Perks & Rec
Posts
Perks & Rec: June 2025 🇪🇸

Perks & Rec: June 2025 🇪🇸

A Terroir Tours Publication

Jake Assaf
June 17, 2025

We understand how International travel can be complicated, frustrating and unpredictable. When you travel with Terroir Tours we guarantee an easy, convenient and high quality experience every time. You can relax and enjoy your vacation and leave the details to us.

This month, we’re on the research tour here in Spain preparing for our 2026 adventure. You can follow along on Facebook and Instagram as we preview what’s to come!

Perks & Rec: Masterclass - Fall 2025

Tucson, Arizona - Summer 2024

At breakfast this morning, I skimmed through the finance section of the paper. A headline caught my eye: “More Businesses Ditch Cash for Cards and Digital Payments.”

It instantly reminded me of a friend, a guy who’s seen the world, earned multiple degrees, and always seemed to be ahead of the curve. Despite his savvy in most areas, he pays for almost everything with a debit card, still carries cash for meals, and writes checks like it’s 1995.

Last month, he invited my wife and me to a baseball game. He had so much knowledge to share, breaking down every aspect of the sport. He knew the history, the rules inside and out—obscure rules like the double switch and the infield fly rule. He even knew the backstories behind team rivalries and player drama. He gave us an insider’s look at the whole scene.

We were all having a fantastic time until he went to buy a round of beers and some popcorn. He came back to our seats looking completely bewildered. Turns out, the stadium didn’t accept cash—credit cards or mobile payments only. It was as if the game he knew so well had suddenly changed, and he didn’t get the memo.

It wasn’t just the stadium. The world of money has changed. Cash is no longer King.

Businesses have turned to electronic payments for convenience and security. But it’s not just about ease for them—it’s an opportunity for us. My friend was playing the old game, while some of us have moved on to a new one, with big rewards.

In this Masterclass, I’m going to teach you the rules of this new game. It’s not just about shifting how you spend, but learning how to make the system work for you. When you have a plan, you can travel the world for free!

A University level presentation in Travel Finance!
The ultimate educational tool and resource for travelers. Full of easy to understand explanations, checklists, charts, strategies, real-life examples and more.
If you attend this course and apply the basic strategy - you’ll save $1000 on your next vacation, and every one after that!
The perfect gift for newly engaged couples!
Imagine… flying business class to Japan and staying at the Park Hyatt Tokyo for a week… for FREE!

💵 Jake’s Travel Tips 💶

Always Pack a Debit Card!

Now, I’ve convinced you that travel credit cards should always be in your wallet, especially when you’re traveling abroad. I’m all about earning points and perks, but here’s the reality: sometimes, you will need cash money. Whether it’s for a tiny café in San Sebastian that doesn’t accept cards, a taxi in Lisbon, or tipping a tour guide in Colmar, an ATM can be your best friend.

That’s why I always travel with a debit card. It’s the easiest way to get local currency safely.

Pro tip: many banks will reimburse any foreign ATM fees—but you must double-check with your bank before you go. It’s a small move that can save you big headaches (and a few bucks) on your journey!

What the Heck is a Sommelier?

There are three components to the Certified Sommelier Exam. First, there’s the service exam, where you perform a mock table-side presentation. Then, there’s the theory portion, which covers essential wine knowledge: facts and figures you've drilled into your brain for months. “What’s the primary soil type in Chablis?” “Name three benchmark producers in Barolo.” You either know it or you don’t.

But the most intriguing—and nerve-wracking—part is blind tasting.

The journey started when I approached a fellow wine professional (hi Stacy!) and asked if she’d be up for forming a tasting group to prep together. She matched my enthusiasm immediately. Over the next few months, we met every Wednesday morning at 1618 or Rioja. We ‘invited’ various wine reps to pour for us—but blind. No labels, no clues. Just our noses, palates, and notebooks.

Before you can even take the exam, there’s a prerequisite course. And just getting a seat at the table is no small feat. The test is offered only a few times a year, in a handful of cities, and the $750 registration fee doesn’t guarantee availability.

Luckily, the Angus Barn in Raleigh—an iconic old-school steakhouse with a serious wine program—has long supported the Court of Master Sommeliers and hosts the event annually.

We were told to arrive at 8 a.m. Our group of 30 was led upstairs through a set of massive wooden doors into a grand banquet room. Long eight-foot tables were neatly arranged, each with four tasting glasses—two white, two red. We were instructed: No perfume. No cologne. No coffee breath. Any scent could interfere with your own nose—or your neighbor’s.

The blind tasting began. We had 25 minutes to identify each wine: the grape, region, vintage, and—more importantly—the style. Alcohol levels, acidity, tannin, body. Every detail matters. And with practice, you begin to pick up on them the way a chef distinguishes between thyme, rosemary, and tarragon.

