Racial dynamic riles wine court
Wine professionals are speaking out against the Court of Master Sommeliers, Americas, the organization headquartered in Napa that administers the notoriously difficult Master Sommelier Examination. Among the charges: that the court failed to be equitable and inclusive for people of color.
First, Atlanta wine professional Tahiirah Habibi addressed her experience taking the court’s introductory exam in New York in 2011. In a June 16 video post on Instagram, Habibi recalled how the exam proctors instructed her and other candidates to address them as “master,” an honorific that recalled for her the power dynamics of slavery.
“I just kind of sank,” Habibi said later in an interview. She passed that introductory exam, but chose not to pursue further courses or exams with the court. Subsequent levels would have required her to simulate wine service in a restaurant, “and I just couldn’t imagine having to pour a glass of wine for someone while calling them ‘master,’ ” said Habibi, who is the founder of the Hue Society, an orga
nization that supports Black wine professionals.
“There was no point in attempting to go forward” in the court, she continued. “I couldn’t deal with people who couldn’t see that that language was a problem.”
Master sommelier Devon Broglie, chair of the board of directors of the Court of Master Sommeliers, Americas, spoke with Habibi this week about the incident.
“I expressed deep regret for the unwelcoming experience and the racism perpetrated then,” he said in an email to The Chronicle. The board “will move to officially end any use of ‘Master + Last name’ only.” Any references to “master sommelier” must use the full term now.
Then Richard Betts, a prominent master sommelier, sent waves through the wine world when he announced on June 17 that he was resigning from the court and abdicating his title. It’s the first time a master sommelier has resigned from the organization.
“I threw out my pin and my tie tonight,” Betts said on Wednesday evening, referring to the red and gold pin that master sommeliers affix to their lapels to signify their status. Betts, who passed the exam in 2003, currently runs the Australian wine label An Approach to Relaxation with his wife, sommelier Carla Rza Betts.
Why resign? He cited his perception that the court has not taken a sufficiently strong stance on racial justice, as well as his disapproval over how the court handled a 2018 cheating scandal, among his reasons.
On Monday, another master sommelier joined Betts in resigning. Brian McClintic, one of the stars of the movie “Somm” and the owner of Viticole Wine Club in Napa, explained in a Medium post that his decision to resign came down to “the simple affirmation of three words: Black Lives Matter.”
On June 7, the court sent a statement to members expressing its condemnation of “racism, prejudice and racially motivated violence in all its forms,” Broglie said, and posted the statement on its website the next day. It did not post any related messages to its social media channel until June 17, the day after Habibi published her Instagram video and the same day that Betts announced his resignation in a Medium post.
“We recognize the social media broadcast did not happen on as swift a timeline as it should have,” said Broglie. “Nevertheless, we are proud of the decisions we have made and the initial actions we are taking for the growth of the organization and the betterment of the hospitality industry.”
The Court of Master Sommeliers has always been shrouded in an aura of glamorous exclusivity, with films like Netflix’s “Somm” trilogy and the recent “Uncorked” celebrating the rigor of its culminating examination, which requires candidates to identify wines with no information other than what they can taste, see and smell. Since the organization’s founding in the U.K. in 1977, only 269 people have ever passed that grueling final test and gained the title — and pin — of master sommelier.
Part of the shock of Betts’ resignation is rooted in how difficult it is to gain entry to that uppermost echelon. Who would give that up?
But the court has come under scrutiny in recent years. In 2018, it announced that it would invalidate the results of that year’s Master Sommelier Examination, rendering 23 new titles illegitimate, because it had learned that an existing master sommelier had leaked information about what would be on the test. Many sommeliers criticized the court’s handling of it, especially those who had passed and felt they’d been unfairly punished for someone else’s mistakes.
The following summer, the Court of Master Sommeliers, Americas filed a lawsuit against Daniel Pilkey, one of the candidates whose title had been rescinded, because Pilkey continued to wear his pin and identify himself as a master sommelier. A U.S. District Court judge ultimately dismissed the complaint.
Although Betts had been feeling a sense of unease with the sommeliers’ court for years, he said, the cheating scandal was a turning point.
“It is so irresponsible on the part of this body to handle it the way it was handled,” Betts said. The fact that noncheaters were being penalized as if they’d cheated, without any way to defend themselves, “was so disturbing to me.”
Broglie said that the court encourages disagreement from its members.
“It is unfortunate that (Betts) is using current events to publicly rehash his disagreement over the difficult decisions the board made in 2018.”
The developments of the past month were the final catalyst for his departure, Betts said. While protesters around the world have spoken out against the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and systemic racism, he didn’t think that the court was doing enough to speak out, despite its June 7 statement to members.
“America is having this reckoning now, and this organization does nothing,” he said. “It’s not to say the (court) has to be the NAACP. But stand for something. Say what matters.”
Betts said he feels that the court, a “very white, very privileged wine program,” should become more inclusive. “It can do a lot better in terms of reaching a more diverse community, and I mean diverse in terms of race, economic background, privilege.”
That’s something that Habibi knows all too well. When she embarked on her wine career, “I didn’t know any black people who were into wine,” she said. In fact, “that was the whole reason I wanted to do it” — to become the first black woman master sommelier.
She’s never spoken publicly about her 2011 experience before. But when Broglie published a letter that mentioned her organization, the Hue Society, she decided it was time. Habibi said that the court had not contacted her prior to writing the letter, and she felt it implied that they had a partnership, which they did not. (The court has since removed a letter and published a new one, acknowledging the mistake.)
“The reason I spoke about it now is we are at a turning point in this country, and everybody is waiting to see who is going to be a real ally,” Habibi said. “There’s no middle ground. The wine world has been disgustingly silent, and we all know the wine world is a very, very white space.”
Both Habibi and Betts raised the question: How important are the court’s credentials, anyway?
The things that first drew Betts to the court, he said, no longer feel true.
“There was some subtle shift,” he said. “It used to be about ‘let’s get people excited about wine.’ Now we’re an accrediting body. It’s just become a badge.” To him, it has become a cynical job credential, a pass to guarantee a highpaying job at a restaurant group, winery, wholesaler or casino.
As for Habibi, the fact that she passed the court’s introductory exam in 2011 hardly ever comes up. Her career didn’t need it.
“I never talk about credentials,” she said. “Especially as a black person, I think it’s more important to validate yourself through your work. You shouldn’t need a credential in order for people to respect you.”