The New York Times
July 6, 2010, 7:38 pm
The Role of the Sommelier
By ERIC ASIMOV
[Martin Bernetti/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images]
Are you naturally suspicious of sommeliers, wine shops and restaurants? Do you believe that given the chance they will try to take advantage of you, to sell you something you don’t want, make you spend more than you had planned and, worst of all, help themselves to what is rightfully yours?
Well, maybe you don’t feel this way, but some people do. Such suspicions fuel some of the negative reactions toward the practice in some restaurants of having sommeliers taste the wines diners have ordered before serving them to the table.
Suspicions are not the only reason some people object to this practice. Others feel they are the best judges of whether a wine is flawed or not, and do not appreciate sommeliers appropriating their role.
Personally, I don’t mind it at all. Who, after all would be more familiar with the wines on a restaurant list than the sommelier? I can imagine several scenarios where a sommelier might be better equipped to recognize a flawed bottle than I would.
For example, consider the fact that, while obviously corked bottles may be easy to detect, slightly corked bottles reveal themselves not so much through off aromas but by muting a wine’s natural fragrance and flavors. I might not notice this, but a sommelier, who theoretically at least knows what a wine is supposed to smell like, would presumably recognize the difference.
As for usurping the role of the judge, I don’t believe this is the case at all. Just because sommeliers taste the wine does not mean they have the final say in the matter. They must still present the bottle to the table and offer a taste to a guest, who may reject the bottle for countless reasons. A sommelier, believing the bottle is not flawed, may suggest in turn allowing the wine to breathe for a few minutes, or cooling it, or even decanting it. But ultimately, the guest is the final arbiter. If a table rejects a bottle, that must be accommodated.
This is occasionally where trouble comes up. A sommelier, insufficiently trained, may choose to argue the matter. Bad idea! A good bottle that’s been rejected can always be used for something else. The wine can be sold by the glass, or it can be served to the staff as a training exercise. But a guest who has had a confrontation will never return, and that will cost the restaurant a lot more in the long run.
Call me a sunny optimist, but I firmly believe that good sommeliers want nothing more than to make sure their customers enjoy the best possible experience. I don’t mind putting myself in their hands.
Of course, the operative word is “good.” I see a significant difference between a good, well-trained sommelier, and somebody who was put in charge of wine because they are enthusiastic about it. But restaurants that are serious about wine take wine service seriously as well. And if part of that service includes a sommelier taking a minuscule amount of wine to insure that it is sound, well, that’s alright by me.
Eric Asimov is the wine critic for the Times.
