There was a time when finding someone having a sommelier qualification or title
was quite rare. Today, on the contrary, finding someone who is not a sommelier is
a very difficult event. No matter the reason, whoever you ask, wherever you go
or regardless of who you hang out with, it is very likely to find at least one
person who has a sommelier title. Moreover, today there are several dozen
associations, schools and courses which can issue, in various ways
and cases, the prestigious qualification of sommelier. In this regard, there are
solutions for all tastes, possibilities and ambitions, you can become a sommelier
even in a very short time, including achieving qualifications of increasing levels
which can promise the knowledge of the most hidden and untold secrets about wine
and more. It is not difficult, in fact, during a conversation about wine, at the
apex of the discussion, to be told that your interlocutor holds the title of
first, second, third, fourth or supreme level of absolute sommelier, sometimes
also having a black belt in wine.
A clarification that, in the intentions of the interlocutor, should silence any
controversy because of the fact he – or she – knows everything for the fact of
being a certified sommelier, therefore having a supreme and enlightened
acquaintance of any topic related to wine. Moreover, even friends or relatives of
sommeliers or presumed sommeliers boast the privilege of such influential
relationships, convinced of possessing – who knows for what transitive
property – the enological omniscience. In the midst of a conversation, they cut
off the discussion and say I have a friend who is a sommelier, pronounced with
pompous air and emphasis, trusting to stifle any and possible reply, as if to say
you don't know who I am. Sommeliers are everywhere and we are all sommeliers
in some way. Not to mention, because of the common habit of ridicule that many
like, convinced that, as soon as they come to the knowledge of the fact one
plus one equals two, they believe themselves to be math geniuses.
The sad and disappointing thing is that, often, indeed, very often, these
qualified figures, holders of various certificates, hardly know what a sommelier
is, what are the skills and the knowledge a sommelier should possess, at least
for a minimum. They introduce themselves as experts in the sommellerie
– without even knowing exactly what it is – and they usually turn out to be even
unable to correctly uncork a bottle of sparkling wine, not to mention a table
wine, with desolating skills about sensorial tasting, in the best case of
notional type because someone told them that it is so. If you then ask them
why, for example, certain wines are served in a specific way, at a certain
temperature, they have no idea of the reasons, neither technical nor practical.
They have hardly tasted a few dozen wines, but for them, evidently, they
represent all the wines of the world, a sum of past, present and future wine
knowledge. After all, they are sommeliers, since someone made them believe it
somehow.
I need to make a necessary clarification: in every country in the world where
there is an enological cultural tradition – and in particular in France and
Italy, where the sommellerie undeniably has a solid and significant
history – there are competent and serious associations capable of proficiently
train a sommelier. It is also however true there is a high number of
schools, courses and associations that use the term
sommelier with embarrassing ease. They even boast of being wine
ambassadors, when they obviously know very little about wine. This is
undeniably the result of our times, in which we must give the illusion to anyone
that achieving a result – whatever it is – it just takes a little effort, the
little that must be within everyone's reach. Everything must be easy and fun,
everything politically correct, everyone must be able to arrogate the
right to be an expert simply because they exist or have the right to express
their opinions. Unfortunately, this reflects what happens in our society in
general: everything must be easy, everything must be achieved without the least
effort, merit or commitment. Undeniably, it is also the result of the growing
culture of the smart and superficiality which prevail over honesty and real
merit.
Sommelier is a French word of unequivocal Latin origin. The authoritative
Académie Française defines sommelier as «one who in a community, in
a house, takes care of linen, dishes, bread, wine and spirits», adding then, in a
modern meaning, that «sommelier is said above all to the one who, in a
restaurant, takes care of the cellar». The modern meaning of the term
sommelier, in fact, is very far from its original meaning. According to
the Larousse dictionary «in the Middle Ages [the sommelier was] the officer in
charge of transporting, on pack animals or horses, the luggage of a prince or a
gentleman» and «officer in charge of setting the table and preparing the wines».
The Le Robert dictionary, as regards the origin of the term, reports that
sommelier «derives from summularius, in turn derived from summula
diminutive of summa». Sommelier therefore derives from old French and,
more precisely, from Provençal saumalier, that is conductor of pack
animals, in turn derived from sauma. This latter term is of Latin
derivation, precisely sagma, that is, pack. Originally, therefore, the
sommelier was the conductor of pack animals.
The sommelier acquires its modern meaning – that is of cellar and wine
manager – at the beginning of the 1800s, however it should be noted that a
similar figure was already well known and common, especially in Italy, with the
term cupbearer, a figure widely known in ancient times and who had the
task of pouring wine into the cups of rich banqueters. The cupbearer is then
followed by the bottigliere (Italian for bottle manager), who also had
the task of managing the cellar and its supply, at the service of rich nobles.
However, it is the term sommelier to become common all over Europe, and today
this is how the professional figure in charge of the service of wine and spirits
is defined, as well as the management of the cellar and the bottles stored
inside. In short, the sommelier is also a manager and administrator of the
cellar, especially in a restaurant. He or she also has skills in sensorial
tasting of wine, its service and pairing with food, as well as having solid
knowledge of ampelography and enography. To clarify further, a wine taster, with
real or presumed skills in this non-trivial discipline, is not a sommelier.
I often read about courses, associations and schools for sommeliers, where
– after having closely look at their educational programs – they hardly deal
with providing the basic rudiments of sensorial tasting. Lessons dedicated to the
service of wine and to the management of the cellar, totally absent. In many
cases, these are courses of a few lessons, each dedicated to a specific style
of wine and its tasting, at the end of which the participants can
triumphantly define themselves as sommelier to anyone. This would
suggest, not least, the real sommelier is only the one who works in a restaurant
with this qualification. My personal experience, unfortunately, makes me think
this is not always the case. I can certainly tell there are restaurants – very
few, in truth – in which work trained, competent and capable sommeliers, however
in most cases, it is depressing to see how embarrassing their preparation is,
including wine service. If we then look at the wine lists of many restaurants
– whose composition and compilation is up to the sommelier – it is embarrassing
to see their incompleteness and inaccuracy. Nevertheless, they put their
sommellerie membership badge pinned on their jackets on display, not least, the
presence of the sommelier is even announced at the entrance of the restaurant.
As it commonly happens, the fact of having obtained a diploma or certificate does
not give the actual capability or competence in a particular discipline or
subject. Both are achieved much later in time – by choice, determination and
will – through study, practice, perseverance, talent, attitude, tenacity and
having proficiently used both time and resources. Having tasted a few glasses of
wine in the confusion of the tables of a class or school, having clumsily
uncorked – on the same occasion – a few bottles of wine, having basic notions
on the subjects necessary for the knowledge of wine and spirits, are not enough
to make a sommelier. Not to mention the sommeliers who obtain a certificate
at the end of a course of a few lessons, all focused on the brief introduction to
sensorial tasting. Because it must be said that today, very often, for sommelier
it is usually intended someone who, after having put his or her nose in a glass
of wine, tells, more or less, something that can impress the ignorance of the
listener. The sommelier, however, is something else. And, please, learn how to
correctly uncork bottles and serve wine. If this is not the case, introduce
yourself as a wine lover who perhaps knows something about sensorial tasting.
Being a sommelier and sommellerie are truly something else.
Antonello Biancalana
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