I'm taking the test this week, and have been studying myself to the bone. For those of you that have taken it (pass/fail, I don't care!), I have a few more questions.

-What regions do you wish you had spent more time on?

-What was the trickiest part of the service exam for you?

-What should I not waste my time on for this round?

Cheers!

Hi. I assume it is the Court of Master Sommeliers Certified Exam you are taking? Anyway, the written exam did not spend more time on any one region beyond France. You certainly don't need to read even 10% of those books they listed on their site.

On the service part, they are NOT out to trip you up but they will throw in some type of special request to see how you do it with confidence. Maybe they will tell you to skip the part where the "guest" tastes the wine. Just be yourself and show you can talk with a guest. They do expect you to recommend wines for foods with vineyard names, vintages, and reasons for the vintages.

Hi!
I will be taking this exam in December and am in the same place as you are regarding wondering what to trim from my studies. I would love to chat more about this with you-or if you have already taken it, please let us know what you thought.

You can e-mail me at johndb10023@yahoo.com. If you want to leave the cell number there, I can call.

I passed! If you want any study tips Sonic, you can reach me as well at kanterkowal@yahoo.com.

Congratulations Eastsider!

Thanks John! Have you sat for the Advanced Cert gauntlet yet?

No I wish. I should apply next year when I am, hopefully, done with WSET diploma. I do not yet know by heart 5 villages in the Coteaux de Layon.

Good luck with the WSET! I thought about their courses, but being service industry-based, the CMS is more feasible currently. I work 200 ft away from a person that is battling their way through the final stage of the WSET if you ever need some grand advice/tips.

Slainte!

I would love to hear that person's suggestions regarding the Spirits, Fortified and Sparkling wine exams. Also, do they provide you with a list of things to study for the Master Sommelier's exam? And you are right, the WSET focuses on the business and educational aspect. On their exams, they are not interested in hearing about food and wine pairings.

I should have some time to ask him about that tomorrow and I'll post what I learn. Maybe even do one better, and ask him if he has a moment to post on here to enlighten us firsthand.

Thanks. the sooner the better because my exams are on Wed Nov 5.

Ugh. John, I am huge loser. The fellow I was referring to went right for the MW, has not done the WSET. I must have been relying on erroneous info since I met him. I wish you the best of luck, let us know how it goes!

Thanks to all who gave me advice!! I passed the certified in Arizona this past weekend.

Congratulations! We spoke once right?

Congrats! How did the test go for you, I'm always curious about other's experiences?

HI all
My name is Kyle. I am new to this forum. I am going to take the Certified exam in March. any tips on what information i should focus on? and is the partical and tasting part tricky? what are they like?

Hi Kkyle. I assume it is the Court of Master Sommeliers Certified Exam you are taking? Anyway, the written exam is pretty much like the one you did for the intro exam (the one where they almost gave you the answers ahead of time). You certainly don't need to read even 10% of those books they listed on their site.

On the service part, they are NOT out to trip you up but they will throw in some type of special request to see how you do it with confidence. Maybe they will tell you to skip the part where the "guest" tastes the wine. Just be yourself and show you can talk with a guest. They do expect you to recommend wines for foods with vineyard names, vintages, and reasons for the vintages.

The also ask you a little about cocktails. E-mail me at johndb10023@yahoo.com and leave your cell number and I would be happy to chat.

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The exam I took was fairly comprehensive. I'd let others who are thinking of taking it to know vintages for burgundy,bordeaux,champagne, and port. Know many options for different food pairings. Know all the cocktails from the julyan book plus variants not listed. 1855 classification-memorize it now. I saw a lot of people fail this because of the theory exam and/or not being good with a champagne bottle. The whole thing was easier than I had expected only due to my preparation. I spent sooooo much time in flashcard church that some things I thought I didn't really know, actually just appeared to my mind during the written portion. Also, when studying, my wife helped me by forcing me to be quick with answers. You have to eliminate hesitation in order to show grace in your role-no ahhhs,ummmms,or duhhhhs.

As for the tasting, invest your time and money in both new and old world examples of: merlot,cab,tempranillo,sangiovese,pinot noir,gamay,syrah/shiraz, and zin. Then for the whites: sauvignon blanc,chardonnay,riesling,viognier,pinot gris (grigio), and chenin blanc.
If you have to buy these yourself in the $10-15 range, it amounts to a $200-250 investment. But, these are your "textbooks". If only they would stay fresh!!

Did they reveal after the test what the blind tasting wines were? They did not do that when I took the exam.

Thank you very much guys for the tips. For the vintages, do they ask which vintage of a region is good? and how well should i know about the 1855 classification? I know it quite a bit but I am not sure if it is enough. Do yo guys have any good training method of blind tasting?

They did not reveal the wines!