What Is A Sommelier And What Do They Do?

By Warren Gregory

The word Sommelier derives from a middle French term, saumalier, referring to the person who was in charge of procuring supplies and maintaining the storehouse in the royal household. The original word actually refers to a pack animal driver. A modern sommelier is a person who focuses on the purchasing, storage and serving of wine and beverages in a restaurant.

There has been a formal system for the training of professional sommeliers for only about sixty years. The International Court of Master Sommeliers was founded in England shortly after World War Two. The British have always taken fine dining and wine very seriously, even if their homeland didn't produce any very good wine or extremely fine cuisine (not to judge), and the wine trade has always flowed through England. Due to its various acquisitions through European warfare and its occupation of colonial outposts over the centuries, the English have had a hand in the development of many of the world's greatest modern wine regions.

For many years the International Court was exclusively English. If you weren't a Brit' you couldn't even take the test. It developed into a three tier graduated system with a three part examination to pass each step. The modern sommelier is expected to be expert not only in wine but in beer, distilled spirits, cordials and aperitifs, formal table service and even cigar service.

Level One is the Certification examination. After an applicant has spent some time in the wine profession, either in restaurants and hotels or in the wine trade, they can take this test. A short refresher course and practice in blind tasting is offered, and then the applicants take a practical test of short answer questions on any and all aspects of wine. If you pass you can take the second level test.

Level Two is the Advanced Degree or Master Sommelier Candidateexamination. At this level you are supposed to already be an expert. If you're not you won't pass. A short refresher course is again offered but, realistically if a candidate hears anything in this course that is at all unfamiliar, their hope of passing is lost. The examination is given in three parts.

Blind Tasting. Each candidate is given six glasses of wine. In twenty-four minutes they must correctly identify each wine; what is the grape type? where does the wine come from? what is the quality level of the wine? and what is the vintage of the wine? If that sounds tough, it is! Try it at home. Have a friend pour you a glass of wine and see if you can figure it out in four minutes.

Practical Knowledge Test. This is a written test of about 100 questions. These questions can be on wine regions, vintages, production techniques, famous producers, you name it. And the test covers not only all of WineWorld but anything to do with malt beverages, distilled spirits or cigars. They call it a "practical" test but it's really designed to defeat all but the most dedicated students. Here's an example question.

1.) Name the five sub-regions of Vinho Verde.

You can e-mail me with your answer.

Service Test. In this final test the candidates serve Master Sommeliers at a mock restaurant. They open and decant red wine, they open sparkling wines, offer suggestions for food and wine pairings from a mock menu, correctly serve cigars and offer advice to a Master Sommelier who is planning "his daughter's wedding dinner" and then they have to proof-read a wine list and find mistakes that are made on purpose to snag them. Every response and action is carefully noted and scored.

If you pass the advanced level you can take the master sommelier test.

Level three is the Master Sommelier examination but, you have to be invited to take this last big test. This is where the timid need not tread. The Master Sommeliers already think you're great if you get a shot at this because they're offering you a chance to be one of the few, chosen masters in the world. The test itself is the same format as the advanced test but more difficult by several degrees. The practical test is an oral examination. Frankly, I can't imagine the stress.

The International Court is very much an exclusive club and the testing is intended to limit membership. As more and more people get interested in taking the test it gets harder and harder. I took the Advanced level class but didn't pass. I was told that my, "written test was a disaster but, you didn't humiliate yourself on the service or blind tasting." So, overall, I did OK.

There are still less than two hundred Master Sommeliers in the world. Not all of them are men and, in fact many women have passed the examinations more recently. Some evidence exists that women may actually be better at tasting and discerning fine food and wine than men.

In 1977 an American lobbied the Court to be allowed to take the test. He passed and then was allowed to open a chapter of the I.C.M.S in America. Today there are a number of routes to Sommelier training. You can take a class at a culinary school or in some cases, at a university that has a hospitality school. The American Guild of Master Sommeliers is a Canadian organization that also certifies wine professionals. The various classes all follow a similar model of three levels with a test at each level, but the International Court is the original, the most difficult and the most respected.

All of this may make the role of a Sommelier seem very elitist indeed. But the fact is that, in the real world a sommelier can't afford to be snooty. The world of wine is very complex. If it were up to me I'd eliminate about a third of the world's wine right off the top! There's just too much, it's too confusing to people and it seems overwhelming! I teach wine classes and lead private tastings in people's homes. It can be fun and enlightening to taste and discuss wine and, among enthusiastic people it leads to greater understanding and pleasure. A friendly guide is necessary sometimes.

A sommelier's job is to be a knowledgeable, convivial guide to wine. The real work is in putting together an accurate, well chosen wine list that serves the restaurant and the food menu, and offers the customers some familiar choices as well as some opportunities to try something new. The sommelier has to train the staff to know the wines and be able to make good suggestions, because he or she cannot visit every table every night. Above all, the sommelier must portray ease and comfort with the complexity of wine and its service and not clobber each customer with their extensive knowledge. The sommelier isn't supposed to display their expertise but should offer bits of it to restaurant guests who are curious and enthused to explore the wide world of wine. There are plenty of people like that in the world.

Many restaurants have big wine lists but few employ a specialist who really knows about each wine. More often a restaurant will give the task of managing the wine list to a bar manager or even an enthusiastic waiter and, in some cases these people may claim the title of sommelier. That's OK. It harks back to the original middle French meaning of the word. But in many other instances the wine list and wine service is not up to the standards set by the chef and the food, and there is really no one in charge. If you walk into a place like that and have a question about one of the wines, good luck!

In more established urban centers sommeliers find many opportunities to ply their trade. There are more actual sommeliers working in Las Vegas than anywhere else and more I.C.M.S sommeliers, of all levels, are employed by Walt Disney Inc. than any other organization. The experience of dining at a restaurant that employes a sommelier makes their essential role obvious. A helpful word of advice or the occasional story that goes with a particular wine enhances a nice dining experience. If you run into a real sommelier, thank him or her. And if you find a big, expensive wine list without a sommelier to back it up, talk to the manager. There's a young sommelier out there who needs a job.

Warren Gregory can be reached at warren@warrenswineworld.com. Have a wine related question or live in or near the Twin Cities in Minnesota? Plan a wine event. Warren is a certified sommelier and writes professionally and leads classes in wine tasting and knowledge. Visit http://www.warrenswineworld.com for more fun information on wine and Warren's adventures in wine and food.