10 questions you always wanted to ask a sommelier
"I've seen colleagues at tastings down litres of wine and get so drunk they can barely remember their names."
When it comes to tasting and valuing wine, most of us couldn't tell a 2009 Chateau Latour from a boxed Tesco red. And yet, we uncomfortably play along when a waiter in a nice restaurant offers a taste of a newly opened bottle, while all we're really thinking is, 'Ah, right, alcohol. There is alcohol in this.'
To find out how to be more convincing without actually having to make the effort to actually learn anything about wine, I got in touch with Matteo Bernardi, who works as a sommelier at Le Calandre, a three-Michelin star restaurant in Padua, northern Italy.
- VICE: Hi Matteo. How do you become a sommelier?
Matteo Bernardi:There are loads of qualification courses you can take. I got my diploma from the Italian Sommelier Association (AIS), which took me about a year-and-a-half. The course was split into three parts. First, you learn how to look at wine, taste it and identify different unique characteristics. Then, you're taught how to recognise different grapes from various regions around the world, and the final stage is all about learning how to pair wine with food.
- Why do sommeliers spit out wine after they've tried it?
If you drink all that wine, you're going to end up pretty drunk. At some tastings, you might try up to a hundred different wines. But I actually think that if you're only tasting seven or eight, it's a shame to waste good wine by spitting it out – especially when the person who produced it is standing right in front of you. It's just not very nice, is it?
- Can you give me some tips on how to pretend to be a wine connoisseur?
Firstly, you should hold the glass by the stem and not the bowl. That’s a sign you know what you're on about. Don’t hold it at the base – that's just wrong. Next, it always looks better to swirl the wine around a bit, smell it, and then talk about the aromas you can pick up. You can mention the intensity, complexity and minerality, even if you have no idea what you’re talking about. And if you ever come across a vintage red, perhaps a 20-year-old Barbaresco, you could smell it and bring up the notes of "goudron" – which means "tar" in French.
- What's the deal with the medallion sommeliers wear around their neck?
It’s called a tastevin. It’s not really around anymore, but in the past, sommeliers would use the facets on the inner surface to gauge the colour and intensity of the wine, which would help to describe it better.
- When should I send back a bottle of wine in a restaurant?
There could be lots of reasons, but most people would rather claim a wine is corked than just that they don't like it. I once had a customer who wanted to show off to the girl he was with, so he complained that the wine was corked. Of course, I apologised and complimented him on his nose, but I should have told them that the bottle was a screw top and therefore could not have been corked.
- Do you ever drink really poor quality wine?
Yes, of course – though today it's hard to find really bad wines. When I have dinner at friends' houses, the wine isn’t always excellent, but I would never complain about it. For me a so-called "poor quality" wine is one that is actually corked, has a bad smell due to oxidation or the colour isn’t bright. Wine is a living liquid – it breathes, grows and ages like people do. So if I look at it and see the colour isn't right or it smells mouldy and rotten, then I know something is wrong.
- What is the most expensive wine you have ever drunk?
I think it was the Leroy Corton-Charlemagne, which sells at around €3,000 a bottle.
- Is being a sommelier well paid?
Obviously it depends on what level you work at. You could work exclusively as a sommelier, or you might be a waiter in a restaurant who's in charge of the wine there. Alternatively, like me, you could manage the cellar. I make a good living from it, but, generally, the business is not like it was back in the 90s, when sommeliers made a lot more money.
- When you're out, are people interested in what you do?
Yes, friends always ask me to try their wines at parties, because they want my expert opinion. But the question people ask me most often is whether I want a lift home; because they assume that I must be too drunk to drive after trying a lot of wine.
- So it’s a job that gets you loads of free drinks?
I have free access to the cellar and I can taste as much as I want. But I never take advantage of that. I’ve seen colleagues at tastings down litres of wine and get so drunk they can barely remember their own names. As I always say – "I don't drink, I taste." The guy who first told me that was drunk when he said it, but that's another matter.
Lean Benz - This article originally appeared on VICE Italy
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