Results day was Friday, September 13th and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t sitting on pins and needles all summer.. After nearly 21 hours of testing in June in London, I was hoping against hope I’d knocked down at least one part of the MW. I got theory, the most time consuming piece, and now will just need to focus on tasting (practical) over the next year- which I got quite close on this year! I had a flight to Scotland the evening of receiving results, and decided to record my thoughts while they were still fresh:
WOW- I am very excited to have received a theory pass on my first attempt at S2! I felt optimistic leaving the exams (some say you know immediately if you have failed- I knew this with MS Theory, but here I felt cautiously hopeful) and had agonized all summer over what my MW fate would be. I did not actually write many dedicated essays throughout this last year (but I did do PLENTY of outlines and definition work) and spread myself rather thin studying for MS, taking on more responsibilities at work, and teaching. The theory portion consisted of 13 different essays over 4 days on an array of subjects. You have to use direct quotes from industry leaders from around the world and demonstrate the ability to understand different approaches. The practical portion of the MW is notoriously difficult and outside of attending DC course days, I didn’t do any bootcamps or dedicated MW flights. This is a program about communication and also mastery- and mastery is not solely achieved by holing up and studying. I threw myself headfirst into being a wine industry professional throughout the year and those ultimately were the examples I called upon.
The best thing that I did was apply for and get accepted to Riesling Camp in the Finger Lakes, a 3 day long immersive trip for industry professionals. The winemakers were so generous with their time and expertise- I think I quoted one of them in every single paper across all 5 categories. Winemaking and viticulture are my weaknesses, and I was particularly nervous for P1-P3. This trip helped me to understand things I’d previously struggled with.
I felt like the topics that they asked at the 2024 exam were quite fair and more broad than in the past and I do think I got lucky with what was being asked. I also went off the rails a few times- tackling subjects about processing aids and ingredient labeling under the new EU legislation, for example- and was really worried that I lacked sufficient knowledge to cover such a niche subject in depth. The MW is about being clear. I followed the essay structures to a T, and I also ended up sprinkling in a lot of MS theory flashcard tidbits throughout- bringing up Amarone’s blending requirements, sweetness levels of Vouvray, and other random things that came to mind that could tie into a subject and help me provide further depth to my argument.
The MW Exam was the most grueling experience of my wine life to date. It was 4 days long in London in early June, with tasting in the morning and essays in the afternoon, adding up to over 20 hours of testing. I am thrilled that I will only have to worry about tasting this upcoming year, and also relieved to see that I’m on the right track given my scores. My biggest issue continues to be sweets/fortified wines, and just like with my MS prep, that’s what I’ll be tackling first. Here is the rest of my game plan for Practical:
-Complete all 3 PAMS assignments
-Attend course days in Napa or London the week of 4/28-5/1
-Potentially start a Master-level tasting group in DC, as I’ve been the only student here since I was accepted into the program in 2022 but we now have quorum for MW and a few MS candidates as well!
-Regular dry notes practice with Bella
-Seminar- I’ll have to go to a practical only one this year, so the options are Adelaide, Odney again, or Napa
-I’d like to attend a bootcamp or two this time around. The first two years in the program, I focused a lot of my resources on MW Theory prep- paying for tutors, buying writing books, traveling to wine regions- so now I can funnel my attention to buying samples and paying for tutoring here
In short, I’m elated and fired up to tackle this upcoming year of studies. This past year was a wild ride- I was turning 30, and I felt this strong pull to make sure I did not miss out on the last year of my 20s. I traveled to South Africa, Belgium, Germany, Romania, Ireland, Bulgaria, UK (thrice!), Finger Lakes, Belize, Turks & Caicos, and the south of France throughout the year. The fact that I passed anything, honestly, is remarkable considering I was prioritizing balance and spending time with friends and loved ones. I can solidly say (as I’m on a flight to Scotland as we speak) that the jet setting is out of my system for now and I’m actually excited to lock in and study hard over the next year. My goals are to knock MS Theory out of the park, which is going to take some fine tuning and a LOT of work. I also want to pass MW Practical this time around. With that being said, time to get back to studying..
As always, onwards and upwards!