Becoming a Sommelier

Video Transcript

"Hi again, Chuck Byers for Expert Village, and I have once again Jose Paradella. Wine consultant, wine broker and sommelier. Let's say I want to become a sommelier. How would I become a sommelier? Where would I go? I know you're an instructor; you have instructed sommeliers. So what would you suggest? You have to get your education. Persist. You become a sommelier. A good or bad sommelier, like vineyard or professional. You have good and bad doctors. But there are education institutes out there that work in doing good jobs. One in particular, which I think is a very good one, and has an excellent curriculum. It's the International Sommelier Guild. They're growing very fast on the international level, and they put together a tremendous education package. Ok that leads into my next question. What education package does a sommelier require? What are the subjects that he needs to know? I know it's easy. Wine of course. Wine, food, food matching, but there's got to be a little more intricacy there, right? Well yes, I mean, there's a lot of training, a lot of reading, there are exams, essays to write, there are tasting, blind tastings. There's floor training, service component, and of course you have to have passion for it. By passion for it you mean really loving the wine and love helping people with their selections? Oh yes you have to have passion for the industry overall to be a good sommelier. Are there exams these people have to take? Oh yes, many exams. And how long would a course normally take? I would say, to go through this organization, two years time. My name is Core Ladouceur. I'm the sommelier, fine dining manger of the Granite Club, the private member's club in Toronto. The training behind it is two prerequisite courses followed by the diploma program, which is a series of five examinations that have to be passed equally. I'm actually pursuing my master's in sommelier designation as well. With me I have the exclusive sommelier of a very exclusive private club, Marcel Bergstein. Now you got your training with American Cruise lines, initially. And did you take any other courses after that? I did the training, also, with the International Sommelier Association. In terms of other training, I have basically been training for the last twenty to thirty years. What are your responsibilities here? