SOMM - How much do you know about wine?

They are would like to feel like „rock stars of wine“, „wine prophets“ or „wine egomaniacs“. They are aware that their environment considers them to be ill and to be gifted at the same time – while they are tasting wines for hours, days, weeks, months and uncountable nights, cramming theory, roaming vineyards and asking through wine cellars. So, at first glance, SOMM reminds one of mundane reality TV shows; here, too, it becomes obvious how desperate the candidates are when they are soaking the answers and when new findings or setbacks nourish and encourage them, and how crudely and outright masochistically they are torturing themselves.

„SOMM does not only show bluntly the extent of the commitment necessary for the exam but as well the comprehensive effect on the candidates’s lives. Furthermore, the film shows clearly their fights, obsessions, despair and success on their way to the qualification of a master sommelier”, Geoff Kruth says, director of the Court of Master Sommeliers.

SOMM records as well current affairs within the international wine scene; this is realized by interviews with several master sommeliers, with experienced wine experts from trade and gastronomy as well as with renounces vintners. The interviews with Andrea Cecchi from Tuscany, Hano Zilliken from the Saar region, Paul Graf von Schönborn from Franconia, Wilhelm Haag from the Mosel region, and Bo Barrett from the Château Montelena, California, give authenticity and substantiate the variety of know-how about the cultivation and vinification of wine, what the candidates are expected to know.

It is still not certain when Jason Wise’s film will be released, and if there will be a German version, too. It is only certain so far that the premiere is to take place on the US east coast. Currently, Jason Wise has registered his film for Tribeca, the New York Film Festival, and as well for the Edinburgh Film Festival. “The acceptance of the festival is incredibly low”, Jason Wise says, “but the unbelievable feedback to our trailer, that has been watched as often as 15,000 times during the first two days alone, encourages me.”

Ronan Sayburn, a master sommelier and wine director at the Hotel du Vin, Hampshire, is looking forward to the film, and he is hoping that SOMM gives his profession a chance to be understood better: “The demystification of wine is good for our branch. SOMM also demolishes the myth of a sommelier being a star. Possibly, sometimes I am a star for my guests for those 10 minutes while I’m decanting a bottle of Château Latour at the table, but I’m certainly no longer a star at 2 a.m. when I’m polishing glasses.”

Gerard Basset, who is a master sommelier, too, has a similar point of view: “Certainly, our guests think we are omniscient but we are doing a normal job. There are days where I feel successful when I managed to advise my guests properly or when I am allowed to visit wineries and to discuss with the vintners until late at night. In any case, sommelier is a normal profession like any other, but we have to know very much, and we practically never stop learning. I can recommend the film to everyone who is interested in wine.”

“SOMM – How much do you know about wine?” is also authentic because Jason Wise had the full support of the Court of Master Sommeliers. So, this was the first time that the Association of Master Sommeliers allowed a view into its commonly locked world with its strict regulations. At the end of the film, it becomes clear to the spectator, why as few as 200 candidates worldwide have qualified themselves as master sommeliers so far. (red.yoopress)

Video: SOMM Documantary Trailer from Forgotten Man Films on on Vimeo.