Everyday questions for a sommelier...

About 2 years ago my life became much more interesting from a professional stand point when I passed my Sommelier (pronounced saw-muh-LYAY)  certification through the Court of Master Sommeliers.  Even though for years I had loved wine, and studied it intensely, after receiving an official certification, through such a respected program, I have found that many more people hit me with an array of questions on a daily basis.  Thanks to my mom's good friend Bart I have decided to learn to "Blog" to answer some of these questions and also address points of interest that some of my patrons, friends, and family members may have so I don't sound like a broken record answering the same questions everyday.  However I do warn you to bear with me....I am no literary genius and sometimes have no filter on my mouth....so if you get rubbed the wrong way please don't take it personal and know that it's only one person's point of view!   

One of the main questions that I get asked is "What is a sommelier?"  Well to answer this question straight from the "Wine Lover's Companion" (which by the way is one of the best wine books ever) a sommelier is a french term for a wine steward or waiter that is in charge of the wine at an establishment. Sounds simple, right?   A sommelier is often thought as a stuffy old man that stands in the corner of a restaurant and turns his nose up at any bottle of wine that doesn't cost over a hundred dollars and is not from Bordeaux and Burgundy.  In reality most of us are in the age range from 22-35 and are full of suggestions of wine to drink from anywhere in the world that are usually moderately priced.  Most of us aren't able to afford such affluent wines from the great estates of France so we are drinking alot of really good wines that you have never heard of.  So answer this question a little more frankly the real definition of a sommelier is someone who has an extensive knowledge of wine and food, who is in charge of selecting wine for an establishment, that is priced to sell, and loves to converse about wine everyday. Some of us have gone through a formal program such as the Court of Master Sommeliers program, but some of the most wine savvy people in the world have no formal certification.  This doesn't mean that they don't know as much as a "certified" sommelier, it just means that they didn't have the time money or inclination to jump through the hoops of being "certified" by an official program...which brings me to my next question. 

Question number two..."What do you have to do to become a certified sommelier?"  Well first of all you have to have a real passion for wine.  Now I don't mean that you like to go to Publix and buy a few bottles of wine and drink them with the hubby over dinner.  No, I mean you need to love everything  about wine.  The soil, the grape, the climates, the different countries, the myth, the lore, and the legend that all surround wine.  You need to be a bit of a history buff, a bit of a geography geek, with a pinch of scientist thrown into the mix.  If you have met all these criteria then you need to do two things...and do them often. 

One...taste alot of wine.  Now I am not telling you to go get drunk all the time...that's why I said "taste" and not "drink."  As sommeliers we may taste up to fifty or even a hundred wines a day...now if your "drinking" that much wine a day than you are reading the wrong blog...you need to be reading the twelve step blog.  Tasting is a deductive process by where you analyze a wine for its sight, smell, and flavor.  Moreover you need to be able to identify specific things about the wine that will help you pair it with different types of food...but we will get into that later down the road. 

Two...you need to study...alot!  If you want to pass the certified level of the sommelier exam you will need to know alot about all areas of the wine world.  When I say alot...I mean a whole lot!!!  For example...in Burgundy alone there are 33 Grand Cru Vineyards...not only do you need to know all of them but you also need to know what type of grapes are grown in each vineyard, which village they are in, which region of burgundy they are in and also the great vintages and producers from each.  Now knowing that Burgundy is one of the smallest wine regions in all of France you can imagine how much more difficult a larger region like Bordeaux could be. 

Once again if these criteria are met than you get to take the Court of Masters Sommelier Certified Exam.  This is an all day exam given at various places all over the country.  The typical exam will begin around 8:00 am and ends around 4:00 pm.  The exam consists of 3 parts, a blind tasting of 2 wines, one red and one white, where you must identify the type of grape, region of the world it is from, it's climate, fruit characteristic and vintage.  Part two is a written exam that consists of 25 questions mix and match multiple choice and short answer that covers all area of general wine knowledge.  Part three you have  a service exam where you must perform a mock service for a Master Sommelier.  In this part of the exam you will also be asked a myriad of food pairing questions, dessert wine questions, and anything else he or she feels like asking you....and a word to the wise....don't try to bullshit one of these guys...they will know!  If you pass all 3 portions of this test then you will be a certified sommelier...awarded a purple certified sommelier pin, Now as I mentioned it doesn't mean that you know more than anybody else...just that you know enough for a Master Sommelier to sign off on your knowledge.

Final Question..."How do I know what is a good wine to drink?"  Obviously the easiest answer to this question is "what ever wine you think tastes good."  However if the answer was that easy than I would be out of a job.  The best answer to this question is that it is an absolutely endless answer.  It all depends on so many variables that you could literally spend a week....and alot of "blogging" on this question alone...which is what alot of people do and that is not the point of these little rants.  The reason I decided to write this series is to give you some practical knowledge that you can use when I, or anybody else for that matter, are around.

So the first and best answer I can give you is to ask a person at your local wine shop, grocery store, restaurant, hotel, country club, etc.... that deems themselves the "wine guy" of that location.  However, like so many other things in life where you must rely on another person there is always the chance that the person you are asking is either an idiot or completely full of shit.  The good thing about wine is that you will get an immediate feedback when you drink the wine he or she sells you.  So say you go into you local wine shop and buy a bottle of wine in the price range that you want to be in and it sucks.  Most likely you can go back in the next day or week and ask a few questions or even explain what you didn't like about it and determine yourself if that person is telling you the truth or blowing sunshine up your ass.  If you do determine that he is not quite as knowledgeable as he leads onto to be than you simply go somewhere else and buy wine from a different person until you find some one you trust.  This is where a certification does lend a little creditability because as you now know they don't just give those purple pins away.

Another good answer to this question is to use the rating systems that some one like Robert Parker or Wine Spectator will use.  This is normally a system that an expert like Robert Parker or James Suckling will use to rate a wine, while they only know very little about the wine so that they keep impartiality.  The good thing about these systems is that they give a score to a wine which you can then compare to the wines price and make a decision based on the information.  The down side to this system is that it is normally based off of one persons palate.  Meaning that if your palate is different from the person that is rating the wine then you could end up spending alot of money on a wine that you think sucks.  Remember one of the benefits of having a good sommelier is that we take the time to not only determine your comfortable price point, but also your experience with wine and what you like....not just slapping some score on a wine and saying everyone should agree with it.  Now once again...I am not trying to rag on any of these experts that rate wines...they are all definitely much more experienced and much, much, more privileged to taste wines that I will probably never get to taste....but unless you are good chums with one of these guys good luck getting one of them to take time out of their day to talk to you about your personal preference in wine.   Which is ultimately what this question is all about...what do you as a person like to drink.  So I remit to my first answer get to know you local wine guru and try things he suggests....speak at length with him about what you like and dislike...and most of all enjoy what you drink!!!