The Court of Master Sommeliers has an Icarus problem. For years, the organization has been praised for increasing the professionalism of wine service in high-end restaurants in the age of celebrity chefs and luxury dining. But as somms became celebs themselves, the red lapel pin of a master sommelier evolved into a symbol of wine’s highflying elite class, glorified in movies such as “Somm” and the new Netflix film “Uncorked.”
Entry into this elite is tightly controlled by its members and granted only to a select few who successfully navigate its rigorous fraternity rush. A cheating scandal in 2018 tarnished the organization’s image and shone a light on the high costs borne by those seeking to attain the master sommelier title.
This year, the court has been brought down to earth by two crises. The coronavirus pandemic shuttered restaurants and may forever change the way we dine out. Then, the Black Lives Matter protests following the police killings of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks focused the world’s attention on racial inequities, structural racism and implicit bias.
As the protests grew, the Court of Master Sommeliers, Americas, the U.S.-based branch of the international organization, stumbled into a communications blunder of its own making. During the first week of June, “the energy turned from ‘were we going to make a statement’ to ‘why haven’t we made a statement’ very rapidly,” Devon Broglie, chairman of the court’s volunteer board of directors, said in an email. Under pressure from some of its members, the court rushed out a statement condemning racism and pledging to partner with groups such as the Hue Society to foster inclusiveness in the wine industry.
That was news to Tahiirah Habibi, a sommelier who founded the Hue Society in Atlanta in 2017 to foster “a safe place” for black Americans to enjoy wine free of stereotypes and bias, “assimilation not required.” She posted a video on her Instagram account that sent shock waves through the wine community. Habibi not only took the court to task for appropriating her organization to make it look inclusive, but she also described how when she took the introductory level several years ago, the master sommelier teaching the class and proctoring the exams insisted on being addressed as “master.” The exam proctors, and everyone else in the room, seemed oblivious to how this felt to a black person, she said.
The court responded by announcing it would immediately refer to its top members with the full title of master sommelier instead of simply master. It formed a diversity committee, ordered implicit bias training for its instructors, and pledged to devote some proceeds from new online courses to fund scholarships for aspiring sommeliers of color. And it dropped mention of Habibi’s organization from its website.
That wasn’t enough to stanch the criticism. Three master somms publicly renounced their titles and resigned from the court, saying it no longer reflected their values. The San Francisco Chronicle’s Esther Mobley wrote that the court’s elitism mirrored wine as a whole, requiring investments in money, time and fluency to some degree in foreign languages or specialist lexicon to look like we belong “in the settings of the ruling class.”
“In this charged moment in our country, things aren’t looking good for hierarchies of any sort,” Mobley wrote in her email newsletter.
In her Instagram video, Habibi challenged individual master sommeliers to pressure the court to improve inclusivity in its programs and make the court accessible to everyone. But in that post, and in a Zoom conversation with me, she expanded her critique to the wine industry as a whole. Importers, distributors, retailers and wineries should all “stop taking safe stances in order to keep your primarily white audience comfortable.” Tearing down what she calls “racist systems” — the barriers to entry, the stereotypes, the “they didn’t really mean it that way” dismissals of microaggressions — will not just make the wine world more diverse, it will help make society a safer, more comfortable place for everyone.
Broglie hinted as much when I asked him if the Court of Master Sommeliers, Americas has a diversity problem. “Like many others, we are learning that simply adhering to a strict non-discrimination policy and belief in the meritocracy of our examinations isn’t enough,” he wrote. In other words, it’s not enough to say: “Everyone is equal. You get where you are by earning it.”
“We know we can do more to promote inclusion and access to the hospitality industry for the BIPOC community,” he wrote. “With increased awareness and commitment to mentorship for all, the hospitality industry and the Court of Master Sommeliers, Americas will be that much stronger as a result.”
Habibi never continued in the master somm program after her initial “master” experience. But in the weeks since her Instagram post ignited the most recent controversy, she teamed up with New York-based hospitality consultant Ikimi Dubose and Carlton McCoy, a master sommelier who is also CEO of Heitz Cellar in California’s Napa Valley and a member of the court’s new diversity committee. They formed the Roots Fund, a nonprofit group aiming to support scholarships, education and job placement for minorities seeking careers in wine.
“I wonder how many people tried to go through the system and were hit with these biases, the microaggressions, and it changed the course of their career,” she said. “Or they left it altogether?”
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