The Role of a Sommelier, Part 1

Traditionally, the role of sommelier in a restaurant is to curate and manage the restaurant’s wine cellar, and to oversee all aspects of wine service, including paying exclusive attention to patron’s personal wine needs and curiosities. Like a museum curator manages a collection or exhibition with the explicit goal of elevating their patron’s museum-going experience, the sommelier manages a dynamic wine list, with thoughtful consideration paid to each selection to offer unique and interesting wines at various price points, rather than the familiar wine featured ubiquitously in other restaurants.

For the consumer, it can confer a luxurious experience to engage with the sommelier both while selecting wine for their meal, and while experiencing the totality of the meal - food and wine - in tandem.

The sommelier might even regale diners with stories about the the winemakers and insights about why a particular wine is showcased on the restaurant’s list. Typically, a well curated wine list offers wines from around the world, has a sense of theme, and compliments the style of food the chef is creating. The sommelier is also the liaison between the winemaker and end consumer. They should taste each and every wine before it is served to ensure it is clean and free of faults that might go undetected by the average diner. If a fault is missed because the wine isn’t tasted by an experienced sommelier, the consumer could possibly shun the wine, the winery, or even the grape and region, permanently marking future wine experiences. The sommelier’s job is to ensure this does not happen.

When a wine needs to be decanted for sediment or aeration to optimize its condition, it is the sommelier’s job to determine these needs, and to execute the process with care.

Wine is the single most expensive thing you will buy at a restaurant, so why, as is so commonly encountered, does it fall on the consumer to taste it for acceptability? Does the chef come out and ask you to determine if the food is fit for eating? Imagine a barista asking you to taste the milk for your latte?

This is an essential role of the sommelier. And by tasting each bottle, when you have questions about a specific wine on the list, chances are the sommelier will have tasted it recently and be able to convey how it tastes to you.

Sadly, the role of sommelier has become less specialized in finer restaurants, if they even have one at all. If they do, they are typically tasked with a myriad of extraneous responsibilities other than researching, buying, serving and inventorying the wine.

Restaurants are notorious for low margins, and economic challenges make it difficult for them to support a position for a dedicated sommelier. If you find yourself at one of the rare restaurants nowadays with a dedicated somm, spend some time with them throughout the course of your meal, and your dining experience will be memorably improved.