Court of Master Sommeliers

Court of Master Sommeliers

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Court of Master Sommeliers · MMXXVI
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Court of Master Sommeliers At the desk

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Court of Master Sommeliers

The Archive

Every file SOMM DIGI builds for the Court of Master Sommeliers — course presentations, examination materials, brand assets, sponsor imagery, AI training material — arrives here for the Court to review. Approved files stay permanently and become the foundation of the Court's own AI.

No file SOMM DIGI uploads becomes official until the Court approves it.

Review the drafts · Approve what's ready · Build the Court's AI

SOMM DIGI is building · lodging new artefacts continuously
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Why this portal exists

Built by SOMM DIGI for the Court

Three reasons the Archive is taking the shape it is — and what it becomes for the Court over time.

I.

Share file drafts safely

Every file SOMM DIGI prepares for the Court is delivered here as a draft. One secure door. One permanent record. No expiring download links. No third-party transfer services. No files lost in inboxes.

Replaces WeTransfer · Canva · email
II.

The Court approves every file

No file becomes official until the Court of Master Sommeliers has reviewed it. Drafts sit under review. The Court signs them off. Only then do they enter circulation as an official Court artefact. SOMM DIGI publishes nothing without the Court's mark on it.

Draft → Court approves → In circulation
III.

Build the Court's own AI

Every approved file stays in one secure cloud archive — year after year, examination cycle after examination cycle. Over time these artefacts become the training data for the Court's own future AI, taught in the Court's own voice, on the Court's own materials.

Today's archive · tomorrow's Court AI

SOMM DIGI is uploading, curating and training continuously — every rule, every reference, every standard visible.See the AI Agents →

The Month Ahead

Your Instagram posts and every Court course date, on one calendar.

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Studio Console · Court of Master Sommeliers At the desk

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Studio Console · Court of Master Sommeliers

Building the Court's Archive

Every file SOMM DIGI builds for the Court of Master Sommeliers is uploaded here first — course presentations, examination materials, brand assets, sponsor imagery, AI training material. Each draft is recorded permanently and held under review until the Court approves it.

No upload becomes an official Court artefact without the Court's approval.

Upload · Record · Review · Approve · Keep

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The Month Ahead

Every Instagram post and Court course date for the month, on one calendar.

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Folder

CMS AI

How may I help, sommelier?

Ask any question on theory, tasting, service, or the path to certification. Answers are grounded in the Court's own teaching materials and cited.

Newly built and under development — replies may not yet be entirely accurate. The team is refining the assistant.

Press Enter to send · Shift+Enter for a new line

CMS AI

Who the assistant speaks to.

Three communities, three voices. Open a folder to see how the assistant is instructed to speak — and what it must always carry.

Folder Ⅰ

Candidates & Students

From the Introductory candidate to the working Master Sommelier — and the three pillars they are asked to carry.

Holds the three pillars Open the folder
Folder Ⅱ

Partner Wine Schools

The schools around the world that bring CMS courses to their country — the Host Country.

Open the folder
Folder Ⅲ

Sponsors

The houses and brands who support CMS so education stays within reach — a partner in education, never a logo.

Open the folder

The Library

What the assistant reads from.

The Court's own teaching documents — cleaned, organised, and quietly at hand. The assistant consults these for every answer.

The Examiner · Court of Master Sommeliers

Read, then be tested

Open a volume, move through it chapter by chapter, and when you're ready the Court's assistant sets a short examination on what you have just read.

Drawing the volumes from the shelf…

Teach CMS · Court of Master Sommeliers

Instructions the assistant follows

Anything you add here, the Ask CMS assistant follows on its very next answer. Keep each instruction short and plain — add a detail or an example underneath if it helps. The Court teaches; the assistant obeys.

Add an instruction

1 · Choose what kind of instruction this is

2 · Write the instruction

The assistant follows this on its next answer.

Skills

Longer markdown playbooks the assistant follows when switched on — like a Marketing skill. Write one here, or upload a .md file. Toggle each on or off any time.

The Brand

How CMS looks & sounds.

The colours, type, and voice behind every screen and every word. Quietly authoritative. Warm but serious. Heritage you can hear.

Palette

Four official colours, from the CMS Brand Kit. Burgundy and gold are a pair — gold almost always sits on burgundy, burgundy on ivory. Borders are burgundy at low alpha, never grey.

Burgundy Red
#5D0C32
The heart of CMS — candidates & members. Nav, headings, buttons, user bubbles.
Soft Gold
#F7F0A2
The new generation — modern, never fancy. Accent on burgundy: text, diamond, labels.
Ivory White
#FAF7F0
Sponsors & partners — premium, professional. Page background across the portal.
Near Black
#1A1A1A
The wider profession — authoritative, timeless. Default body text on light surfaces.
Typography

The CMS brand typeface is Calibre / Calibri — the font used across all CMS materials. On the web the portal renders Carlito, its free, metric-compatible twin, so screens match the documents exactly. Bebas Neue is the display face for titles. British spelling throughout.

