Ingredients and preparation often make or break a dish, but one overlooked aspect of the dining experience is beverages. Many people think drinks are just a way to wash the food down, but the right beverage with a meal can make that dish shine.
Wine is an excellent example. The right wine enhances the dish, bringing out subtle flavors. And the wrong wine… Well, let’s just say it enhances the wrong notes.
Many people know wines come in red and white and may even know their merlots from their cabernets and chardonnays. But matching the wine to the meal is so much more than red versus white. That’s where a sommelier comes in.
A sommelier can help diners pick the right wine for every course, ensuring every bite is delicious. And they can improve your restaurant’s bottom line.
First Off, What Is a Sommelier?
A sommelier is essentially a wine expert. However, that doesn’t mean they “really like wine.” Sommeliers are knowledgeable wine professionals who understand how to:
- Select wines for a wine list
- Create wine pairings
- Run a wine service, including how to open and pour wine and which glasses it should be served in.
- Educate customers and staff
- Manage a wine cellar, including inventory management and storage
To be clear, anyone with the right knowledge and passion can call themselves a sommelier. However, credentialing bodies certify sommeliers, indicating they’ve taken certain classes and proven their abilities.
Sommeliers generally work in a fine dining restaurant; However, some sommeliers work for:
- Banquet halls
- Private collectors
- Culinary schools
- Retail shops
- Wine bars
What Are Restaurant Sommeliers, and What Do They Do?
A restaurant sommelier is the wine steward of a restaurant. While they are responsible for creating and maintaining the wine list, some sommeliers oversee all the alcoholic beverages in a restaurant, like beers and spirits.
But most sommeliers stick to wines and have a few key responsibilities.
Curate Wine Lists
A restaurant sommelier creates the restaurant’s wine list, and wine pairing is a major consideration. The sommelier must work with the chef or culinary team to ensure enough wine varieties pair perfectly with every dish on the menu. At the same time, they can’t stock every wine on the market, so finding vintages that pair with multiple dishes is equally critical.
While ensuring good wine pairings is important, other things sommeliers consider when creating a wine list include:
- Price. In addition to considering what each wine bottle costs the restaurant, the sommelier also needs to consider the price range of the entire list. Including affordable choices along with pricier selections ensures wine sales meet their revenue targets.
- Wine regions. Sommeliers will try to build a wine list that features bottles from several wine regions that appeal to a variety of customer tastes.
- The winery. Some wineries have specialities that appeal to customers, like using organic grapes or having an ice wine variety.
- Par levels. A good sommelier keeps track of the wine par levels or the minimum amount of each bottle the restaurant should stock. Tracking the par level ensures optimal inventory management so nothing goes to waste or you run out of wine during service.
Run the Wine Service
No matter the wine list, if servers don’t know how to properly handle and serve the wine, customers may end up disappointed. A crucial part of the sommelier job is to train staff on how to:
- Store and handle the wine bottles
- Pair wines with food
- Decant wine
- Select the right glassware
Conduct Wine Education
While training restaurant staff on wine service is part of the job, so is educating customers. Some customers have limited wine knowledge and need guidance to select the right wine, while others have no knowledge and need an expert to help them. Likewise, wine lovers may know exactly what they’re looking for but still want suggestions from the sommelier to discover new vintages or wine pairings.
Why Your Restaurant Needs a Sommelier
To be clear, not every restaurant needs a sommelier. Restaurants with a casual bar may not need a sommelier and can instead rely on the bartender, general manager, or owner to curate the offerings, especially if they don’t serve wine.
Though it’s common to find sommeliers in fine dining restaurants, other types of restaurants can benefit from adding a sommelier to the team.
Enhance Customer Experience
While most diners have wine preferences, a sommelier can help customers get the most from their food and wine. A sommelier knows that the right wine pairing enhances every bite and will steer diners toward the wine or wines that make their dining experience exceptional.
A sommelier can also encourage customers to try something new and possibly find a new favorite wine. Customers who don’t know where to start will benefit from the advice and guidance a sommelier provides, enhancing their dining experience and ensuring that every flavor is a delight.
Improve Your Wine Program
While your restaurant can rely on existing staff to curate the wine list, a sommelier can often create a list that’s better suited for your restaurant and improves your bottom line.
A sommelier’s refined pallet allows them to select wines that pair with multiple items on your menu, allowing you to slim down your wine offerings if you choose and ensuring what you do stock is more likely to sell. They’ll also manage your wine inventory, only ordering what you need while making sure you have enough wine for every service that doesn’t go to waste.
Manage Relationships
On top of managing the wine list, sommeliers also manage relationships with suppliers and distributors.
Sommeliers handle vendor relationships, specifically with suppliers and distributors. They’re often able to negotiate pricing and terms which helps your bottom line.
What to Look for in a Restaurant Sommelier
If you’ve decided your restaurant needs a sommelier, here’s what to look for.
Qualifications
While there’s no official licensing or certification that makes someone a sommelier, there are some credentialing bodies you can look to for guidance. The Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET), National Wine School, and Court of Master Sommeliers are some of the better-known organizations. Each requires sommeliers to take classes and demonstrate their wine knowledge.
While these bodies have several certification levels, not every restaurant needs (or can afford) a master sommelier or even an advanced sommelier. What you’re ultimately looking for in a sommelier is someone who knows wine and can prove they can do the job.
Skills and Abilities
Experience as a restaurant sommelier is important, but it’s not the only thing that matters. For example, a sommelier needs good people skills, so they can speak to customers without talking down to them, educate staff, and maintain solid relationships with vendors.
Continuing Education
Even certified sommeliers don’t have continuing education requirements. However, you may want to ask your potential sommelier how they learn more about their craft. For example, as the climate changes, grapes are impacted, which can change the flavor of wines. Asking how this person stays on top of these developments and how they’re adjusting their strategies can help you decide if this is the right sommelier for your restaurant.
A Perfect Pairing
Not every restaurant needs a sommelier but many could benefit from their knowledge. A sommelier can create a wine list that matches your restaurant, fits your customers’ budgets, and helps your restaurant run an efficient and profitable wine program.
If you’re wondering if a sommelier is right for your operation or are looking for expert advice and insights on running your restaurant, Kezner Consulting is here to help. Contact us today for a free consultation.
