text: The master sommelier examination has often been called “the hardest test you’ve never heard of.” Since its inception in 1969, just 274 people have passed the grueling exam, which involves years, sometimes even decades, of preparation. For a wine service professional, it is the crowning achievement of a career. This year, 24 people passed the test, earning the right to add the coveted “MS” suffix to their names. 
   
   Now, the exam’s administering body, the Court of Master Sommeliers (CMS), has announced that it will invalidate the results of one portion of this year’s examination. In an Oct. 9 letter sent to all master sommeliers, CMS board chairman Devon Broglie, MS, wrote that the board had “received a report from outside legal counsel that a member of the Court of Master Sommeliers, Americas disclosed confidential information pertinent to the tasting portion of the 2018 Master Sommelier Diploma Examination prior to the examination.” 
   
   Broglie did not name the master sommelier responsible for the information breach, though it seems likely that the person may have been one of the exam proctors. Proctors are master sommeliers who have undergone a rigorous additional training process, typically lasting about four years. 
   
   The announcement snatches away the MS title from 23 of the newly anointed sommeliers, four of whom work in the Bay Area: Andrey Ivanov (Bliss Wine Imports), Scott Barber (Green Pin Wines), Vincent Morrow (the soon-to-open One 65 restaurant) and Robert Ord (recently, Treasury Wine Estates). The cost to take each examination is $995. On Oct. 10, the CMS announced that the 23 candidates will have two chances to re-take the test, one later in 2018 and another in spring or summer 2019. The testing fees for the tasting portion of the 2018 exam, and all fees for these subsequent exams, will be refunded, and assistance with travel expenses will be offered. 
   
   Morgan Harris, head sommelier of the Angler in S.F., is the sole member of the class of 2018 whose title remains valid. That’s because Harris had passed the tasting portion of the exam last year, and had only to pass the service portion this year. “It’s heartbreaking and incredibly disappointing for me and for everyone else who passed the exam in a fair and honest way,” Harris said. 
   
   The information breach, Broglie said in his letter, pertains only to the tasting portion of this year’s exam. The tasting portion is what first made the exam the object of popular fascination: In 25 minutes, a candidate must taste six wines, blind, and identify each one’s grape variety, region of origin and vintage. There are two other sections to the exam, theory (a 50-minute verbal exam on geography, winemaking methods, grape varieties, etc.); and practical (a simulation of restaurant service). If a candidate passes one section but fails another — and almost all do — she can come back to take the failed portion the next year. Many candidates take five or more years to complete all three. 
   
   Harris had no inkling of any foul play during the examination process last month in St. Louis. “Not in the five years I took the exam did anybody talk to me about any wines,” he said. “Nobody talks about (the) tasting (portion of the exam) in particular, because it’s such a mind game.” The CMS goes to special lengths to prevent opportunities for cheating, he added, by sequestering candidates before and after the exam. Even after a candidate has passed the tasting portion of the exam, she will never learn the identities of the wines. 
   
   Nor did Harris have any idea about who the offending master sommelier — and his or her candidate accomplice — might be. “I just can’t imagine in what universe you would work so hard to achieve something that you’re then actively invalidating,” he said. The person has been barred from any CMS events, and Broglie wrote that the board is initiating the process of terminating the person’s membership, which would include his or her master sommelier title. 
   
   The news is sending shock waves throughout the sommelier community, which tends to regards its myriad examinations with an air of religiosity. Credentials like those administered by the CMS are not requirements for most sommelier jobs, but they’re becoming increasingly popular among somms who want to advance their careers — and put their palates to the ultimate challenge. The success of the “Somm” documentary series, which just released its third film, has only added to the MS exam’s aura. 
   
   For those who took the Master Sommelier Diploma Examination in September, it was the final step in a long, many-step journey. In order to qualify to take it, candidates must first have passed a series of other tests, including the Advanced Sommelier Examination. The CMS website claims that about 25 to 30 percent of test takers pass the Advanced exam, and only about 10 percent pass the theory portion of the Master exam. 
   
   Passing the final test can mean a significant material difference in a somm’s life. An advanced sommelier in the U.S. earns an average salary of $87,000, while a master earns an average of $164,000, according to a 2017 GuildSomm survey. 
   
   There will be an “expedited process” for the 2018 candidates to re-take the tasting examination, Broglie assured, but did not share any details. 
   
   That must come as an enormous blow to the 23 professionals who must now sit, all over again, for an exam that some of them have been attempting to pass for decades. 
   
   Still, agonizing as it must be for his friends and colleagues, Harris trusts that the CMS board is acting in all of their best interest, by protecting the reputation of the master sommelier title. “The decision that was made is the only one that could be made,” he said, “because the organization is the certification. 
   
   “I know that’s why the decision was made — to maintain the integrity of the exam.” 
   