Display · Bebas Neue
COURT OF MASTER SOMMELIERS
Titles, buttons, numerals. Never set body copy in it.
Body · Calibri / Calibre · Carlito on web
Education is a gift. CMS speaks quietly to a room that is already listening — confident, never loud.
All body, labels, and UI. Burgundy italic is the house emphasis.
Page hero
HeroCarlito · 56px · weight 500
Section title
SectionCarlito · 40px · weight 500
Card title
CardCarlito · 22–26px
A measured, italic lede.
LedeCarlito italic · 18px
Body copy, line-height ~1.55.
BodyCarlito · 15–16.5px
Eyebrow label
EyebrowCarlito · 11px · 0.18em · UPPER
The signature
The small gold diamond is the quiet CMS mark — before eyebrows, folder numbers, and nav links. It is the "you are in CMS" signal. One per block. Paired with square corners, hairline burgundy borders, and calm 0.22s motion. No rounded pills, no shadows used loudly.
The three pillars

Every candidate is asked to carry them. Every word CMS writes should embody them — never boast them.

Integrity
A wine cellar is an expensive commodity and a serious responsibility. A Master signs a code of conduct; the title may be withdrawn for conduct detrimental to the Court or the industry.
Hospitality
Lift everyone around you — guests, colleagues, the next candidate — to learn, study, and become the best professional they can be.
Humility
One global team raising the Sommelier profession in the eyes of our peers, the wine trade, and hospitality. Never positioned above them.
Voice & tone

Quietly authoritative. Warm but serious. Heritage you can hear — and never arrogant.

CMS should feel prestigious, serious, dignified, warm & generous, authoritative, and respectful of the craft — a respected master speaking quietly to a room that is already listening.

DO
  • Clear, correct, plain English. British spelling — programme, recognised, honour.
  • Calm and measured — let the prestige speak for itself.
  • Encourage learners. CMS believes in them.
  • Proper words: candidate, examination, certification, Master Sommelier, service.
  • Capital S — "Sommelier" names the title and the profession.
  • Every fact correct, every number checked.
DON'T
  • No hype: amazing, game-changer, revolutionary, unleash, supercharge.
  • No exclamation marks, emojis, slang, or all-caps shouting.
  • Never arrogant or superior — embody the pillars, don't boast them.
  • Never "· Europe" or "CMS Europe" in portal copy.
  • Never recite institutional facts back as decoration.
  • Never invent facts, names, numbers, sponsors, or partners.
The three communities

Every piece is for one of three audiences. Always know which before you write.

Candidates & Students
As a mentor to a dedicated student. The Introductory course is not an intro to wine — it introduces the Court, its examinations, and its philosophy.
They need: respect, clear guidance, encouragement, a standard worth reaching for.
Partner Wine Schools
As a respected peer — collaborative, serious, standards-led. In contract terms, the "Host Country".
They need: a trusted, prestigious partner who shares their standards and care for the next generation.
Sponsors
As a grateful and equal partner — dignified, appreciative. Show the real impact of their support.
They need: to feel proud, valued, properly recognised — a partner in education, never a logo.
Image law

Every CMS image reads as fine dining at the highest service standard. The lapel pin is the detail Ronan watches — it is almost always rendered too large.

  • Pin width ≈ 4% of the total image width (~1.5 cm real-world) — frame-relative, never lapel-relative. If unsure, render smaller.
  • Shape: a gentle vertical oval ~1.13:1 — never a perfect circle, never a stretched locket.
  • Sits on the left lapel, centred, ~⅓ down from the notch, upright.
  • The CMS crest is the institutional signature on every sponsor image — a solid polished-brass tablet on the wall. Never let the AI render the mark; composite it.
  • Open every logo / badge reference before writing the prompt. Surgical, positive detail — no vague nouns.
Master
All-gold metal, deep red / burgundy enamel ring. No silver.
Advanced
All silver / pewter metal, deep dark forest-green enamel. No gold anywhere.
Certified
Gold-bronze metal, purple enamel ring.

The full design system, components, and image rules live in the brand folder — this page mirrors it. The AI reads the same rules on every answer.

Court of Master Sommeliers

AI Agents · Instructions

Two agents are being built inside the portal — each one trained on the institution it serves. This page is the open workshop. Every rule, every reference, every standard the agent obeys is visible here — so the Court can see exactly how its voice is being represented before a single image is shared.

Updated continuously · Nothing here is final · The Court reviews and approves at every step

Agent 01 · /cms-sponsor
The Sponsor Agent
Generates the institution's sponsor recognition images — Ruinart, Zalto, Laurent-Perrier, Coravin, Gusbourne, Jackson Family Wines, AXA Millésimes, Austrian Wine, Alliance Wine. One locked visual system across all nine houses.
Being built
Slide 01 · The Inversion
"The sommelier owns the post. The sponsor is the gift inside."

Not an advertisement — a moment of recognition for the working sommelier, in which the sponsor happens to be placed. Every image speaks to three audiences at once: the sommelier · the sponsor · the trade. It must pass the 5-second test at 11pm on a Friday.

