Forgotten Man Films/Samuel Goldwyn Films

How to make a wine documentary that doesn’t put audiences to sleep? The first-time director Jason Wise opted to focus less on wine itself and more on the characters who uncork, decant, sample and sell it: the sommeliers. His film “Somm” follows a quartet of hotshot American oenophiles as they prepare for a three-part, three-day test on every imaginable nuance of wine that is administered by the prestigious (and exclusive) British organization the Court of Master Sommeliers. Over nearly half a century, this international body has only “knighted” 197 candidates as Masters — about 10 percent of test takers. Dustin Wilson, the wine director of the triple-Michelin-starred Manhattan restaurant Eleven Madison Park and one of the film’s stars, passed just one of three parts — service — the first time he took it in 2010. “Only 16 people have ever passed it their first time,” he said.

The film follows him a year later as he tackles the sections devoted to theory and, most dramatically, tasting — a lightning round of blind sampling known in somm-speak as “going through the grid.” In 25 minutes, candidates must kick back three reds and three whites, identifying each aroma, taste, grape variety, provenance, appellation and vintage. To prepare, Wilson and three study buddies — Brian McClintic of Les Marchands Wine Bar & Merchant and Vallin winery in Santa Barbara, DLynn Proctor of Penfolds winery in Australia and Ian Cauble, the United States brand ambassador for Krug Champagne — gather around a kitchen table for mock tastings, giving the impression of the sommelier as a hybrid scholar, showman, athlete and poet. But interspersed with the highfalutin talk of terroir are testosterone-driven antics, not surprising since most of the filming took place between midnight and 4 a.m. “We’re not snooty wine people,” Wilson admitted. “We’re a bunch of goofballs.”

In this way, the film challenges the cliché of the tuxedoed somm. These wine geeks cram wearing flannel shirts and week-old stubble, celebrate with fist pumps and bear hugs, and describe a particular glass as having “tannins that ripped my face off.” In fact, Wilson hopes the documentary helps shed his profession’s effete reputation. “Sommeliers are not here to gouge you,” he says, “but to help you understand the wines a little better and to make sure you have a good time.”

The Sommelier’s Smell Test

In the film, the four stars and others who’ve already passed the Masters test, riff on the lowbrow adjectives experts use to talk about a wine’s aroma. Audiences may be surprised to learn that these are common parlance in somm circles. Here, Wilson shares 10 favorite wine descriptors:

Viognier : “Hot dogs”

Riesling : “New pool toy”

Chenin Blanc: “Wet wool”

Russian River Valley Pinot Noir: “Cherry cola”

Rioja Reserva : “Suntan oil”

Bordeaux: “Granny purse”

Syrah : “Bacon fat”

Beaujolais : “Bubble gum”

Sauvignon Blanc : “Cat pee”

Australian Riesling: “Freshly opened can of tennis balls”

Watch the trailer of “Somm” by Jason Wise, below.



“Somm” opens at Quad Cinema and on iTunes on June 21; somm-film.com.