What Next?

I finally passed my certified sommelier exam.  And, I say “finally” because I have been putting it off for years, having taken the introductory course in 2007 when I first moved to Greenville.  Every September three master sommeliers come to town to participate in Euphoria and to give both the introductory course and the certified exam.   For the last few years I have wanted to take it because, why would I not its offered here in Greenville? And well it just makes sense.  But every year for the last three years I have been responsible for the planning and execution of Euphoria on the distributor side, which is an immense amount of planning that is months in the making.  I knew I couldn’t handle the pressure of the test as well as the stress of getting through the event without any issues. 

After coming home from Oregon, I vowed I would do it.  I would study for that test and I would pass it, and hopefully on the first try.  In February, I began blind tasting with some others in town studying for various levels of the sommelier exam as there are two levels after the certified: the advanced and the master level.  It gets increasingly more difficult as you move up through the Court of Master Sommeliers, as you would suspect.  It has been a challenging and humbling experience blind tasting at times, the moment you think you’ve got something down it never fails that you get it wrong.  It’s been great to taste wines other than what I sold for many years.  I had developed what they call a “house palate,” the dreadful and dangerous problem of drinking only things you sell (or make) and believing that everything that you do sell (or make) is superior to what else is out there, specifically the competitions wines.  There is a world of wine out there that is lovely and interesting and I have been drinking some of it, getting my palate back.  You could call this post “How Erin Got Her Groove…er Palate Back”. 

So, in addition to blind tasting since February, I have also been working part time at Bouharoun’s Fine Wines and Liquors in downtown Greenville since March.  I committed to working two days a week, which would give me the flexibility to do what I wanted while I wasn’t working like Pilates, blind taste, or study for the theory portion of the exam.  Perfect.  So now that the test is over, what next?  I’m just not sure.  I gave up a great job to work harvest in Oregon, knowing that I didn’t have a job when I got back, but I was okay with that situation. I entertained the thought of managing a restaurant, but decided after talking to a couple of people that was not something I wanted to do.  I also entertained the idea of getting back into wine distribution, the business I had just gotten out of only months before.  I decided again that is not something I wanted to do even though it would be like riding a bike.  Thankfully, I received a call from Peter Bouharoun asking for some help at his store and as it turned out I was free.  I have been moving, cleaning and organizing the wine side at the store, getting to taste with wine reps, but most importantly of all those things to me is that when I leave the store the work doesn’t follow me home.  I don’t have phone calls or emails to return or do paperwork at 10:00 at night.  But, I know that this is a temporary situation and now that I have successfully passed the certified exam and completed one of my short-term goals, I need to start looking for full time work, but with one caveat: it needs to be something I am passionate about.  I would like to stay in the wine business, but I don’t know that it will be something here in Greenville.  So where?  Back to Oregon?  We would love to, but I’m not sure it will work out.  So what next?  That my friends is the question lurking about at every corner of my mind.  What next?