how many african american master sommeliers are there

Chris Gaither is currently only 1 of 4 Black Master Sommeliers. Yes, even in 2023, there are only 4 Black men and women who are recognized as mastering their knowledge of wine.

A symbol of defiance

Reflecting on that time at Press Restaurant, Morrow said he understood on some level why the court’s Board of Directors believed they had no choice but to invalidate the tests. Had they not, some people would always wonder whether the titles were legitimately earned.

Morrow faced a gut-wrenching choice in the wake of the invalidations: whether to walk away from a dream that had cost him years of grueling effort and tens of thousands of dollars, or go through it all over again.

On average, master sommelier candidates spend nearly a decade and up to $100,000 of their own money on the process, with no guarantee of success, according to Price.

Morrow never wavered. Two years after the invalidation, and after spending an additional $7,000 on wines to practice for the blind tasting, he officially earned the title of master sommelier, this time for good.

In his view, the asterisk tattoo is a symbol of defiance.

“You know, for me, it’s more of a positive,” he said. “Being one of the few people that had to endure that and hopefully nobody else ever will again.”

Price, who resigned his post on the court’s Board of Directors a few months after the cheating scandal, praised Morrow’s resolve, and that of others who retook the test, who he said were “victimized” by the incident.

“I have so much respect for their fortitude, their inner strength, their power,” Price said. “It’s a big testament to Vinny and to me, frankly, that we’ve become fast friends out of that.”

Becoming a master, twice

On a recent Thursday afternoon at Press Restaurant, Morrow discussed his meteoric rise in the nation’s food and beverage industry while he relaxed in the restaurant’s Harvest Room prior to the dinner rush.

He wore a blue suit and gray tie, and around his left wrist was a designer watch, one of five he owns to match outfits. His facial hair was trimmed with precision.

On his suit jacket, a tiny red and gold lapel pin adorned with the words “Master Sommelier” and the of Bacchus, the Greek god of wine, was the only outward display of his special status.

Concealed by his white dress shirt, however, was a much more revealing detail — a tattoo of an asterisk, about the size of a half-dollar, situated at the base of his throat.

The symbol of cheats and scoundrels — Morrow, in fact, referenced baseball’s steroid era in describing it — is one of his defining features, a curiosity for a man who by many accounts has led an impeccably moral and ethical life.

He got the tattoo at a Rohnert Park establishment shortly after he passed the master sommelier exam in 2020. But in the moment, he was focused on one of the darkest periods of his life.

In 2018, the Court of Master Sommeliers stripped Morrow and 22 other newly minted master sommeliers of their titles following a cheating scandal that rocked the global wine establishment and garnered international headlines.

The court took the unprecedented action after a proctor overseeing the blind-tasting exam was discovered to have leaked information to an unknown number of the candidates.

To be clear, Morrow was not accused of cheating. But he, like the others, fell under suspicion as a result of the proctor’s actions.

This man is 1 of just 4 Black sommeliers in the world

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