   Update: This story was updated on Oct. 10 to reflect the CMS’ announcement of the protocol for the re-tests. 
   
   Esther Mobley is The Chronicle’s wine critic. Email: emobley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Esther_mobley Instagram: @esthermob ||||| 
   
   Only 273 people in the world have passed the master sommelier exam. (iStock) 
   
   Watching a sommelier blindly taste a flight of wines, figuring out their origins right down to the grapevine in a French village, is like watching a magician try to guess your card: You don’t believe it’s possible until they’re right. 
   
   Then, of course, you want to know how they did it. 
   
   For master sommeliers, there is no simple explanation. The expert wine stewards spend years and thousands of dollars preparing for the master sommelier examination, seen as one of the toughest tests in the world administered by the Court of Master Sommeliers. Since its inception in 1969, only 273 people have ever passed the three-part test, according to the court’s website, with the blind tasting being the hardest part of the exam. In 25 minutes, sommeliers must identify and describe six wines, the exact region each came from and the year each was harvested — the part that might as well be a magic trick. 
   
   Only that this year, somebody really did pull a fast one. 
   
   The Court of Master Sommeliers, Americas announced on Tuesday that it would have to invalidate the blind-tasting test results for all 54 candidates in the class of 2018 because of “clear evidence” of cheating. In turn, the court would have to take back the diplomas from 23 newly minted master sommeliers who had just passed the exam last month in St. Louis. 
   
   One of the court’s masters “breached the confidentiality” of the test after releasing “detailed information concerning wines in the tasting flight” ahead of time, according to the court. The master was not identified, and it was unclear who received the information. A spokeswoman for the court told The Washington Post on Wednesday that she could not offer more details for the time being. 
   
   Devon Broglie, a master sommelier and chairman of the Court of Master Sommeliers, Americas board of directors, said the board understood that the decision would come “as a shock” to the new masters but that it had to be done. 
   
   “Maintaining the integrity of the examination process must be our highest priority, lest we risk diminishing the value of, and the respect earned from, becoming a Master Sommelier,” Broglie said in a statement on Tuesday. “Our credential is known throughout the hospitality industry worldwide, and it guarantees that the holder of the Master Sommelier title is among the most qualified of all wine industry professionals. A compromised examination does not provide that guarantee.” 
   
   The board has since “barred” the master from participating in any programs or events and has voted unanimously to terminate the master’s membership in the organization. 
   
   Morgan Harris, the only master sommelier in the class of 2018 whose diploma was not invalidated, told The Post the sommelier community is a small one and this scandal has left it devastated. 
   
   “It’s so profoundly disappointing,” he said. “It’s a tremendous amount of waste and heartbreak for everybody who passed in an honest way and who now have to reprove something they’ve already proven.” 
   
   Candidates have three years to pass the three portions of the master sommelier exam. Before they can attempt it, they must have completed the introductory course, certification exam and advanced sommelier exam. The final test has three parts: theory, requiring vast knowledge of virtually every wine region in the world; tableside service, and lastly, the blind tasting. 
   
   Harris said that mastering it requires sacrifice, adding that the 23 people who earned diplomas had devoted their lives to the exam. He was among them but said he was only lucky. Because he had already passed the tasting portion of the exam in 2017, this year he needed to pass only the service portion, which was not affected by the scandal. 
   
   “There are people who have put relationships, marriages, parenting of their children on hold so they can make sure they’re professionally successful at this,” he said. “It sounds crazy, but that’s the whole idea: You pass the exam, and you’re done.” 
   
   Now they’re not done. Harris said it took him four years to pass the master sommelier exam. Even though he earned the distinction, Harris said, that doesn’t mean he could pass every blind tasting he attempted — meaning the 23 people forced to retake the tasting may not pass it again. 
   
   The Court of Master Sommeliers welcomes the class of 2018! Congratulations to 24 new Master Sommeliers! #MSDiplomaExam pic.twitter.com/BA9kNk22zy — Master Sommelier US (@MasterSommUS) September 5, 2018 
   
   After the sommeliers passed the exam last month in St. Louis, they celebrated their achievement with glasses of champagne. In interviews with local press, some said they had spent thousands of dollars and had been trying and failing for years before breathing a massive sigh of relief once they finally passed the test. 
   
   Maximilian Kast told the News & Observer this was the eighth time he attempted the master exam, having worked his way up from the introduction course starting in 2006. Andrey Ivanov told St. Louis Magazine that it took him nine years, four failed attempts and “mountains of credit card debt” to get to this point. He said he probably spent $60,000 to $70,000 to cover the cost of his education, travel and endless bottles of wine for his studies. 
   
   Steven McDonald told the Houston Chronicle after he passed that he was “floating.” 
   
