(Wine-Searcher) - If silence is golden then the Court of Master Sommeliers is the new El Dorado.

A week on from a foundation-rattling revelation that one of its senior Masters had leaked information about this year's MS tasting exam, there is still a deafening silence emanating from the Court.

Social media has been buzzing with the story, as the somm community comes to terms with what happened – that 23 candidates for the top rung of the profession have had their dreams shredded and that they will have to pass a famously difficult exam twice in order to qualify as Master Sommeliers.