The Fine Art of Wine Service

by Susan on 09/25/09 at 11:01 am

The next time you dine at an upscale restaurant and ask your server for suggestions about the best wine to accompany your dinner, you will most likely be assisted by a sommelier – a wine steward, who is professionally trained to assist patrons in all aspects of wine service.  Working in tandem with the restaurant staff, the sommelier’s responsibilities vary, but he or she is usually charged with ordering and storing the wine, rotating the stock in the wine cellar, and most importantly, providing expert advice to customers who want to pair a quality wine with their food at a price that fits into their budget.

Experts who are versed in the finer qualities of wine can be wine masters, sommeliers or master sommeliers.  Each designated category of wine specialist has its own training and certification program that provides them with the credentials to work in fine restaurants around the globe.

Wine Masters

According to the Institute of Masters of Wine, a “Master of Wine”  is someone who has passed the rigorous four-day examination.  The Master of Wine designation, often referred to as the “Ph.D.” of wine, is an ambassador for the wine trade — someone who has achieved the highest level of wine trade education, and has a proven set of problem solving skills that are specific to the wine industry.  Master of Wine is both a title and a qualification.  Those who possess this title are usually working behind the scenes in an administrative, business, management, educational or journalistic capacity.

Training to be a Wine Master is done under the auspices and strict guidelines of the Institute of Masters of Wine.  There are currently 280 Masters of Wine in 22 countries.   Here are some of the Wine Masters in the United States:

Sheryl Sauter Morano – Sopexa / Wines of France (Chapel Hill, NC)

Peter Koff – Fairest Cape Beverage Company (Santa Ana, CA)

Mark de Vere – Constellation Wines (Oakville, CA)

Christopher Cree – 56 Degree Wine (Bernardsville, NJ)

Mary Ewing-Mulligan – International Wine Center (New York City)

Sommeliers

A sommelier is a generic term that designates the person in a restaurant who manages the wine service — choosing and serving the wines and advising diners on the best wine to pair with a meal.  Although you do  not need formal training to call yourself a sommelier, most of the individuals who work in that role have had some formal training, usually through a culinary school, such as the French Culinary Institute, the Culinary Institute of America or the Art Institute of Vancouver.  Sommeliers have extensive knowledge about the different types of grapes, winemaking regions and vintages of the wines.  Here are some of the sommeliers in the U.S.

Geoffrey Fallon - Les Zygomates (Boston)

Michael Engelmann – Restaurant Gary Danko (San Francisco)

Fernando Beteta -  NoMi (Chicago)

Inez Ribustello - On the Square (Tarboro, NC)

Hristo Zisovski - Restaurant Jean Georges (New York City)

Master Sommelier

A master sommelier is the only internationally recognized credential for beverage sales and service and is awarded to individuals after going through four stages for qualification.  Master sommeliers have to demonstrate their knowledge, skills and experience in a variety of areas before successfully completing the four-stage certification process.  The main qualifying organization is the Court of Master Sommeliers.  Some of the top master sommeliers in the U.S. include:

Roger Dagorn -  Chanterelle (New York)

Alan Murray – Masa (San Francisco)

Laura Maniec – BR Guest Restaurant Group

Alpana Singh – Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises

Drew Hendricks – Charlie Palmer (Dallas)

It  takes time and money to receive credentials to become a wine master or master sommelier, so the next time you are served a glass of fine wine, thank your server for their suggestion and expertise.

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