What is a Sommelier?

The word “sommelier” comes from the Middle French word for the keeper of the pack animals. Traditionally, a sommelier is a wine steward (a respected position in fine restaurants) with the responsibilities of procuring popular or rare wines, rotating and maintaining the wine cellar, and aiding customers with wine choices. Today, elite restaurants may hire sommeliers for other items or special services on the menu, such as one sommelier for liquor, one for cigars, one for pastries, etc. Wine experts around the world have developed their own culture, and becoming a sommelier encompasses being trained in wines and also in this refined culture of wine.

Chuck Byers is one of those wine experts. His renowned guests include Yves-Dominique Ferraud, of Ferraud and Fils (winemaker/distributor of famed Beaujolais wines), Jose Paradella (International Sommelier Guild), and head sommeliers of several of the world’s most exclusive private clubs. This video series will take you behind the scenes, and into the cellars, of a day in the life of a sommelier. Chuck will show you part of that wine culture in Toronto, how a professional opens and decants a bottle of wine, what you’re supposed to do with the cork, and how to pair foods with wine. Watch these videos and impress your friends the next time wine is served!

"Hi this is Chuck Byers for Expert Village and we're here at Les Select restaurant in Toronto tasting the Beaujolais crew of Pierre Ferraud et Fils. And we're going to be talking to six or seven of the best Sommeliers in Toronto right here today. My name is Cory Ladouceur I'm the Sommelier fine dining room manager at the Granite Club, the private member's club in Toronto. I think Sommelier brings a different element to the dining scene. I think it adds spice to a restaurant setting, it allows the diner or consumer to be able to put some confidence in their wine selections. For some that does have accredited education to be able to pair up foods and wines to make them try something different that they might not have done one their own. Instead of ordering their same bottle of wine when they come in, it's up to me to me to maybe match their flavor profile with their price point and make them try something that's a little more obscure and something that actually becomes their new favorite. So it's all about the service and making them feels comfortable. What I want to discuss with you Jose the characteristics that sommeliers requires, personal characteristics. So what would you look for in a sommelier, as far as personal characteristics are concerned? I think there's a personality of somebody like you. I would say a passion for the profession. Of course, the education necessary to his knowledge, communication skills, good personality and basically that's what you need. Should he have organizational skills, management skills? This is all part of the education once you go through the whole education process, you'll not only be suggesting wines but you'll be managing the whole restaurant. The front of the house, the back of the realm, the cellar. He's not a maitre d, he's a sommelier? Yes, he's a sommelier. If he's acting only as a sommelier, but his knowledge will go beyond than just a sommelier, all part of the training. So there's a lot more involved than just suggesting a wine. So what you're saying is the he is in fact is part of a team, in a sense, he almost like managing a team. Oh definitely. He's part of the boat menus. There's a discussion and food and wines and purchasing and organizing and training staff. This person has to have all those characteristics to become a sommelier. That sounds like almost an endless task."