Speaker A
When I meet people at a bar or a party when I'm not working and I tell them what I do for a living, I say that I work in wine sales. Generally, the response is something along the lines
Explore the role of a sommelier, their daily tasks, importance in fine dining, and how to become one in the wine industry.
Key Takeaways
- Sommeliers are experts in wine selection, service, and pairing in fine dining settings.
- Their job involves both customer interaction and behind-the-scenes inventory and wine list management.
- Certification and continuous education are important for career advancement in this field.
- Tasting wine for faults before serving is a critical part of their role to ensure quality.
- Sommeliers enhance the overall dining experience by matching wines to food and customer preferences.
What the video covers
- The sommelier, or 'som,' is a well-known wine professional primarily found in fine dining restaurants.
- Their main role is to assist customers in selecting wines that complement their meals and preferences.
- Sommeliers check wine quality by tasting for faults like cork taint or volatile acidity before serving.
- They manage the wine list, inventory, and coordinate with wine sales reps to select suitable wines for their venue.
- During service, sommeliers ensure guests' wine glasses are full and that wine pairings enhance the dining experience.
- Sommeliers collaborate with chefs to create wine pairings for set menus in high-end restaurants.
- A typical day includes stocktaking, ordering, tasting new wines, and preparing for service.
- To become a sommelier, one should gain restaurant service experience and pursue certifications like WSET and Court of Master Sommeliers.
- Advanced certifications include the Master Sommelier pin and WSET Level 4 diploma, which are highly challenging.
- Sommeliers play a vital role in communicating wine stories and elevating the dining experience.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction to the Sommelier Role
- 00:30Overview of Sommelier Duties
- 01:08Customer Interaction and Wine Service
- 01:39Identifying Wine Faults
- 02:10Helping Customers Choose Wine
- 02:45A Day in the Life of a Sommelier
- 03:18Managing the Wine List and Inventory
- 03:53Preparing for Service and Customer Care
- 04:28Wine Pairing with Food
- 04:52How to Become a Sommelier
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
of, "Oh, so you're like a sommelier," which I'm not. But it shows that the sommelier, or as we like to abbreviate, a som, is one of the most well-known jobs in the wine industry, next to a winemaker,
Speaker A
which is pretty self-explanatory. But the word sommelier is of French origin. And most of the time, sommeliers are found in fine dining restaurants, and many people don't actually know what they do. So lucky for you, we here at Bottleshock
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are dedicated to demystifying the complicated world of wine. And we're going to dive into the role of the sommelier, what they do, what a general day looks like, why they're important, and if the role sounds like fun, how you
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can become one. So what's a sommelier? In a nutshell, the word sommelier means a wine waiter. For the average person, your interaction with a sommelier will be at a restaurant. When you are seated at a table, you are given the
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wine list and then someone will come to you and ask, "Would you like some wine?" [music] Always a wonderful question. This person is generally the sommelier. In a brief interaction, you will tell them, "I would like a bottle of the 2024
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Unicosilla Jeden Jasper." And then they will say, "Very nice choice," and they will retrieve that bottle for you, present it to you, and then once approved, they will pour a glass for you and then come back periodically to
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top you up or ask if you would like another whilst you enjoy your meal. Now, a quick side step. When the sommelier pulls you that little taste of wine, this is not a try-before-you-buy kind of deal.
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This is actually to see if there's anything wrong with the wine, whether it be cork taint or any of the other wine faults like volatile acidity, brettanomyces, or mousiness. Now, if you don't know what those faults are or what
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they taste like, but the wine tastes a little bit strange, a great courteous thing to do is to say to the sommelier, "Hey, this wine tastes weird." And then the sommelier will assess it themselves and they will identify if the wine is either
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faulty or not. If it is, they will retrieve you another bottle or they will steer you in the direction of something else that is similar to what you're looking for. If you taste the wine and there are no faults, this is your
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opportunity to say something like, "Ah, yes, that tastes like wine. We'll take the bottle." and the sommelier will chuckle at this hilarious joke that they haven't heard nine times this evening and pour you the wine and be on their merry way.