As soon as that was over, it was onto the written portion. No room for improvisation here—either you’ve done the work or you haven’t. I remember looking at the calendar and creating a self-guided syllabus, studying a different region or country each week. A stack of flashcards were always in my pocket.

Then came the service portion. If you've ever spent time learning with me at Rioja, you know I’ve done away with the stiff formality of traditional wine service. Wine education should be fun. Most of the “rules” feel more like barriers than helpful guidelines. That said, I knew how to play the part when it mattered.

To pass the exam, you must pass each component individually. No one knows how they’ve done until the very end. It’s tense.

We were split into groups and assigned time slots. I returned later and was the first in line in the second group. As I stood outside the doors waiting with five others, the previous round finished.

The doors open and a young woman burst out of the banquet hall. Crying. Running. Stiff-arming her way through the five of us and down the stairs like someone fleeing a crime scene.

We all froze.

“You’re next,” the instructor was pointing at me.

I walked into a reset room. Six tables, one master sommelier seated at each. We were to imagine each table had six invisible guests. The mood was formal, silent, surgical.

Now, if you’ve been to the Angus Barn, you know it’s got character. There’s the banquet hall, the Wild Turkey Lounge, a waiting area lined with antique pistols and rifles. It felt like we were awaiting execution.

In the holding area, we were finally allowed to talk. One guy stood out. Older. Confident. Maybe too confident. He name-dropped unicorn wines like Screaming Eagle and DRC—wines I’d bet he’d never tasted. He told me he was retired and working part-time at a wine shop, aiming for the certification.

I asked what he did before that.

“I was a scientist. I worked for NASA.”

“You’re a rocket scientist?”

“Well, yeah.”

Eventually, we were called upstairs again. The results were in. We each received a glass of Champagne and stood in a semi-circle, waiting for names to be called.

It felt like a playground roll call, only the stakes were higher and no one was picking teams.

One by one, names were announced. Every time it wasn’t mine, my heart pounded a little harder. Then, somewhere in the middle of the pack: “Jacob Assaf.”

It felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off my shoulders. I’d been practicing for this test for months—but training for it, really, for years. It wasn’t just about knowing wine; it was about staying calm under pressure.

As the relief washed over me, I reminded myself not to celebrate in front of those who didn’t pass. The guy next to me was the very last name called—I thought he was going to faint.

Only about 25% of us passed. We were given our pins and certificates.

I saw the girl who’d stormed out crying. She passed! I didn’t know her, but I hugged her anyway. We laughed.

I’ll never know for sure, but I think she dropped a tray during service. That would explain her exit. But I also think she recovered—regrouped, pulled herself together, and nailed it. That’s what the exam is really testing. Not perfection, but poise under pressure.

As I stood there with my new pin, someone tapped my shoulder. It was the rocket scientist. He hadn’t passed—but he smiled, reached out his hand, and said, “congratulations.”

He told me it was his third attempt.

Since successfully achieving Certified Somm status, I realized that the biggest benefit is for my own confidence. Like always, the growth and development happened during the training and the practice - the journey. Collecting the pin was graduation. The real skill in this profession, is to be able to comfortably and accurately, in your own words help tell the story of the wine. The people, the place. The fluency to convey the passion and emotion that represent not only the wine, but the region, it’s people, their food and their history. So often, wines that intrigue me most come from areas that have been maligned historically. That have marginal resources and have slowly and meticulously cared for their environment and passed down to their children not castles and jewels, but wisdom and know how. My skill and ability to do this doesn’t come from reading books by Janis Robinson or memorizing a few quotes from Raj Paar. It comes from visiting my friend Armando in Verona and seeing his vineyards in Valpolecella. From driving along the terrifying coast of San Sebastian to get to Anne’s winery in Getaria. To see the the overhead trellising thats necessary part of coastal hillside farming in this incredibly beautiful and dangerous faming conditions. To see the miles and miles of hillside vineyards in the Douro Valley. The work it took to create this UNESCO world heritage site is mind boggling. But when you see it, you understand the struggle. When you meet the people like Miguel and Gabriella who work in hospitality which is all part of the life cycle in this area, the Douro. It’s among the most visually spectacular I have ever seen. This is how you learn about wine, by embracing and celebrating the unique Terroir of the area. Not from the WS top 100 but tasting on the side of a ledge with a 4th generation wine maker who doesn’t speak english - from a bottle with no label, that isn’t for sale.

For me, a Somm is someone who strives to help other curious folks learn about and develop a life long interest in Wine - which for me is synonymous with Terroir. If you’re reading this, I assume you too have begun your own journey and I’m honored to be your guide.

Look, you don’t need the pressure of an exam to be a great wine professional. But if you know someone who has passed the Court of Master Sommeliers Certified Sommelier Exam, trust me—they know their stuff.