Support your local sommelier

In which I raise a glass to the wine experts of the restaurant world.

Last night I went out for dinner with a friend. And it was all rather nice. We enjoyed cecina (cured Spanish beef), oxtail canapes, tuna tartar, and a beautifully cooked pork steak. All in all, a delicious meal.

But what took it to the next level was the wine. Or rather, the wine ordering.

You see, we asked to see the wine menu and our waiter, Rocio, handed us the list and politely left us to read through it. Then, after a few minutes, she returned and asked if we had any questions about the wines. I’d already spotted a couple that I knew and one or two others that I thought looked interesting. But I took the chance and asked for her thoughts.

Which led to a very interesting conversation about some of the wines on offer. She pointed out a very reasonably priced Mencía made by the great Raul Perez himself and guided us diplomatically away from a Monastrell that she didn’t think would work with our food choices. We then talked about how both my friend and I were fans of Garnacha, which took us down the route of a lesser-known wine from Aragon and finally into the lap of a Garnacha from those wonderful people at Bodegas Bernabeleva – Navaherreros to be precise. It was delicious: a delicate red with gentle fruits and soft tannins that went perfectly with the meal.

And it didn’t end there. As we reached our main course and the bottle sat annoyingly empty on the table, Rocio popped up again and wondered if we might want another bottle or whether we might want to taste something else along similar lines. We chose the latter and were treated to a Vino de Montaña 2020 from Penínsular Vinicultores. It’s an intriguing mix of Garnacha Tinta, Rufete and Piñuela taken from two very different locations.

Most of the Garnacha Tinta comes from plots in the Sierra de Gredos to the west of Madrid, whilst the rest of the grapes come from plots in Villamiel in the Sierra de Gata, about 250km further west. Piñuela is actually a pretty rare variety that is only found in the Sierra de Gredos in central Spain, and this was my first encounter with it. And I really liked it. Perfumed, smooth, and exceptionally drinkable, it was a great discovery and a lovely soft way to round off the meal. My ideal dessert!

I tell you all of this not to make you jealous, and not necessarily to promote the wines we drank, although both are highly recommended. No, the reason I’m recounting the story is because I wanted to praise the knowledge, engagement, and all-round pleasantness of Rocio, our sommelier.

Sommeliers can get a bad rap. They are often portrayed as superior, snobbish, or just plain rude, people who exist simply to make us feel small and inferior, should we dare to pick up a wine menu. People like that may exist, but in my experience, nothing could be further from the truth.

I have always found sommeliers to be friendly, helpful, respectful, and full of knowledge about wine. These are usually the people who have put together the wine list, and they will have made choices based on the wines themselves, the style of food in the menu, and yes, often their own personal preferences. No one knows the wine menu in a restaurant better than these people, so it makes absolute sense to seek their help and guidance when it comes to navigating it.

And they are usually passionate about wine. These are people who have studied intensely to get to where they are. The Advanced Sommelier Certificate offered by the Court of Master Sommeliers requires would-be wine experts to sit through two and a half days of examinations covering theory, blind tasting, and wine serving techniques. And to even take the course, you need to have at least two years of experience working in a restaurant service or sales job and have passed the Certified Sommelier Exam before applying (ideally with a year’s break in between).

And that’s not the highest level. The Master Sommelier Diploma is so difficult that the theory exam has a pass rate of 10%, and only 25% of those pass the practical tests. It’s pretty brutal.

Incidentally, if you are interested in the journey to becoming a Master Sommelier, I strongly recommend you watch the 2012 documentary Somm – it follows a group of wine experts as they go through the self-learning and the exams and gives a fascinating insight into this aspect of the wine world. Here’s a trailer:

I’m not saying that every sommelier on the planet has gone through so much rigorous training. But gaining the knowledge and understanding required to put together and manage a good restaurant wine list takes time, study and dedication. And the rewards are not as lucrative as you think. A quick skim of a Spanish wine jobs site suggests that salaries for a sommelier in Madrid can be as low as €18k a year and rarely sit above €30k. That’s not a great deal of salary given the knowledge and skills you need to do the job.

So, I would like to extend a public ‘thank you’ to Rocio and all the other sommeliers out there. Like many who work in the wine world, they are knowledgeable, generous, passionate people who are in it for the joy of the wine. If you’ve never struck up a conversation with one, I suggest you try it next time you’re lucky enough to meet one. It could make the difference between a good meal and a great one.

Cheers!