Some Thoughts on "On the Road to Becoming a Master of Wine: First Speed Bump, Certified Specialist of Wine"

It has been a week since my last post. I needed some downtime. I took the Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW) exam last Thursday and now it is just a waiting game. Waiting for the results which will take anywhere from four to six weeks to arrive. I hate waiting. I'd rather do something now than plan ahead, and I will procrastinate if I can't see a reward in the short term. A set of  character flaws that I will probably never grow out of. These flaws make my ambitions either more difficult than they need be or too far out of reach.

This, hopefully, explains my decision to jump in and take the CSW exam without a decent period of study time. I decided to take the exam 13 days or so before it was given. It was rather impetuous. I had also started a new part time job at a Liquor/Wine store. Between working my main job (Professional Gardening), studying and learning the ropes at the liquor store, which was certainly more frenetic than the wine shop I had worked at previously, my stress levels were high and I wasn't getting much sleep. It was very exciting and I enjoyed the challenge. My next challenge will be either taking the Certified Wine Educator exam or a Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) exam. I probably won't jump willy-nilly into either of those, but then again I might. What the heck.

After taking the CSW exam, I tried to figure out what I knew I got wrong. I came up with six questions that fell under that category. I won't go into detail because I see no reason to give away questions that were on the final exam. I imagine that the Society of Wine Educators would not appreciate anyone giving away even one question on their exam. I am very confident of passing and I am also fairly certain of scoring over 90%, but we shall see.

As for becoming a Master of Wine, I am uncertain if this is a road I will actually travel. It is a daunting process, both mentally and financially. I, at the moment, fail to see the immediate rewards and I don't imagine that leaping in is a good idea. Yet, the challenge of it provokes me to test myself in this fashion. It is like a game to me, and I love games. Time will tell. I love wine, good wine, and I love sharing it and the knowledge that I have with anyone that will partake. What I really want to do is open up my own wine shop and educate as many consumers as possible, but this has proven to be much harder than I imagined. I won't go into it here, but in most of America, because of remnants of Prohibition, the bureaucratic hurdles are legion. Quite frankly, raising the capital has been a hurdle as well. Sigh.

On a brighter note, Thanksgiving is only two weeks away, give or take a day. I will be reviewing, hopefully, a slew of wines appropriate or not, for the traditional Thanksgiving fare.

Word of the day: Abboccato - An Italian word meaning medium sweet or semi-dry. Orvietto Classico Abboccato is an example. The Spanish use the word Abocado to signify medium sweet, but Semi Seco is the official labeling term used, as in Cava Semi Seco. Semi sweet wines can prove to be quite useful in Thanksgiving Day meal pairings.