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The crux of the sommelier's job is to help you find the wine that will make your meal the most enjoyable. If you don't know anything about wine and you [music] just want a good wine that will suit your meal at a certain price, this is
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exactly what they are here to help you with. They will ask you what your budget is, what you like to drink, and even pair with the food you've ordered. Even if you don't often drink wine, telling a sommelier that you're more of a beer drinker
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or even that your favorite cocktail is a cosmopolitan, this is amazing information for you that they can use to find the wine that best suits your palate. They're not there to judge you or your order. They've often helped pick
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the wines on the menu and they are proud of it. So, what does a full day of work look like for a sommelier? The start of the day is often well before the restaurant opens. Not quite as early as
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the chefs, but close. They'll get in, they'll open up their laptop, check their emails. It is mostly filled with people like me who sell wine to them wholesale saying, "Could you please try my wine and buy heaps of it?" They'll do
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stock take. They'll count all the wine in the building to make sure [music] there's enough stock for service and they'll place orders for more if need be. In a nutshell, they're trying to manage the wine list. Now, the wine list
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is a sommelier's pride and joy. This could be something that's short, sharp, and shiny with just a few pages filled with what the restaurant needs. Or it can be biblical in size for restaurants that have large storage space and that they
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pride themselves on having some of the most sought-after wines in the world. The sommelier is dedicated to managing this and all the inventory around it. During the day, they'll often meet with wine sales reps who will show them wines that
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they are either looking for or new releases, which the sommelier will then taste and assess, decide if the wine is suitable for the venue stylistically, price-wise, quality-wise, or if it's recognizable by customers. After the management side [music] of things is
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done, they will then get ready for service. Stock fridges, organize glasses, and work with the front-of-house team of the restaurant in regards to bookings and how busy the restaurant is going to be that evening. Then service will start. [music] And once
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service starts, their job is to then make sure that every customer in the restaurant's wine glass is full and everyone [music] is happy with what they're drinking. Another role of the sommelier is the wine pairing. In some
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restaurants, often really high fine dining, there will be a set food menu and then there'll be an option for wine pairing with [music] it. The sommelier will work with the back-of-house team, primarily the head chef, with the dishes
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that are on that set menu. [music] And their role is to find a wine or a beverage in the restaurant that will pair best with that dish. Now, this is a broad and basic level of what the day-to-day of a sommelier looks like. I'm
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not someone who's actually worked as a sommelier or even at a venue with a sommelier. I kind of understand what a broad idea of the role is. [music] And aside from the bean counting aspect of it, it sounds
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pretty fun. The day-to-day is prick your ears up and you actually want to get into it yourself. Probably asking how.
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First, cap off the rank, start working at a restaurant. Get some service experience. Now, the next step is to level up your wine knowledge. You can either go down the WSET route, which is theory with a little bit of tasting, or
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the court master sommelier, which is tasting and service. An entry-level sommelier role, you'll probably want a certified sommelier pin, and ideally WSET [music] level two. For a really, really solid sommelier role at an excellent, like Michelin level
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restaurant, you'll want an advanced sommelier pin along with WSET level three. Then there is the pinnacle red wine with a moderate viscosity, youthful color appearance, a deep sort of ruby core leading out to a sice rim.
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It's coming from France. Number three, alcohol [music] is medium plus, complexity is high, tannin is medium plus, length is long, wine is in balance. Then you can go for the master sommelier pin.
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If you've seen the movie SOM, you'll know that this is a brutal endeavor. There are less than 300 of these in the world, but you'll be able to walk into any sommelier job you want in the world with
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one of these, but they don't give them out for free. If you want, you could chuck in a WSET level 4. If you're a masochist, that's the diploma. That's what I'm doing. It's tough, but it's not as hard as the MS pin. There is also the
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master of wine program, but that's a whole other kettle of fish. I'll let Brendan talk to you about that one. And that's kind of a broad understanding of what a sommelier does. It's, you know, it's a really interesting and vital role
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in the world of wine. They kind of are able to communicate the great stories of wine producers with wine consumers in situ in a restaurant and can just make a good night into a great night. A great a
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good meal into a great meal. So, we love the sommelier. What do you guys have? You guys worked as a sommelier? Have you had much experience with sommeliers? What do you think?
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But that's about it from us. Hope you enjoyed. See you next time.
Topics:sommelierwine servicewine pairingfine diningwine faultswine certificationWSETMaster Sommelierwine list managementwine industry
