What is the Certified Sommelier practical exam?

The short answer: the practical exam is the service part of the Certified Sommelier exam. You serve a table in a mock restaurant, and a Master Sommelier plays the guest. You may open and pour sparkling or still wine, recommend a wine for a dish, and answer questions on cocktails, spirits and producers as you work. You need 60%, and you must pass it at the same sitting as the theory and the tasting. With the Court of Master Sommeliers Americas it lasts about 16 minutes.

Where I stand: I passed the Certified and then the Advanced, in 2019, and today I work with the Court of Master Sommeliers Europe, whose online Learning Portal SOMM DIGI builds. Everything below comes from the two Courts' own published material.

The practical at each Court

Sources: the Europe Certified page and What You Need To Know, and the Americas' Certified page and exam guide in its Resource Library.

How it runs, step by step

The Americas publish the clearest description of the day. In their exam, the tasting and theory come first, in the morning; you get your service time when you finish the theory. Then:

• Arrive 10 to 15 minutes early. A local Advanced Sommelier, acting as maître d', checks you in and checks your tools.
• Listen from the first word. The exam starts as soon as the maître d' begins the instructions, and the instructions are part of the test. You may write them down.
• You are given a table and a Master Sommelier. Usually one examiner sits at the table, pretending every seat holds a guest.
• Serve, sell and talk for about 16 minutes. The scenarios are written in advance by the Court's exam committee; the examiners follow a script, with variations.
• Results come at the end of the day, at the results reception, with the other two parts.

The tasks you may be given

The Americas' exam guide lists the scenarios a candidate may meet. You won't get all of them in 16 minutes, so prepare for every one:

• Open a bottle of sparkling wine and serve the table.
• Open and pour wines by the glass, or serve a flight.
• Recommend a wine for a dish, or choose the best pairing from several dishes, and explain why it works. For full marks, name the producer, vintage and full appellation.
• Recognise producers from the world's top regions, and suggest producers similar to a guest's favourite.
• Describe classic cocktails: their ingredients, mixers and garnishes. See the gin cocktails to know.
• Name producers of beer styles, sake, aperitifs, spirits and liqueurs, such as two producers of single malt Scotch.
• Recognise aperitif brands, with their country and flavour: Aperol, pastis, Lillet, Manzanilla Sherry.

In Europe, the Court describes the service skills its exams look for: recommending and serving aperitifs, choosing and placing glassware, recommending wines from the menu and wine list, decanting where needed, serving spirits and liqueurs, handling queries and complaints with diplomacy, and knowing the measures for each drink.

What the examiners are looking for

• Technique: service done the Court's way, by its Service Standards. Clean, quiet, safe and in the right order.
• Knowledge in use: the theory, applied at the table. The Americas give examples: top producers, the top cuvées of the great Champagne houses, the First and Second Growths of 1855, and the best recent vintages of classic regions.
• Hospitality and selling: listening, confirming the order, recommending with a reason, and keeping the guest comfortable. The service exam is a sales exam too.
• Calm: the Americas' guide says plainly that the examiners are not trying to stump you. If you don't know an answer, stay professional and keep the focus on the guest.

How to prepare

Practise at a real table until the mechanics are automatic, so your attention can go to the guest. My practical service tips cover the drills for sparkling wine, decanting, pairings and the drinks questions, and the differences between the two Courts' service standards. For pairing answers, read food and wine pairing for CMS exams.

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