A Wine Story

Correcting Sommeliers

... Just read this amusing story from San Diego newspaper writer Robert Whitley about a fight he had with both the sommelier and the owner of a restaurant who, in his mind, tried to pass off a 2005 Nicolas Potel Bourgogne as a Wine Spectator award winning 2005 Nicolas Potel Nuits-Saint-Georges

To quote Robert: "If the waiter had acknowledged the error and gone to retrieve the correct bottle, this would not be an item of interest. It's easy to grab the wrong bottle when two wines are from the same producer and essentially look the same.

But to my surprise, the waiter insisted he had delivered the wine I ordered.

So we looked at the wine list and, sure enough, it listed the Potel Nuits-Saint-Georges. Yes, yes, yes, the waiter insisted, this is the Nuits-Saint-Georges. No, no, no I said, or words to that effect.

Then he pointed to the fine print at the very bottom of the label, which indicated the wine was produced in Nuits-Saint-Georges. No, no, no, I shot back. That does not mean this wine is a Nuits-Saint-Georges. That is only telling us the Nicolas Potel cellar is located in the village of Nuits-Saint-Georges.

This is akin to listing the Hess “California” Cabernet Sauvignon as the Hess “Mount Veeder” Cab because the winery is located on Mount Veeder.

The label clearly stated “Bourgogne” – in very large letters. This is the classification, I explained, and it means the grapes could be sourced from anywhere in the Burgundy region. If it had been the Nuits-Saint-Georges, it would say so, in large letters placed exactly where “Bourgogne” was printed on the bottle before my eyes.

Eventually the owner came out to join the debate. Same drill. He insisted the Bourgogne was the Nuits-Saint-Georges. Then he proclaimed that he sold at least a case of this wine every week, and customers loved it, as if consumer ignorance validated his position.

No, I told him, that only meant he had successfully perpetrated a fraud upon the public. I didn't really believe he had deliberately tricked customers. I think he just didn't have a clue. At this point I simply gave up, ordered a Sanford Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir for roughly the same price as the Nicolas Potel Bourgogne, and vowed never to return."

Glam life of sommeliers

When you visit a glam restaurant like Michael Mina in SF or Cru in NYC, it is very easy to see the sommelier in the glamorous surrounds and think, wow, what a great job! Here's an article from the Guardian UK which seems to correctly detail the life of a sommelier in top restaurants in London, and one would think, the life is similiar in NYC. Most sommeliers I know also work eighty hour weeks. Though this Guardian article just talks about the hard work, low pay, and not the upside, here in NYC at least there does seem to be upside. This is just my imagination writing, no specific cases, but I can see how a charismatic sommelier at a top restaurant, dealing with well-connected and high-powered clients, could talk his or her way into an enterprise of one's own.

California Sommeliers

... have you been to Cut restaurant in Beverly Hills? It's Wolfgang Puck's new place, very cool with great wine service. Depending on the sommelier, you will get "California casual" service or very formal service where the sommelier opens your bottle in hushed tones, pours some into a glass, tastes it, and pronounces it suitable for drinking.

The vibe of the restaurant is such that either approach works. A recent article in the L.A. Times names Cut as a place where student sommeliers go to meet and taste wine. Curiously, the article suggests that L.A. does not have a sommelier culture like New York or San Francisco which may or may not be true. During a visit to Cut a year or so back I remember chatting with one of the sommeliers, a woman who had just passed her Certified Sommelier degree.
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Below is an excerpt from the post, which highlights the financial and educational rigors of taking the exam.

"The Court of Master Sommeliers, founded in 1969, is the best known and among the most highly regarded wine service educational organizations. It established an American chapter in 1986, and 87 of the 158 master sommeliers certified worldwide have been Americans.

It can take a sommelier years to matriculate through the four levels of the master sommelier program. The introductory course ($495 for the test) is designed for restaurant servers and anyone who needs a basic understanding of wine. The intermediate ($295) and advanced level tests ($895), which require extensive memorization and experience serving wine, must be passed before a candidate is eligible to be invited to take the final exam ($800).

With its extraordinary failure rate, candidates expect to take the final test several times. When Montage's Coon sits for the February exam, it will be his sixth attempt. Napa Rose's Jordan passed on his fourth try."

Life in the wine trade ...

... if you read this blog regularly you've seen lots of articles talking about various sommelier programs. This article from the SF Chronicle is eye-opening in that it talks about challenges young sommeliers face, what it's like to work as a sommelier (moving boxes, stocking wine, getting quizzed) and the more details.

I also wrote an article on a similar subject for the Chronicle, which should be out soon.

Here's an excerpt from the above linked piece, giving advice from sommeliers:

Sommeliers' tips

Our young sommeliers offer the following tips on ordering wine:

Talk about wines you've enjoyed in the past. Start at ground zero with your likes and dislikes. If you enjoy California Merlot, tell the sommelier; the more specific you get, the easier it is meet your needs. If you don't know the type of wine, describe the flavors you like in broad terms -- think: sweet, dry, fruity or spicy.

