,

and I could have flip-flopped all of those,

I could have hit all of 'em.

It's gonna be really interesting
to see what Ian called,

and some other people, talkin' to them.

I think either my heart will sink
or my heart will be happy

after talking to them.

Cauble, it's me.

Just open the door, dude.

I was sleeping right now.
I assumed you had a key.

You've slept, like, 15 hours.

- Yeah, I'm stressed out.
- Have you talked to anyone?

No, dude, I've been freaking, like,
just totally going nuts here.

- Wine three.
- Uh, wine three, I called Albariño.

- Really?
- What'd you call it?

Saint-Cyr.

I didn't pick up on the Pyrazine.

Dude, wine three was super-peachy,
and it was bitter as fuck.

I may have goofed that one, dude.
Wine five?

Wine five, I was torn, dude.

I first called it Barolo,

and I changed it to Brunello, '95.

- Okay. I called it Barolo.
- Wine six I called Barolo.

Oh, really?

Wine six had tannin
that ripped my face off.

- What'd you call that?
- I called it Rioja.

It was translucent, it was lifted.

I thought it was classic Barolo
on wine five, and the tannin...

- Six, did you really smell American oak?
- No. ( chuckles )

Jesus, dude. I was hoping
you were gonna call the same wines.

I was gonna hope you were like,

"Oh, Brian's gonna come up
and call the same wines!

We're gonna feel great!"

Why that's bad... why that's...

Why that's good and why it's bad
that we're doing this is, like,

I hope both of us pass,
you know, 'cause we...

That's the worst part about it.

...we called completely
different things on three wines.

The worst part is, I don't think
it's possible we both passed,

'cause one of us can't be right,

not unless we split the difference,

and we both get enough
points to get through.

- That sucks, dude.
- Dude, shit!

Well, I'm ready to get up,
quit being a...

Dude, I had a fuckin' crazy...
I had crazy dreams.

I had a dream that I was
walking by the tasting room,

and, like, I saw a bottle of old Rioja.
I'm like, "Oh, no!"

Dude, you look like Michael Douglas
in Falling Down.

I mean, it's retarded.
Let's see what other people called.

It is what it is now.

If I could high-five the camera,
I would high-five the camera.

What else do you do?
You just call 'em and go.

It's a lovely tasting.
Hey, what do you do? I'm happy.

- What'd you call it?
- One, I called Beaujolais.

Fuck! I called Chinon.

Did you? I never call Chinon!

That was Chinon, man.

That was Touraine Chinon '09
Cabernet Franc. It was beautiful.

The next red, um, was, uh, Tannic.
What'd you call...?

- Nebbiolo.
- I called Nebbiolo.

- I called Barolo.
- What year?

- '01.
- I called '01 too.

I called five Barolo Riserva from 2000,

and I called six Left Bank
third growth Bordeaux 2000,

uh, 1855 classification Cabernet Sauvignon.

- I called Rioja.
- Did you? I didn't get American oak.

Wine number one, I'm like,
is this Pinot Grigio,

- Is this Chenin?
- I called Chenin on wine one.

Ooh, I called, uh,
Grand Cru Alsatian Riesling on it.

It's Chenin, dude.
It's Sauvenière. The wine spoke.

It was wooly, it was funky,
it was wonderful, it was nasty,

it was great, all at the same time.

Aussie Riesling for two.

No. It's definitely not Aussie Riesling.

Especially when you called
Alsatian Riesling for the first one.

Can of green beans, man. It was Grüner.

It was flowery.

There was petulance in it,
and I ended up calling, um...

- Did you call Albariño?
- Albariño, yeah.

- It was super-limey to me.
- I want to go play flag football

with those guys right now,
I'll tell you that, though.

- We're totally lost now.
- We're more confused than before.

We've got to go talk to the other boys.

See what everybody else called.

The reality is,

you have no clue what the wines are,
even when you think you do.

So you torture yourself,

and that's very important to do.

The important thing to do
is to torture yourself

over the next 36 hours and say,

"Well, but it could have been Grüner.

No, wait a minute...
I think it was Albariño."

It wasn't Rhone.

It wasn't Albariño if
it was pale like that,

so, where do you go?
Do you go Saint-Cyr?

