Becoming a sommelier has been one of the if not the best decision in my life. Frankly, I didn’t grow up telling everyone “hey, I want to be a somm!” whilst other kids were dreaming about becoming a firefighter, a doctor, an astronaut or one of the other kids dreams about what they want to be when they are grown-ups (well, are we actually really grown up now? And how does this change our drinking behavior? Let’s maybe save that topic for another time – it’s going to be a good one).

But one day I woke up and I knew. And as my grandmother always said “You got to do what you got to do.” – I did what my heart told me.

But even today, there are many people that I meet where the first reaction is “That’s so great, congratulations to this amazing job!” And just about the same moment I can see a big question mark arising on their forehead because yes, wine is the topic, and yes, most of them have seen us working at a restaurant, recommending and serving wine – but is that really all?

Most of you have probably heard about wine travels, blind tastings ( yes, with some training, focus and a little luck we definitely can tell you what is in the glass just by analyzing sight, smell and taste), competitions, exams… but don’t they work at a restaurant every night as their job you ask yourself? Yes we do. But that’s just a tiny piece of the cake, the tip of the iceberg.

We are professionals on the floor, we love to be on our stage – recommending wines, finding the right matches by tasting wine with food, but also the right match for you, as our guests, by talking to you, evaluating your wants and needs, your curiosities, your todays’ mood. It’s definitely the most fun and exciting part about being a somm – and believe me, we can get so excited about wines. Like for me, when I taste a wine that I’ve never tasted before, but I always wanted to, it’s like the favorite piece of candy for a little kid. We would love to open bottle over bottle over bottle to indulge in the stories the bottles got to tell, to taste, to talk and completely get lost in some nerdy talks with colleagues.

Well, an expensive hobby you think – and preaching to the prayer, I’m telling you it is. First, for example, sending me into a wine shop is like sending another woman to Louboutin (not that I can deny I have a slight weakness for this as well). I “just want to look” – and sure as hell is a pretty hot place, I walk out with at least 3-6 new bottles of wine.

But let’s be a little more serious again and come to a second very important part – I always say it is more and more important that for us sommeliers, we do need to have more and more in-depth trainings on all the financial matters that are linked to our job. Because – it’s nice we can recommend good and suitable wines and that we are empathic and good in making our guests feel comfortable and home, but if at the end of the day, our wine concept is not financially healthy and sustainable, how can we call ourselves a good sommelier? At the end of the day, all the products we choose, all the decisions we make, have nothing to do in first place with our personal wants and needs or our ego, it has to be in the favor of the financial aspect and concept of the restaurant. Because if it’s not, no guest can be served there anyways as the doors are closed pretty fast again.

And that’s in fact where our job starts. It’s lots of knowledge for sure as a base to walk on – without knowing what we are talking about we cannot be the easy going and charismatic people that our guests expect when coming to the restaurant. Neither can we appear professional. But it starts with evaluating the market we cater to, the wants and needs off both, the guests, but also the restaurant and its concept. Defining a wine program, purchasing the bottles, designing a physical menu, setting up a sustainable pricing, physically getting the bottles from the cellar to the restaurant (storage in both places is to be considered), having utensils like glassware and napkins ready. And we haven’t talked about spirits, juices, cocktails, non-alcoholic beverages, cigars and so on. Cocktails? Cigars? Yes, all those things, belong to the job of a sommelier, including doing the math.

You can see, it’s not only the fun part with sipping wines and travelling to wine areas involved. But that brings us back to my granny – “You got to do what you got to do…”.

And I love it.

What is a somm?

Do we grow up – and if we do, does our taste do as well?

To be a sommelier or not to be – that’s the question