Don't fixate on finding a 'steal.' Most restaurants serve a range of wines to cater to different budgets. Don't be afraid to let the sommelier know your budget restrictions. Wine-program directors generally want to offer fair value for your money.

Decide the role of wine at your meal. Do you want the sommelier to pair the wine with the food, or would you prefer to enjoy the wine independently? Let the sommelier know.

No one is judging you. Don't worry if you mangle a name or don't remember what wines you like beyond red or white.

Be open. Some of sommeliers' favorite customers are those who are open to trying new wines.

Sommeliers: Generic Title?

... so I'm cruising the Internet and somehow catch sight of this intriguing post, in which a passenger on a cruise ship is bewildered by so many sommeliers on board. The passenger wonders if top sommeliers somehow won a free trip or are part of some sort of educational program, unaware perhaps that in America (at least) the title is generic for anyone who pours wine ...

"Originally Posted by captainK Just off the Galaxy July 23rd cruise and I've never seen so many 'Sommeliers' from all over the world in one location so I was intrigued as whether these individuals had in fact completed an official Sommeliers course. Given that I work in the industry, I am well aware that becoming an official Sommelier and acquiring your papers requires long hours of study and practical work. My inquiry to the head of the wait staff confirmed that these individuals are in fact not recognized and certified Sommeliers but rather are given general knowledge and information on wines and serving them. I don't think that the labeling of 'Sommeliers' to these workers is fair to those true Sommeliers who have worked hard to acquire this distinction."

Though the person posting seems very kind to bring up this distinction, not sure how many Americans just use sommelier as a generic name. I've met and also read about many top sommeliers and wine directors who do not have any education at all, but really know their wine.

I've read that in Europe one needs actual credentials for this type of work, and from all the people I've met in my sommelier classes, there is a new desire for the actual title. So what do you think? Should the title be reserved for the matching diploma, or here in the U.S., can we use the title generically?

Sommeliers replaced by software ...

...well, it looks like human sommeliers will soon become extinct. A Dallas news web reports that a new mobile technology allows "anyone" to be a sommelier. Text eWineMatch at 411511, type in an an ingredient or cuisine type and you will receive three wines than span a range in varietal, region, and price.

Of course, nothing can replace a human. I reviewed a very good book called What to Drink with What You Eat: The Definitive Guide to Pairing Food with Wine, Beer, Spirits, Coffee, Tea - Even Water - Based on Expert Advice from America's Best Sommeliers about how to pair food with wine, by Karen Page and Andrew Dorenburg at my main site, http://www.AWineStory.com. You can see it here
http://www.deg.com/WineStory/reviews/books/what_to_drink.htm

Certified Sommelier....

... so incredibly enthusiastic I passed a very challenging three-part test from the Court of Master Sommeliers and am now a "Certified Sommelier" and have the diploma to prove it!

What was interesting about this test is that I could have studied the book for another year and not improved my score on the written test, because virtually every question asked dealt with a region I've personally explored or a conversation I had with a friend or sommelier about wine.

I keep detailed notes in a database about all the wines I try so I felt fairly comfortable in the blind tasting of the white and the red.

The third part, service -- in which we had to individually serve Master Sommeliers and answer their questions about food pairing and spirits, was rather interesting. I had been practicing decanting and opening champagne for weeks (way too much sparkling wine down the drain). As classmates took the test and descended the stairs, everyone seemed to have a panicked expression their faces and a few women looked as if they were going to cry. At that moment, I decided to have a positive attitude - nothing could be that serious! And I knew Master Sommeliers to have wit and humor, so I resolved to have the same.

At any rate, it's over (at least until the test next year.) Below are a few links that will give you some information about the designation. Also a note about a blind tasting (this one for a sommelier competition) written by Yannick Benjamin of Le Du wines here in New York. 




http://www.latimes.com/extras/careereducation/sommeliers.html

Blaufrankisch, anyone?

"Can you tell us the difference between a Zweigelt, Blaufrankisch, and St. Laurent?”

Wow, came upon this super gossipy wine/review story on a blog when I was searching for information on the Gernot Heinrich 2004 Blaufrankisch I'm experiencing. I'll post my notes later ... but the focus in this post is how the web is such a juicy source of information about an individual's response to:

1. Sommeliers (the blogger said the sommelier was busy looking at some cute waiter) and too busy to visit their table.

2. Wine training (the waitress, not expected to tell patrons the difference between three relatively obscure Austrian grapes, did her best to make a go of it.)

3. How many patrons go online to view a venue's wine list

Here's a link to the blog. It's really fun to see how this individual experiences a restaurant

Tipping Sommeliers

Hi all, I'm writing a new article on tipping the sommeliers. Ask a sommelier or a server, they'll say 20% on both wine and food. Ask a consumer, it's across the board. What seems to be "typical" is tipping on the total if the wine is "reasonable" (whatever that means to the individual) but on a different scale if it's above, for example, $200.

Care to share your thoughts? I'll list an (anonymous if you like) composite on the site soon! Just use the comment feature or email me privately at mailto:Story@AWineStory.com