Somm Screening at Bacara
Documentary Shows What It Takes to Be a Master
Knowing the difference between “jammy,” “tannic,” and “easy-drinking” is one thing, but what a master sommelier must understand about grapes and terroir and oak and steel and, well, god knows what else, is staggering. In fact, the exam one must take to become a certified master sommelier has one of the lowest pass rates in the world. That likely has something to do with why, after its screening at this year’s SBIFF, the documentary Somm — which follows four would-be masters and gives the world its first solid nose on what goes on in the Court of Master Sommeliers — was so quickly snatched up by Samuel Goldwyn Films. This mysterious little world is fascinating, but filmmaker Jason Wise managed to infiltrate it, often through a distinctly Santa Barbara lens: area sommeliers Brian McClintic and Eric Railsback, managing partners of the any-day-now Caveau Wine Bar & Merchant, feature prominently in the flick.
If that’s tempted your palate, rejoice: Bacara scored and will screen the film prior to its nationwide release on June 21, with a private, advanced screening this Sunday, June 2. With a nod to its 12,000-bottle wine cellar, Bacara GM Kathleen Cochran notes that the resort shares the filmmaker’s passion for the juice, and so they’re pulling out all the stops. The event begins at 3 p.m., with a two-hour wine reception presented by the S.B. County Vintners’ Association, during which guests can taste more than 30 reserve varietals by top winemakers, to be sopped up by food prepared by Bacara’s culinary team. After that, Somm will be shown in the resort’s Screening Room, and after that, guests will enjoy a Q&A with McClintic and Railsback.
And then, they will sleep.
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Tickets to the Bacara’s exclusive pre-release Somm screening event starting at 3 p.m. are $65 and must be purchased online at nightout.com/events/somm-screening.
