What's a Sommelier?
Written By: Brian Freedman on Thu, Jul 16th 2009
Put simply, a sommelier is a wine waiter. But, of course, the job entails far more than simply pulling guests' wines from the cellar and serving them. After all, the world of wine is huge, and one of the most important aspects of the sommelier's job is to possess and extensive knowledge of regions, grapes, blends, winemakers, vineyards, food and wine pairings, and the like in order to help guide guests to make intelligent and appropriate wine selections.
To that end, it is not really reasonable for a restaurant to designate its most wine-knowledgeable employee the "sommelie." There's training involved, and a rigorous course of study and tasting that one must undergo before being able to use this title legitimately.
Now, there is no single standard certifying body in the world of wine, just like there's not one university that awards degrees in science or liberal arts. But there are a number of organizations that have taken the lead in the field, and whose stamp of sommelier approval carry more weight than others. The Court of Master Sommeliers is one. The Wine and Spirits Education Trust is another.
Wherever the certification is from, they all generally guarantee that a certain minimum level of competency is attained by those who claim the title. Whether they speak to you in a snobby tone and with a faux-French accent is another issue entirely.
