Sommelier

Jeremy Stevens

It’s a misunderstood skill, almost a dark art — the plunk of cork as it leaves the bottle, the sniff of grapes, the decanting and the tasting. At some time we’ve all tried to impress and pretend we know what we’re talking about.

For most of us, the secret of wine is as complicated as pi. The role of the restaurant sommelier can be as misunderstood as the wine itself. Clint Hillary says a sommelier is responsible for the wine rather than just matching it with food. “Of course it’s seeing how food and wine go together,” he says. “But a huge side of it is the networking … getting to know the wineries and distributors.

“Plus cellar management and making the wine profitable and how you set out your wine list for the market you’re aiming at. “[Being] on the floor can almost be secondary. Without the right wines on the list it makes it hard to sell them.”

He says flexibility is a must: “What a customer likes I may dislike entirely but I have to understand the wine and then sell it to people.” Hillary reckons gaining a basic knowledge of wine, through courses or personal research, is the best way to launch a career. “You need passion and energy,” he says. “If you’re realistic about running a wine list you have to put in the hours.”

Qualifications: Other than the standard industry requirements needed for the responsible service of alcohol, there are no pre- requisite qualifications needed to work as a sommelier or wine waiter. In conjunction with the Australian Sommeliers Association, TAFE has introduced several wine appreciation and sommelier programs. These include the Sommelier-Introductory, Statement of Attainment (AQF).

Course description: Candidates must be aged at least 18. The course teaches wine-waiting skills as well as the storage, handling and service of wine. Australian wine regions, labelling, wine and food matching and how to construct wine lists are also featured. The core course takes 22 hours to complete (three hours per week for seven weeks) 6.30pm-9.30pm, with an additional elective, tutorial support, taking 36 hours. Course runs February to March 2007.

Costs: The core qualifications cost $350 and you can apply online through http://www.tafensw.edu.au/

From the inside: Sommelier Clint Hillary says there are plenty of work opportunities. “It seems more restaurants are willing to hire wine staff but there aren’t a lot around. Many of the top sommeliers have left to either run their own place or do different wine jobs, but the actual floor sommelier is in short supply,” Hillary says. “There is a lot of wine tasting but also research outside the job. You network with other sommeliers and winemakers on what’s best or hot at the moment. The chef and I interact daily, especially on menu changes. The best part is the educational side of it … exposing customers to something new out of their comfort zones.”

By Jeremy Stevens, The Daily Telegraph, December 9,  2006.