No matter how suave and sophisticated you think you are, don’t get into a contest of wine knowledge with Doug Frost.

Because you’re sure to lose.

It’s safe to say Frost, who lives in Kansas City, Mo., is among the most informed people in the world when it comes to matters of wine.

That’s not hyperbole, either. Frost, 47, moves in a rarefied strata of oenophiles and wine connoisseurs. And he has the certification to prove it.

Frost — a respected author, lecturer and judge of major wine competitions — has been designated a Master Sommelier and a Master of Wine.

This is a big deal. There are about 300 Masters of Wine worldwide, and just barely more than 100 Master Sommeliers.

How many, like Frost, have both distinctions?

Three.

The two examinations that Frost took in the early 1990s are designed to test the knowledge that candidates have of wine and wine production, storage and marketing, as well as requiring them to demonstrate their ability to describe, analyze and identify many blind, or unidentified wines.

The tests are intensely difficult, and many of the brightest minds and palates in the wine industry are unable to complete the programs.

Which is what led USA Today to conclude, “Frost likely knows as much as anyone in the world about how to make, market, serve and identify wines.”

Yet Frost is no wine snob. He doesn’t lord his encyclopedic knowledge of the grape over anyone, wielding it as a club to subdue lesser mortals.

In a recent interview, Frost came across as a regular guy — one who just happens to like wine a lot.

Those tortuously hard exams he took to earn those impressive titles?

“All it proves is that I can pass those tests. That’s about all it proves,” he said.

“We’re all good enough to notice these flavors (in wine). I’ve just trained myself to spot them as they go by. The truth of the matter is that I’m endlessly fascinated by this. When I wake up in the morning after tasting 250 kinds of wine, I’m thinking, ‘Could I taste some more wine, please?'”

Frost visited Lawrence recently to tape a new installment of “Jayni’s Kitchen,” a cooking program hosted by Jayni Carey. The program that Frost is featured on debuted Tuesday night on Sunflower Broadband’s Channel 6.

Don’t limit yourself

Nobody should be intimidated or mystified by the business of selecting a wine to drink, according to Frost. You don’t need some fancy degree.

“Everybody is all hung up on the idea that they’re going to make a huge social faux pas and select the wrong wine — whatever that is. If people simply taste a wine and determine if they like it or not, that’s the only thing that should matter to them,” he said.

“The issue is that people should be willing to experiment. Most importantly, find a (liquor) retailer that you trust. Go to that retailer and say, ‘I really like this wine. What else do you have that’s like it?'”

While Frost recommends that people drink wines that they like, he has a hard time understanding why some folks are so willing to limit themselves to only, say, French Cabernets.

Such a stance doesn’t confer connoisseur status. It simply means you’re missing out on some nice experiences.

“It makes as much sense as saying, ‘I only eat steak.’ That’s a ludicrous statement. It makes no sense to me,” Frost said.

Many people are overwhelmed when they enter a liquor store to try to pick out a good bottle of wine. There are so many choices.

Others are equally flustered when it comes to selecting a wine to bring as a gift for a host.

Relax.

“If you happen to know that a host loves chocolate chip cookies, what are you going to bring? Chocolate chip cookies. The same thing holds true here. It’s helpful if you happen to know what some of their addictions are in wine,” Frost said.

Educated palate

A bit more about those exams that Frost took to become a Master Sommelier and a Master of Wine.

Of all the hoops that candidates must jump through, perhaps the most rigorous is the blind tasting exams.

“You have 36 wines to taste, and you have to get at least 30 of them dead on. You have to identify them, what vintage they’re from, how they were made, what stage of maturity they’re in. All those questions are fair game,” Frost recalled.

“I got 33.”

Overall, Frost would like to see people just chill out when it comes to wine.

“My strongly held opinion on all this is I don’t have a special palate or some incredible sensitivity to wine that others don’t have. It has nothing to do with that at all,” he said.

“It’s simply a matter of learning what flavors mean. People should stop worrying what others think of a wine and decide for themselves.”

— Staff writer Jim Baker can be reached at 832-7173.