And now, let’s study! As everyone will tell you, get the certificate and wearing the tastevin are just the starting point to really become a Somm. Yes, because the 3 levels (either by Ais or Fisar – rigorously in alphabetical order) that lead to the final exam will be, till that moment, a pile of theoretical informations that you won’t have an idea what to do with. Until, freed by being forced on the books at night, you’ll finally be able go enjoy the nice part of these studies, that is the practice. And, letting fantasy and curiosity free, you’ll finally be able, tasting and re-tasting, to give a meaning to all the learnt basics. Cork smell? “Well yes, they described to me at the course, I perfectly know where it comes from…” but statistically is quite hard to find, unless you open a large number of bottles! “I don’t like Lambrusco!”… But are you sure you tasted enough of it, to being able to say that? During the course, if you’ve been lucky enough, you tasted one or maybe two, but there are dozens of Lambrusco.
And so, studying and becoming a Somm, what’s the point? It’s useful because just drinking, even a lot, will never give you the required basics to fully understand this world, to really know how what you’re sipping has been made, to feel the differences between similar products. It’s useful, above all, to improve your senses and your taste, it’s useful to become a thinking drinker, the one who choose the wine with a criteria (any criteria, it doesn’t really matter which one, it’s just important there’s one), the one that follows her/his desires and is able to decode them, placing on the table a wine able to make her/him feeling good.
What does it mean studying? It means going deeper into the single subject learnt at the Somm course, it means try to learn as much as possible of the infinite shades of this wonderful world. Thinking about the Lambrusco you really didn’t want to drink? Let’s try quite a few, from different producers and of different types, pairing them with different food recipes, from che cheapest to the premium ones (in this case it won’t be cash painful!), I’m pretty sure that your initial idea will be dismissed!
Public tastings, from big events such as the Vinitaly of the Merano Wine Festival to the smallest ones created by a number of organizations or associations are not to be missed occasions for our “study”, either during the course that after it. This events are a rich source for in-deep understanding on specific subjects – geography, varieties, types, and much more – giving you the chance to taste a large number of bottles and, quite often, the priceless value of a direct talk with the producer.
But the most important thing is that, during the course, the tastings are manned in group, which is essential to calibrate our senses. Trying to keep this habits, with friends of fellow students, is very important to keep the study mood and stimulate the curiosity, with steady debate and, over all, to learn with fun.
Obviously, all this considerations are valid for people approaching the Somm world without experience in the field. Even, often, people who daily work in the wine sector, enroll in the Somm courses right to fill the lack of theory that, together with the practical experience made on field, will allow them to work better than before.