You called Pyrazines.
I was looking for Pyrazines.

- I got grapefruit.
- I didn't look for it. They hit me in the face.

Okay, they hit you. Yeah, yeah.

Sauvignon Blanc is so gettable,

that the fact that no one in this room called
Sauvignon Blanc scares the crap out of me.

- That was a cruel flight.
- It was.

- I thought it was a fun flight.
- It's diabolical.

It sounds so ridiculous, because, you know,

it's fermented grape juice.
I mean, you know what I mean?

- Are we in agreement that six is an older wine?
- Yeah.

I called Italian, Italian.

I called Brunell...
Barolo, Brunello.

And then I was like...
Just gotta roll with it.

Five and six,
you called Italian both?

- I called four and five both Italian, actually.
- That what you did?

The good news is if everybody's
all over the place,

probably someone passed.

It's just combinations.

Pass or fail, they will never
tell you what the wines were.

You know, you've just...
you've got to stay in it

if you really want it, you know?

It's a test of dedication.

This whole process, you know,

it's... it's full of confidence and doubt

within the same ten minutes,

and, like, you know,
it's like it just doesn't stop.

( Reciting quietly )

( reciting quietly )

I had a marathon day last night
at Dustin and Sabato's house...

Or room.

We had, like, 13 or 14 hours
of just straight review. ( sighs )

and I came home about 12:30 or
1:00, and, uh...

I couldn't sleep till 5:00.

I just kept on going
through regions in my head.

It was crazy.

Today it's possible I
become a Master Sommelier.

We all have a fear of failure.

We all have a fear of being judged.

You're working so hard, people
tell you, you didn't make it.

Well, there's so much honor in trying.

Being in the room when
someone hasn't passed

is the reason I don't do this anymore.

I do the masters every three years
because I have to.

I've done it for over 25 years.

I've probably failed more people

than any other human being on the planet,

but it is one of the
hardest things in my life

I've ever had to do, every year,
over and over again.

And after a while, it just gets to you,

because you know how hard they worked.

They come through your house,
and they taste,

and you get to know them
as people and all that,

but, you know, exam day's exam day.
It's like game day.

You know,
there's only gonna be one outcome.

And what could have happened, did.

Why do we keep finding ourselves
in this position...

you and me? Hmm?

Didn't I just see you
a couple of weeks ago?

- Yeah.
- Didn't we have a very hard conversation?

- Yeah.
- Yeah? How do you feel about it?

- Don't know.
- You don't know? You're not confident?

- I'm confident, but I don't know.
- Okay. Fair enough.

Well, this is one of those
interesting moments in a career.

So I'm pleased to tell you, sir,

that you'll be wearing the red badge...
From then on.

And, Master, it is an honor,
an honor to work with you.

Thank you.

- Well done.
- Thanks, man.

- Well done.
- Appreciate it.

Put a smile on that face
and go out there, huh?

Show those pearly whites.
Least she made you brush your teeth,

as well as shave and clean up.
Don't you love him?

( Applause )

( all laughing )

- Well, have a seat.
- Thank you.

That's kind of like the gunfighter coat.
I kind of like that.

Thank you.

- So, how are you this week?
- I'm okay.

- Come on.
- no, I'm okay.

At the end of the day, I'm okay.

- 'Kay.
- We all work our butts off, seriously.

Let me give you the results.

Um... It... it...
You had one part coming in,

and, uh, I'm sorry to tell you
that, uh, we didn't pick anything up.

However, I... That is...
That being said,

we're gonna have
a very serious conversation,

because you were immensely close, um,

and dramatic improvement.

So, we'll have that conversation.

I don't want you to, uh,
think that you haven't improved.

You've improved dramatically.
That's what's important.

I was impressed.

And I think you have
the greatest potential and a great future.

So... Keep that head up.
We still have work to do.

- We'll do it again.
- We'll do it again.

Um... You did okay this time.

Did all right here.

We, uh...
We got through that theory part,

which is great, you know?
This is awesome.

You did an awesome job
on that theory, and, um,

you know, tasting,
you're gonna have to...

You're gonna have
to be working with tasting.

You're gonna have to be
working with those, uh,

with those candidates that you're gonna
be training from now on, Master. Okay?

