Sommelier Study Techniques....

Studying for Sommelier exams at any level is tough, time consuming, but it always boils down to one thing - YOU.

When it came to place names, geography and sequences of information I struggled especially with German, French and Italian places. The German place names all sounded the same typically ending in a …berg or a …heim, French place names were so romantic, but one look at a Burgundy map and my brain turned to spaghetti. Pronunciation was very hard as well.

In the end I had to discover how I learned best and develop a technique unique to me.

How do you learn to learn?

Your best learning strategies will be discovered once you test various techniques that make sense to you with the key being a combination that works - just for you. I remember staying at a friends place in Bozeman, Montana - a few years back - and each morning I entered the bathroom to take a shower a whole wall was covered in post-its with questions - any beverage from any where in the world (thank you John). Some of it stuck. You’ll know it’s the right blend when information is retrieved faster and more readily than you expected.

Some people learn by drawing diagrams, or starting with blank maps and slowly filling them in with information. Flash cards help to a degree, ‘always do lists in no more than 7s of anything’ I was once advised; others by rote learning. Reading out loud is an excellent strategy as it reminds you how words should sound and what they mean - try trockenbeerenauslese, but it also makes use of more than one of the five senses simultaneously. Walking and speaking lists or reciting information aloud is also excellent. I discovered a talent for writing pun-based stories was a unique learning strategy for me, maybe you as well. Here’s what I mean…...

Burgundy is a great example of lists of place names that on their own are just a list, but when developed into a story the words, place names and setting suddenly become linked.

Here’s a list of Premier Cru’s (vineyards) in Gevry Chambertin, in the Cote d’ Or, Burgundy (from a list I wrote circa 2005):

• Gevry Chambertin

• Bel Air

• Cazetiers

• Champeaux

• Champitennois

• Clouseau

• Combe au Moine

• Combettes

• Lavaux St Jacques

• Clos Prieur Haut

• Clos St Jacques

And here’s the story I wrote to help me remember the names of those vineyards.

Gevry Chambertin lived in Bel Air on the coast of Cazetiers, he liked to Champeaux his hair with Champitenois very Closeau, then brush it with a Combe au Moine he made at Combettes high school. For lunch he would eat Lavaux St Jacques or Clos St Jacques and occasionally Clos Prier Haut. This was Gevry Chambertin.

Here’s one more.

• Morey St Denis

• Blanchard

• Bussiere

• Charmes

• Charrieries

• Cheverny

• Faconnieres

• Genervrieres

• Monts Luisants

• Clos de Ormes

• Clos Sorbes

• Le Sorbes

• Ruchots

And here’s the story I wrote to help me remember the names of those vineyards.

Morey St Denis was his new name, he used to be called Blanchard Bussiere. He liked to Charmes the girls especially Charrieres and Cheverney, but eventually married Genevrieres from Faconnieres. They moved to Mont Luisants where they raised two girls Clos de Ormes and Clos Sorbes, one boy Les Sorbes and a dog named Ruchots. This was Morey St Denis.