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Wine and sommelier exams
In wine and sommelier study you learn grape varieties, regions, appellations and food pairings. Lumi asks them back until you link them without having to think.
How to turn this subject into cards
Make one card per region, with its main grapes, its style and its best-known appellations. One card per grape, with its colour, typical aromas and home regions. Food pairings go by principle, for instance a lively wine with a rich dish. For tasting, one card per step, sight, nose, palate. The trap is reading a wine map without ever reciting it. With Lumi you recall each association from memory, and that is what fixes it (Karpicke and Roediger, 2008). Spread your sessions, the map sticks better over several weeks (Cepeda et al., 2006). Add one card for each wine you taste, with your description in three words. Review the cards of the regions you mix up most often.
What you need to know by heart
- Grape varieties, their colour, aromas and home regions.
- The main wine regions and their principal appellations.
- Winemaking methods, still, sparkling and sweet wines.
- The steps of tasting and the vocabulary used to describe a wine.
- Food pairing principles, and serving whites cooler than reds.
It depends on the country
Paths differ by country. In France sommellerie often goes through hospitality training and a professional certificate, then sommelier competitions. In the United Kingdom and many English speaking countries the WSET levels and the Court of Master Sommeliers are common. In Spain training goes through sumillería schools and enology courses. Check the syllabus of the body you are aiming for.
How Lumi helps you remember it
You teach your cards to Lumi, grapes, regions, appellations, pairings. It forgets over time, like you do, then quizzes you right before you would forget. As your exam or tasting selection approaches, the Mist settles over what you know less well and Lumi asks that first. You link region and grape without searching.
Example cards
Three cards the way you would write them, with the answer Lumi expects.
Which grapes are the main ones of Burgundy?
Pinot noir for reds and chardonnay for whites.
How is Champagne made?
By a second fermentation in the bottle.
What are the three steps of a tasting?
Sight, nose and palate.
Example card
Try it, Lumi turns it into fill in the blank questions in your browser.
Wine and sommelier exams · teach this card to Lumi
Pinot noir and chardonnay are the main grapes of Burgundy. Cabernet sauvignon and merlot lead the blends of Bordeaux reds. Champagne gets its bubbles from a second fermentation in the bottle. A tasting follows three steps, sight, nose and palate.
Lumi’s question
Pinot noir and _____ are the main grapes of Burgundy.
Pick the missing word
Answer right to light Lumi up
Its lamp fades when a fact slips away.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I memorise appellations?
- One card per region with its main appellations and the dominant grape. Lumi asks them back at growing intervals (Cepeda et al., 2006).
- Can I learn tasting with cards?
- Cards fix the method and the vocabulary. Taste is trained by tasting, and Lumi helps you retain the terms to describe it.
- How do I remember food and wine pairings?
- Learn the principle rather than the dish, for example acidity against richness. One card per principle with two examples, which Lumi asks back.
Read next
Sources
- Karpicke, Roediger (2008). The critical importance of retrieval for learning. Science, 319(5865). doi.org/10.1126/science.1152408
- Cepeda, Pashler, Vul, Wixted, Rohrer (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks. A review and quantitative synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 132(3). doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.3.354
Teach this to Lumi
Give Lumi your wine and sommelier exams notes, it gives them back as questions at the right moment.