Posts Tagged ‘sommelier’

Love wine and love to recommend it along with various foods? You could be on the brink of a brand new career. A sommelier is someone who works at a restaurant doing exactly that. You’re much more than a waiter. You inform guests of the wine choices, make recommendations based upon their food choices, or suggest wines paired with certain dishes. A sommelier also gets to choose which wines the restaurant should stock.

However, you can’t simply walk into a restaurant and apply for the position. To be truly qualified as a sommelier, you need to go back to school. That’s right. A sommelier should go to the Court of Master Sommeliers in order to obtain an amazing knowledge of wine and more to become a certified sommelier. From tasting all the subtleties of wine to smelling the various aromas, there is a lot to learn through the courses offered. You can get certified if that’s all you want, or you can continue to take courses in order to become a true Master Sommelier.

A lot of times people will simply pop the cork out of a wine bottle and get to pouring. But there is much more to the cork than you may think. Sommeliers and even some waiters know this, and will take special care when opening a bottle of wine before they serve it to you.

You may have heard that smelling the cork will yield results as to whether or not the wine is still good. This is actually not what a sommelier will do. Smelling yields nothing. Instead, the sommelier will inspect the cork visually, checking for the winery name and other identifying information. He or she will also see if there is a stain that runs the length of the cork. If there is one, this means that the cork was not properly sealed in the bottle and wine was able to escape, in turn allowing air into the bottle. If such is the case, the wine may no longer be good, though only a final taste will tell.

The sommelier may also check the integrity of the cork. If you see any mold on the cork just under the capsule, don’t be alarmed, as this is quite common. It won’t hurt the wine. The cork will give the sommelier clues as to the wine’s condition. In the end, however, it will all come down to taste, which can be conducted by either yourself or by the sommelier.

Are you seeking to be a wine connoisseur? Or maybe you just want to know what sort of wines a few of your local restaurants might serve.

You may find that many local places serve wine that is also grown in the local region. Naturally, that doesn’t hold true for all restaurants. Various places like to offer their customers a wide variety, so you’ll find wines that come from all over the world. The more upscale a restaurant is, the better the wine.

Consider for a moment, an old restaurant in Paris. You may be surprised to find that some of these restaurants have wine cellars that hold bottles dating back decades. The older the wine, the pricier it tends to be. You can find some amazing treasures in Europe when it comes to wine and the old restaurants they wait in. If you decide to dine in a restaurant that employs a sommelier, don’t be afraid to talk wine with him. A sommelier is there specifically to make your wine experience amazing, and they know a great deal not only about their own wine, but wine in general.

The next time you want to try a great bottle of wine, consider upgrading your restaurant.

When you want to have an excellent bottle of wine with your meal, put your trust in a sommelier.

A sommelier works at restaurants to not just suggest great bottles of wine with your food, but are experts at food pairings, choosing wines that the restaurants offer, deciding how to store the wines at the location, and more. They want visitors to have a wonderful experience from the moment they enter the restaurant to the time they leave. Sommeliers are more than just a waiter. Their broad knowledge of both food and drink will leave you feeling more satisfied than you ever thought possible.

Good sommeliers will actually take master classes to earn their title. This isn’t something that is taken lightly. They learn all about the history of wine, the tastes and styles of wines from different locations, all about grape varieties, and so much more. The knowledge that a master sommelier retains will amaze almost anyone.

So if you ever visit a high quality restaurant and aren’t sure what to drink, if they have a sommelier working there, ask them. You may be in for some new wine tastes you may not have ever experienced otherwise.

Choosing the right wine doesn’t need to be a difficult task. If there is a waiter well-versed in wine and food pairings, or a sommelier available, you can always ask for their recommendations. However, if you are at a location where wine is served but the waiters may not know everything about them and there is no sommelier within a hundred miles, you’ll likely have to make the choice yourself.

It can be a little more difficult if everyone at the table decides to order a different dish and you intend to only buy one or two bottles of wine. A good idea is to use a white wine for some of the lighter dishes and appetizers, and a fuller red wine for other main course choices. You can begin with the white wine, and as the dinner continues and main courses arrive, those with heavier dishes can switch over to the red.

If anyone in your group is familiar with wines and the types that you and others in the group enjoy, you may decide to defer to their judgment for this occasion.

When ordering wine, you might wonder who is the best person to ask. While both a waiter and a sommelier will have knowledge about wines, you’re more likely to find a sommelier in Europe. A sommelier is, in essence, a wine waiter. They have specific knowledge about wines, from suggesting good wines that match your food choices to pointing out the various differences of the wines on the wine list.

You can think of a sommelier as your personal wine guide while you are in the restaurant. In fact, the sommelier may have even had some control over the wines you will see in the wine list. You may be able to recognize the sommelier due to their uniform, which is different from a waiter’s as well as other staff members. In most cases, the sommelier will have a “tastevin,” which is a small tasting cup.

If there is no sommelier in the restaurant, you will have to rely upon the waiter. Depending upon the restaurant you visit, the waiter may or may not have a good knowledge of wines. However, when restaurants are high end, you may be better able to put your trust in their tastes.