Sponsor image — Laurent-Perrier
A moment of recognition, not an advertisement.
Slide 02 · The Two-Reference Rule

Two real photos. Never one. Never invented.

SOMM DIGI will not let an AI hallucinate a partner's label, glass, or device.

  • 01Sponsor prideThe partner sees their actual bottle.
  • 02Sommelier eye-catchRecognisable product + the Court's signature.
  • 03Trade signalEndorsement, not advertisement.
  • 04Brand-safeNo hallucinated label. No fake logo.
Slide 03 · The Engine

Nano Banana Pro · the only engine the agent uses.

Reference-faithful. Preserves exact bottle shape, label typography, neck foil, embossing and proportions of the uploaded reference. Generic image engines redesign labels and invent details on real devices.

SOMM DIGI will not switch engines without the Court's approval.

Sponsor image — Ruinart
The Ruinart bottle, label and foil preserved exactly from the reference.
Slide 04 · The Visual System

One look. Same across all nine houses.

Format
1080 × 1350
Portrait 4:5. Instagram-native.
Surface
Polished dark concrete
Modern cellar. No wood. No barrels.
Lighting
One nordic beam
Upper-left. Deep shadow right side.
Palette
Burgundy · Black · Gold
Cream-gold only in the beam.
Lower frame
Deep shadow
Bottom 40% reserved for the overlay line.
Standard
Ready for service
Staged moments before the first guest is seated.
Slide 05 · The Nine Houses

One post per house · every five to six weeks.

Ruinart
The bottle that ends the conversation about what to start with.
Laurent-Perrier
The Champagne the sommelier opens without ceremony.
Gusbourne
The English glass the guest no longer apologises for.
Coravin
A pour from a bottle the guest didn't ask to open.
Zalto
The glass that disappears when the wine arrives.
AXA Millésimes
The bottle the cellar has been holding for the right table.
Austrian Wine
The Grüner that ends the argument about food pairings.
Alliance Wine
The list arrives. The first pour decides everything.
Jackson Family Wines
The bottle that surprises the table that thought it knew.
Slide 06 · Live samples

Being calibrated now.

Ruinart sample
Ruinart mise-en-place
Laurent-Perrier sample
Laurent-Perrier · Grand Siècle Nordic cellar
"Every image is staged inside the institution's own service canon."
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Agent 02 · /cms-insta
The Instagram Agent
The Court's daily Instagram presence — carousels, single image posts, captions and hashtags. Written in the institution's own voice. Calm. Factual. Precise. Generates ready-to-publish content for @courtofmastersommeliers.
Being built
Slide 01 · The Feeling
"A historical narrator who knows everything and says only what matters."

Calm. Factual. Precise. Never emotional. Never dramatic. Never inspirational. The facts are the story — the agent trusts them completely. It never sounds like a brochure, a corporate announcement, or an influencer.

Slide 02 · The Golden Rule

Every sentence answers one of five questions.

  • 01What is it.
  • 02When is it.
  • 03Where is it.
  • 04Who does it.
  • 05How does it work.

If it doesn't answer one of these — the agent deletes it. The museum-caption test: if it sounds like a museum caption written by someone who was in the room — publish it. If it sounds like an Instagram caption — rewrite it.

Slide 03 · The Three Audiences

Every post serves one.

Audience 01
Candidates
Introductory to Master Sommelier. Specific. Exam-focused. Useful.
Audience 02
Partners
Approved schools delivering CMS programmes globally.
Audience 03
Sponsors
Educational content. Never an advertisement. Always dignified.
Slide 04 · The Four Levels

The institutional canon.

Level 1 · Introductory
3 days · 6 weeks pre-study · 60% pass mark.
Level 2 · Certified
1 day · 10 weeks pre-study · 2 wines blind.
Level 3 · Advanced
5 days · 12 months pre-study · 6 wines in 25 min.
Level 4 · Master Sommelier
3 days · 24 months pre-study · 75% pass mark · Invitation only.
The Three Pillars
Theory · Tasting · Practical. All three together.
Exact terms only
"CMS Theory Syllabus." "CMS Deductive Tasting Grid."
Slide 05 · The Content Series

The editorial plan being built.

Series 01
Before You Sit
Exam preparation for each level.
Series 02
Study This
Champagne · Barolo · Burgundy · Fortified · Tasting Method.
Series 03
Exam Explained
Practical Service Test · Blind Tasting · Advanced · Master.
Series 04
Career
Life after the badge. Where each level is recognised.
Series 05
History
The Court. Brian Julyan MS. The examination 1969→today.
Cadence
Educational first
Sponsor posts max twice per month. Never back-to-back.
Slide 06 · The Closing Line
"We do not change tradition. We protect it by helping it adapt."

Court of Master Sommeliers · Road to 2030.

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SOMM DIGI · for the Court of Master Sommeliers · 2026

Upcoming Courses

The 2026 Calendar

Every Introductory, Certified, Advanced and Master Diploma course scheduled across the year. Pulled from the Court's published schedule.

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Every time the Court signs in — and every file they download — is recorded here, with the date, time, and browser. Read-only.

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