I’M NOT A CELEBRITY or a famous athlete, so the chances of me being interviewed for a magazine or newspaper or television program are pretty small. So, I thought that I’d do the next best thing. I’d write some tough interview questions and give some honest answers. After the way last year went, it seemed like a good therapeutic exercise. What follows are questions that I imagined I’d be asked if I were a famous person who struggled like many others during the last year but survived to tell the tale.
How were you feeling at the beginning of 2020?
I felt rather good about it. The restaurant had just finished another successful holiday season. We sold quite a bit of wine in 2020 and all of our wine dinners were well attended. I was asked to take on a different role throughout October, November, and December. It wasn’t a role that I was happy about, but I was able to learn something else about restaurant operations and it gave me more opportunities to interact with guests during service and help them navigate our wine list. We were offered an opportunity to host a wine dinner with one of my favorite winemakers, Marco Ricasoli-Firidolfi, from Rocca di Montegrossi located in Tuscany, Italy. I didn’t know it at the time, but this would be my last wine dinner of the year. I don’t really do resolutions, but I did have a couple of things that I wanted to do. I had until late November of 2020 to take the Certified Sommelier exam through the Court of Master Sommeliers, so I needed to start preparing for that. I was in the early stages of planning a trip to Italy, and I also had some fitness goals in mind that I really wanted to get started on as well.
How did you react at the beginning of the shutdown?
For me, it was very surreal. The entire weekend leading into the shutdown was really slow. That Friday was Friday the 13th. It’s usually busy with a sprinkling of weirdness on Friday the 13th. That night, not to mention the entire weekend was eerily dead. That Sunday, we closed at 8:00 PM. I remember sending a message to some regulars to let them know that we were closing early, and they replied that they were staying home where it was safe. They were such loyal regulars that it kind of put a stamp on how serious this was for us. When I left, I thought about going out to get a drink like I always did on a Sunday night, but not one restaurant in the city was opened. So, I went home and called it a night. I came in on Wednesday to do inventory. When I clocked out, it would be the last time I worked at that restaurant.
Did you have a plan?
Initially, I just had some thoughts. In my mind, I knew that there were certain things that I needed to do. I went through a long work stoppage after the events of September 11, 2001, so I used that experience as a template. For instance, I knew that I should apply for Unemployment. I also knew that I needed to have a budget. When the shutdown was announced, we were told that by April 15, 2020, we’d be back at work. Then that date was pushed back to May 15, 2020. That meant that I probably needed to find a job because I knew that Unemployment wouldn’t sustain me while I waited for things to reopen. While exchanging text messages with my daughter, she asked me what my plan was. I told her about the exam that I needed to take and my vacation and how my gut feeling was that I wasn’t going to go back to my last employer. She suggested a Vision Board. It was a great idea because it allowed me to make a visual representation of my plan and make strides toward making the plan a reality. For those unfamiliar with a Vision Board, it’s defined as a collage of images and words representing a person’s wishes or goals, intended to serve as inspiration or motivation. It may not work for everyone, but it helped me formulate my plan.
What did you do next?
Fortunately, I didn’t have to look for a new job. About a week after the shutdown, a friend contacted me to ask if I was interested in working for him at his toy distribution warehouse. I knew that I didn’t want to sit around all day doing nothing, so I was pretty excited to get an opportunity to do some work. It wasn’t wine, but it was a job that allowed me to focus on goals and not dwell on negative thoughts. It was a lot of fun. I kept my head down, listened, and learned.
What positives can you think of that highlighted 2020?
The most important positive for me was that my family is safe and healthy. Of all the things that matter, my family is at the top of the list. I couldn’t ask for much more than that.
What did you learn in 2020 that prepared you for 2021 and beyond?
The most important lesson was to trust my instincts. If something doesn’t feel right, then listen to that inner voice. Hard work doesn’t mean anything, except to you. Doing your job well, showing up on time, working late, and being loyal are concepts that can be used to keep you in shackles. They don’t guarantee anything. You can love a job, but that won’t guarantee that your job will always be there. Be prepared to move on and when it’s time to move on, don’t look back. You’re not going that way. The other lesson that I learned is that work friends are just that – work friends. When the job is gone, work friends often go with it. Of course, you do make some lasting friendships at work, but not as many as you think. It’s not the end of the world though. When you find a new job, you’ll find new work friends. It’s a cycle that’s been in place since the dawn of the concept of work. When our grandparents worked, they kept the same job for decades, so they had decades long friendships. In these modern times, you’re lucky to work a job for more than two or three years. That just means you have to make new friends at work more often than your predecessors. That’s probably not a bad thing. During a pandemic, friends are important. I discovered how many I actually had during these past 10 months. Not as many as I thought, but more than I needed. That’s called providence.
What sparked your initial interest in wine?