   “I know what he’s feeling,” Guy Stout, who became a master sommelier in 2005 and mentored McDonald, told the Chronicle. “You’re on cloud nine, like the world has lifted off your shoulders. All those hours you’ve put in . . . to grab the ring is really great.” 
   
   On Wednesday, the Court of Master Sommeliers, Americas said it would refund the fees the candidates paid to take the tasting exam and would offer two opportunities to retake it. 
   
   “There are no words I can say that will take away the disappointment and anger that our candidates are feeling,” Broglie, the chairman, said in a statement. “I can only imagine how hard it hit everyone to learn that something they worked so hard for was tainted by the actions of a single individual.” ||||| October 9, 2018 
   
   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
   
   CONTACT: Kathleen Lewis (707) 255-5056 x11, klewis@mastersommeliers.org 
   
   Court of Master Sommeliers, Americas Board of Directors Takes Unanimous Actions to Preserve Integrity of Examination Process 
   
   NAPA, CA – The Board of Directors of the Court of Master Sommeliers, Americas unanimously voted to invalidate the results of the tasting portion of the 2018 Master Sommelier Diploma Examination for all candidates due to clear evidence that a Master breached the confidentiality with respect to the wines presented for tasting. 
   
   “Maintaining the integrity of the examination process must be our highest priority, lest we risk diminishing the value of, and the respect earned from, becoming a Master Sommelier,” said Devon Broglie, MS, Chairman of the Board. “Our credential is known throughout the hospitality industry worldwide, and it guarantees that the holder of the Master Sommelier title is among the most qualified of all wine industry professionals. A compromised examination does not provide that guarantee.” 
   
   The Board of Directors found sufficient evidence that the tasting portion of the 2018 Master Sommelier Diploma Examination was compromised by the release of detailed information concerning wines in the tasting flight. The Board unanimously voted to fully void those results to protect the integrity of not only the examination process but also the reputation of the Court of Master Sommeliers and the title Master Sommelier. 
   
   “We understand this decision is a shock to those who recently passed this examination, and we carefully considered the impact our decision has on our newly pinned Masters and their careers,” Broglie said. “We are committed to developing an expedited process so that all eligible candidates can retake the tasting examination.” 
   
   The Board of Directors has barred the Master involved from participating in any Court of Master Sommeliers, Americas programs or events and has voted unanimously to initiate the process of terminating membership pursuant to the organization’s bylaws. 
   
   “Our honor and integrity are the best safeguards for preserving the reputation of the Court of Master Sommeliers, our members, and our industry as a whole,” Broglie said. “Maintaining the integrity of the examination process must be our highest priority, lest we risk diminishing the value of, and the respect earned from, becoming a Master Sommelier.” 
   
   ABOUT THE COURT OF MASTER SOMMELIERS, AMERICAS 
   
   The Court of Master Sommeliers was established in England in 1977 to encourage improved standards of beverage knowledge and service in hotels and restaurants. The first Master Sommelier Diploma Exam to be held in the United States was in 1987. The title Master Sommelier marks the highest recognition of wine and spirits knowledge, beverage service abilities, and professionalism in the hospitality trade. Education was then, and remains today, the Court’s charter. 
   
   There are four stages involved in attaining the top qualifications of Master Sommelier: 1) Introductory Sommelier Examination; 2) Certified Sommelier Examination; 3) Advanced Sommelier Examination; and 4) Master Sommelier Diploma Examination. For more information, please visit www.mastersommeliers.org. 
   
   ### 
   
   “The Court of Master Sommeliers sets the global standard of excellence for beverage service within the hospitality industry with integrity, exemplary knowledge, and humility.”
target: – The exam to become a master sommelier is notoriously difficult. The years, even decades, of study required to conquer the three-part test of wine knowledge—broken down into theory, table service, and tasting—mean that fewer than 300 people have managed it over 49 years. Now 23 sommeliers who thought they'd joined the upper ranks last month will have to do it over again. The Court of Master Sommeliers, Americas announced Tuesday it would invalidate the results of the blind tasting administered in St. Louis because of "clear evidence" of cheating. An unnamed court master "breached the confidentiality" of the test by releasing "detailed information concerning wines in the tasting flight" ahead of time, the court says, per the Washington Post. The offending master (unnamed) will be stripped of title and court membership, and 23 of 24 newly minted masters must retake the 25-minute tasting test—in which they're asked to identify six wines, down to the year, grape, and region, per the San Francisco Chronicle—before next summer. "It's a tremendous amount of waste and heartbreak for everybody who passed in an honest way," says the sole member of the 2018 class to keep his title, having passed the tasting portion last year. "There are people who have put relationships, marriages, parenting of their children on hold so they can make sure they're professionally successful at this." CMS board chairman Devon Broglie is sympathetic. "I can only imagine how hard it hit everyone to learn that something they worked so hard for was tainted by the actions of a single individual," he says. (You can be a tea sommelier, too.)