(inhales sharply) Whoo!

Congratulations, brother.

(laughing) You made it.
All that hard work.

And you finally...
You finally brought it to

the promised land there, right?

- Ohh! Thanks, Jay.
- You're welcome, brother.

I'll talk to you a little bit more about,

uh, a little bit more about it
later, all right?

Whew.

- ( Sighs )
- How are you?

- I'm all right, man.
- How you feelin'?

- Feel good.
- Glad it's over?

- Very.
- How'd you think you did there?

Theory felt good.
Tasting, I think I was on the border.

You passed theory.
We got that out of the way.

Your tasting, you still need
to take again, unfortunately.

We, uh, you know, we came close.
We got one more piece.

Keep up the good work,
and just keep, uh,

you just got tasting to bang on now.

You don't have to study those books,
so that's a good thing, right?

- That's so refreshing,
- All right, excellent.

- Thank you so much.
- You're welcome.

Come on and grab a glass, babe.

I was the first one to go in, huh?

My heart was going freaking crazy,
walking into that room.

Um, I had an out-of-body experience.

I was watching myself in the
chair, with Dame.

- He was messing with me, as usual.
- Right.

I'm trying to remember what he said.
Some clink.

So now what?
What are we gonna do?

Burn the note cards, dude.
We're having a bonfire.

Brian... Brian McClintic?!

( Shouting and chattering )

You know, Brian used to be...
He was kind of a Colorado boy.

You know, he was there in my
town, in Aspen,

for a little while, but, uh,
he's back in California, where he belongs.

Congratulations.

- Thanks.
- Here's your tie and your pin, sir.

- Congratulations.
- Thank you. All right.

Picture with Dmitri and I.

Hold the diploma up, bro.

The new Master Sommelier,
we have Mr. Dustin Wilson.

( Shouting and cheering )

Formerly of the Little Nell
Hotel in Aspen, Colorado.

Now RN74 in San Francisco.

He's hanging out with big guys

like Raj Parr and whatnot, right?

- ( Chuckling )
- So he's there today,

and here he is today with his Master
diploma. Congratulations, Dustin.

( Cheers and applause )

I know I was nervous, um, before he...
Like, before he left for the exam,

but, it's when I got
the phone call from my sister,

and telling me that
Brian and Dustin passed, but Ian didn't.

I was at work.
I still remember, it was on a Friday.

So that whole afternoon,

I was just sitting in the break room,
crying, the whole entire afternoon.

( Sighs )
Uh, when Dustin and I passed,

uh, it was a big deal for both of us.

You know, we...
Got to go home to our wives,

we celebrated, we partied.

Ian, I have to imagine, for him,

it was exactly the opposite, you know?

He probably dreaded coming home,

having to face his friends, his girlfriend.

He really, really wanted to get through.

Whatever issues you have in your life,

whatever you hold inside
you that's not good,

it will be drawn out by this exam.

It just happens by attrition.

If you don't face those things,

you're gonna have a very,
very difficult time passing this exam.

If Ian faces those demons,
he will be successful.

Really, if anything,

what I've learned
is that you finish that up,

and then, it's even harder.

The pressure's even more so,
because you have to stay on top.

You're a Master Sommelier at this point.

You have to be
a Master Sommelier at all times.

You have to stay on top of your knowledge,

and to stay on top of tasting.

You have to stay on top
of continuing to learn,

because there's, all of a sudden,

lots of people that are looking up to you

and looking at you in a different light.

Do you know how many
brilliant people there are

who have taken the exam
and are still not M.S.'s?

Five, six, seven times.

Brilliant, but they're not M.S.'s.

No. I-I don't give up.

I can't.

- Hey, baby.
- Hi.

I have to burn all my flash cards,
'cause I passed!

( laughing )

( laughing ) Yeah, I did.

Yeah, I did it.

Oh, my God, so... Okay!

( Tearful, emotional laughter )

Oh, my God. Okay. Bye.
( laughter ) Bye.

Oh, wow! He did it!

Oh, my God. Thank God.

Wow. Wow, this is crazy.

I'm shaking right now.

I'm literally shaking right now.

This is so unreal.

I can't tell you how happy I am right now.

I'm just...
Really, really shaking right now.