I arrived home one evening last week to find an envelope from the Society of Wine Educators waiting for me, a little earlier than expected. I opened it up for my results from the Certified Wine Educator exam taken in early November.
I fared well on the multiple-choice, correctly answering 75 of the 85 questions and aced the essay, scoring 14 of the 15 points. Consequently, I earned an 89% on the theory portion of the exam. I passed the faults identification, missing only two of the eight samples. However, as I had feared, I failed the blind tasting, which has never been my strength.
While I have obviously not earned the CWE credential, the two passes will remain and I only have to successfully re-take the blind tasting to complete it. I have not yet identified a test date as it is not being given in NYC and most of the scheduled cities aren’t particularly easy to get to and/or get around in. The most likely option is Providence, RI in April as Amtrak goes to Providence and the test site appears to be only 4 miles from the train station. According to the the current Amtrak schedule, I might even be able to go up and back on the same day, saving the expense of a hotel room.
In the meantime, of course, I have a lot of studying to do. But, fortunately, studying for the blind tasting is a lot more fun than studying for the theory portion.
Well, considering the hectic schedule you put yourself through that weekend, you seem to have done quite well. Congratulations and I am sure you will do well on the blind tasting next time, especially now that you will be armed with the experience from your first attempt.
Did you find that the recommended “tricks” for wine faults (placing burned-out match in wine, etc.) for the faults test were helpful?