SommNinja: what it is, how it works, and who it's for

The short answer: SommNinja is an online study platform for wine and drinks: more than 10,000 questions on 15 topics, in four difficulty levels, as multiple-choice questions and flashcards. It runs in the browser on a laptop or a phone. It was built by Julie Dupouy, a world finalist in sommelier competition, from the flashcards she studied with herself.

Who made it

Julie Dupouy comes from South West France and built her career as a sommelier in Dublin. She won Best Sommelier of Ireland several times and reached the final of the ASI Best Sommelier of the World contest in Mendoza in 2016, finishing third. She also holds the WSET Diploma and runs her own consultancy, Down2Wine.

How SommNinja works

• 15 topics: wine, spirits, cocktails, beer, cider, tea, coffee, sake, grapes, water and more.
• Four levels: the beginner level is all multiple choice; the next mixes multiple choice and flashcards; the top levels are flashcards only, because at that stage you have to recall an answer, not recognise it.
• Filters: study one topic, or narrow wine down by continent, region and sub-region.
• Self-marking: after each card you rate how well you knew it, then come back only to the ones you missed.
• Random mode: questions from every topic, mixed.
• A query button on every card, for when you think an answer is wrong or out of date.

The plans

Each plan is sold monthly or yearly; check current prices on sommninja.com. One honest note from SommNinja itself: it is not connected to the Court of Master Sommeliers, WSET or the other schools it mentions, and its levels are not certified by them. It is a study aid, not official course material.

What Julie told us

We interviewed Julie in April 2024. A few things stayed with me:

• It began in shoe boxes. When she retired from competing in 2019, she had thousands of handwritten flashcards from ten years of competitions. Rather than throw them away, she turned them into a platform.
• The content comes from official sources. She researches in English, French and Spanish, using official websites, and updates cards when laws and styles change.
• The beginner level was rebuilt. Her first beginner questions were too hard, so she added the multiple-choice level for students and hospitality staff.
• She answers the queries herself. Every question has a query button, and she replies personally. It keeps the answers accurate and the community close.
• Random study is the real test. She called it “brain gymnastics”: you may know an answer inside its chapter and lose it in a random mix.
• The hard part was technology. After years of app-store updates breaking things, she moved SommNinja to a web platform.

How to get the most from it

• Pick the level for your next exam, not the one after it.
• Ten minutes a day beats two hours on Sunday. Use the spare minutes: the bus, the break before service.
• Mark honestly, then spend most of your time on the cards you missed.
• Switch to random mode in the last weeks before an exam.
• Taste and serve too. Flashcards build theory; the Court's exams also test tasting and practical service.

SommNinja and SOMM DIGI AI

I build SOMM DIGI AI, so I am not neutral, but the two do different jobs. SommNinja is a large, human-curated question bank written by one expert. SOMM DIGI AI is an AI app: you can chat, ask why an answer is right, and drill quizzes and flashcards, with 3,000+ exam-prep questions and 35 Certified flashcard decks, free to start. Nothing stops you using a question bank and an AI side by side. For more ways to study, see studying wine online and how I used the Court's syllabus.

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