When too much wine knowledge is not enough

Eric Crane is a frequent troller of Internet wine chat sites. Every now and then he crosses paths with a self-professed wine expert. To whom he says in a post:

“No, you’re not.”

Crane, director of training and business development for Atlanta’s Empire Distributors, knows enough to be certain that expertise on the subject of wine is an elusive fantasy. Crane and two other Atlanta area residents, Matt Olson and Chris Gaither, have a unique perspective on wine mastery. They were finalists in the regional Top Somm — the U.S. Sommelier Championships held at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, Fla., in early April.

To get an invitation to Palm Beach, the three had to pass a preliminary test: 30 minutes and 76 questions like what is the German term for monopole? List the five sub-regions of British Columbia's Okanagan Valley. What are the minimum aging requirements for quality Romanian wine?

Remember, these were just the entry-level questions. In Palm Beach, the questions got harder, plus there was a daunting wine identification (three red/three white) section and a practical service exam that required on-the-spot wine recommendations for an unusual array of dishes.

Crane came in third out of 10 contestants from the Southeast, just missing the finals that will pit the top two finishers from the five U.S. regions. Olson, the Southeast regional manager of Eric Solomon wine importers, and Gaither, formerly Restaurant Eugene’s sommelier, were just happy to represent Atlanta.

Gaither was unavailable for comment as he is just starting his internship at the French Laundry in Napa Valley, Calif. Many apply, but few get the chance to work with the wine staff at what many consider to be the best restaurant in America.

To get as far as Crane, Olson and Gaither did at Top Somm takes years of practice and study. Crane and Olson, for example, gather weekly with a small group of tasters who want to be able to identify wines without the help a label. I sat down with Crane and Olson one recent morning just after their tasting at Canoe restaurant in Vinings to find out why anyone would want to put themselves through such trouble and expense.

“You never know how good you are until you are pushed to the limits of your capabilities,” Olson said. “I always knew I didn’t know everything and now I really know what I don’t know.”

Undaunted, Olson wants someday to hold two of the highest credentials in the wine word -- master of wine and master sommelier.There are four people in the world with both distinctions given by the Court of Master Sommeliers. The Top Somm competition is sponsored by the U.S. Court of Master Sommeliers and is geared to spotlight talented wine industry professionals and give others a taste of what the withering MW and MS exams are like.

Crane already holds a high-level credential, certified wine educator, with the Society of Wine Educators, which took 18 months and two tries at the exam. He is on his way toward his MS certification.

In late April, he traveled to Anaheim, Calif., to try his hand at the advanced sommelier course and examination. Pass all three parts of the advanced exam (theory, wine identification and service skills, much like Top Somm) and Crane would likely be invited to sit for the MS exam. Just two in 10 ever pass the advanced exam, for which Crane has studied for 12 months; fewer still pass it on their first try.

“It’s fun,” Crane said with a laugh. “It is painfully fun, but it gives you a barometer to where you are. [Advanced certification] is there, why not go for it?”

Aside from giving Crane a gauge of his wine smarts, the avowed Deadhead and Phish Phan enjoys seeing so many young faces in the industry exploring wine in a serious way by attempting such demanding exams and contests.

It is a measure of the rising level of wine appreciation that exists in the United States, Crane said. Advanced wine knowledge was once thought to be the property of Europe, especially England, home to the Court of Master Sommeliers. More Americans, like Crane, Olson and Gaither, are proving they can stand among the world’s foremost wine authorities.

With so much wine knowledge swimming in his head, can Crane still just enjoy a glass of wine?

Almost at loss for words, which is unusual for the 38-year-old Roswell resident, Crane sputtered: “Wine is delicious! Knowing a lot about it is not going to make a bad wine taste better and it is not going to make a good wine taste worse.”