That’s a long story. I didn’t grow up around alcohol at all. No one in my family drank wine or anything else for that matter. My first exposure to wine was like a lot of people, when I went off to college. Of course, the wines I drank back then were cheap table wines because that’s what I could afford. I had no idea what I was buying either. I just saw purple, yellow, or pink liquids in wine bottles. I didn’t like any of them. During the last semester of my last year of college, I found myself working in a fine dining restaurant. At the time, this restaurant had the largest private wine collection in the country. We had everything and I knew nothing about any of it. The good news was that we were constantly being taught about wine, food, and pairings and we were also allowed to taste the wines on the list. I discovered that the wines that I had been drinking to that point were nothing like these wines. These wines were good, and I liked them. I started to notice that the wines that I really liked came from places not named Napa or Sonoma or Oregon or Washington. I liked Rhone, Burgundy, Rioja, Tuscany, Loire, and Provence. I wanted to learn more, but then I graduated and started a career as a software engineer. September 11, 2001 changed everything for me. My software engineering job disappeared. I was hired and laid off seven times in the next three years. Each time that I was laid off, I worked in a restaurant to make ends meet. After the last lay off, I found myself back at the same fine dining restaurant. It was a lot different by then, but the wine was still there, and I had the chance to learn about wine again. After a few months, the restaurant closed permanently. The executive chef who was there while I was in college had since opened a new restaurant and he offered to hire any of us who needed work. I took his offer and began waiting tables there. I continued to learn about wine from the GM. He allowed me to taste with him whenever wine reps came in to sell us wine. I learned a lot. I was offered an opportunity to write for an online magazine, so I wrote about wine often. Eventually, I moved to Richmond where I continued to learn. I was given the wine program at a movie theater that offered upscale dining, and I hosted wine tastings there for five years. After that, I took a job at the largest French restaurant in the city. In time, I was offered the position of Wine Director. I curated the wine list, did staff training, purchased wine, hosted wine dinners and wine tastings. Today, I am the warehouse manager for a Spanish and South American wine importer. And I am still learning .
What is a Sommelier?
A Sommelier is a trained wine professional who specializes in all aspects of wine service as well as food and wine pairing. During the reign of Louis XIV, the sommelier was the official in charge of the transport of baggage when the court moved. He was the person who chose the wines, table settings and desserts. The sommelier used his tastevin, a silver saucer on a thick silver chain worn around the neck, to check his lord’s wine for poison. He also checked the food. If the sommelier died, his employer would avoid the meal. Modern sommeliers came from the ranks of cooks who were kicked out of the kitchen and sent to the cellars where they subsequently learned to deal with negotiants and barrels of wine. As bottled wines became the standard, the role of the sommelier evolved into the profession we know today.
Why did you want to be a Sommelier?
Like many people, I watched the Neflix documentary called Somm. After I saw it, I finally realized that learning about wine was cool and being a wine professional was an actual career. The Court of Master Sommelier was featured in the documentary, so I did some research and set about getting some credentials. It took a few years before I could actually get started. But eventually I did, and I haven’t stopped working toward the goal of getting as many credentials as possible.
How do you become a Sommelier?
Before you begin your journey to becoming a sommelier, there are a few steps you should take. First, learn as much as you can about wine. Learn how to taste wine and how to take useful wine notes. Sommeliers use a specific method to assess wines. This allows them to distinguish the different aromas and flavors in a specific wine. It also helps you to determine whether a wine was aged in oak or not. Once you’ve begun to master this, learn about the important wine regions of the world. Learn about the wines that come from those regions. There are so many great books and websites on this subject. Next, learn how to serve and pour wine. There are certain rules of etiquette that apply to wine service. You should learn and practice them. The best way to do this is to find a job at a restaurant that serves wine. It takes a lot of practice, but it is a valuable skill that a sommelier must perfect. If, after you’ve taken all of these steps and you still want to be a sommelier, start taking the certification classes. You don’t need them to be a sommelier, but certification classes definitely put you ahead of candidates without them.
What’s the difference between the Court of Master Sommelier and the Wine and Spirits Education Trust?
Contrary to popular belief, WSET has been around longer than CMS. WSET was founded in 1969 whereas CMS was founded in 1977. They are both headquartered in London, UK. The biggest difference between the two is that CMS focuses mainly on the Old World while WSET focuses on the entire globe. Old World refers to wine producing countries who produce wines using traditional methods. Places like France, Italy, Spain, Germany, and Austria. CMS also focuses a lot on the service aspect of wine. Otherwise, their goals, on the surface, seem similar. At the beginning of my formal wine studies, I was drawn to the allure of CMS. Mostly because of how it was portrayed in the Somm documentary. I took the first of the four exams necessary to become a master sommelier. Like everything else, the wine world was flipped on its head in 2020. In June of 2020, Richard Betts, a Master Sommelier, posted an open letter in which he resigned his title amid a scandal related to cheating on the Master Sommelier exam. That was just the beginning. Since then, there have been accusations of racism, sexism, and discrimination levied against The Court. This caused me to rethink my plan. I knew about WSET, but not a lot. I talked to people who I knew had taken WSET classes and asked questions about how the credentials are thought of in the industry compared to CMS. The most striking thing was that everyone pointed out how inclusive WSET was and how accepting the global WSET community was. They also encouraged me to talk to others before I made my decision, and I was given the contact information for the person who ran the school where I could take classes locally. I was surprised to find that most of the people I’d spoken with had already given me a shining recommendation and she said that she was looking forward to working with me because my name had come up even before I started my inquiries. So, with the decision to move to WSET made, I took my stimulus check and invested in myself. I have not regretted that decision.
What does a Sommelier do exactly?
Contrary to popular belief, we don’t get paid to drink wine all day. The job is a lot more complex than that. A sommelier knows every aspect of the winemaking process. We study wine history, wine culture, winemaking techniques, soil types, climate, aging techniques, different methods of fermentation, and many other wine related topics. We understand how to pair wine with food, so we are available during service to assist guests as well as staff members on food and wine pairings. We curate the wine list for the restaurants where we work. That means making the decisions on what should be on the list and what should not be on the list. We work with wine sales representatives to ensure that we are up to date on current trends, pricing, and availability. Having great wines on a list is good but having great wines that pair well with the items on the food menu is better. I notoriously walked the isles of local grocery stores to ensure that I didn’t have anything on my lists that could be found in a grocery store. It’s a personal pet peeve of mine, but definitely a good habit to have. Retail pricing versus restaurant pricing is quite different and it’s best to not put your staff in the position to have this discussion with guests during service. We also work with the executive chef to make sure we are in sync with respect to menu selections and wine choices. It’s good to share ideas and give feedback. We also lend our expertise to special events like wine dinners. We do taste wine. It’s the method we use to decide what we like and what we don’t like, which wines fit with our needs and which wines do not. Tasting means just that– tasting. We don’t drink it. We smell it, we swirl it around in our mouths to make sure it tastes the way it should and then we spit it out. If we drank every wine that we tasted during any given day, we’d definitely not be very productive.
Is the Sommelier exam difficult?
I’ve only taken two of the certification exams so far and I can say that they are difficult. As a college graduate with degrees in mathematics and computer science, I’ve taken plenty of difficult exams and the sommelier exams are on par with some of my college courses. There is a lot of information required for each level, but memorizing it isn’t the key. Knowing how to apply what you have learned is vital.
Is the wine rating system legit?
For me, ratings don’t really mean much. I say that because a high rating on a wine style that I don’t like won’t make me buy it. By that I mean that I rarely drink Chardonnay, so even if a Chardonnay gets a perfect 100 score, I’m still not going to drink it. So, to me the system is subjective. As a wine professional, I get to try many types of wine on any given day. When I go out to eat, the chances of me recognizing the wines on a wine list are far greater than the average restaurant patron. I’m also trained to know how specific varietals and blends are supposed to taste, so I can make informed decisions on pairing wine with my meal. I don’t have to guess, and I don’t require a grading system to tell me that something is good. I recognize producers’ names, specific wine regions, and specific grapes when I look at a list. This helps me far more than some random writer’s opinion which can easily be swayed by advertisement dollars or friendships made while talking over a glass of the wine soon to be mentioned in an article. There are some expensive wines out there, but they aren’t expensive because of a grading system. They are expensive because they are well made year after year, come from prestigious growing regions, are rare, or exceptionally good, yet in limited supply. As a sommelier, it’s my job to know those wines and guide you as you decide whether it makes sense to invest in that particular wine drinking experience.
What’s your worst experience as a Sommelier?
My worst experience as a Sommelier actually happened on a day off. There’s a small restaurant near my house that I liked to go to on Mondays after I finished my gym workout. I liked the food and I liked being able to sit quietly and enjoy a meal. One of the benefits of eating there on Monday was that some of the wine reps who I bought wine from would visit that restaurant to taste wines with the owner. It was an opportunity to try wines that I wouldn’t get to try otherwise because our wine list was so specific that reps didn’t always bring the same wines for us to try that they brought to this place. I didn’t go there to taste, but I was offered the opportunity once and then it just became a normal part of Monday if I was there. One afternoon, the owner asked if I wanted to taste with him. I said yes and he handed me a glass. While we were tasting, there was an older Caucasian woman sitting at the bar watching. After the third rep offered me some wine to try, she wonders aloud, “…why does HE get to taste wine?” The owner says, “…. Because he’s the Somm at Can Can.” In the most indignant, disrespectful tone she could muster she says, “…. you? You’re the Sommelier at Can Can I said, “…yes.” The four wine reps who were still there gave her a glare that let her know that they didn’t appreciate her, her ignorance, or her attitude. She paid her tab and left. All I did that day was show up in the skin that I was blessed with and it made her uncomfortable to find out that I had a job that she didn’t think I deserved to have. This sort of thing happens on occasion, but that was the worst that I could remember.
What’s your favorite experience as a Sommelier?
Being able to share my knowledge and experiences with others. Recently, I had the opportunity to work with the staff of a new restaurant. I taught them some wine basics to help them as they learned the nuances of their wine list. It was fun to be able to answer questions and share some of my experiences with wine over the years. They all seemed to appreciate the time we spent together and every time that I get to speak with them it’s always a pleasure to answer their question and help them learn.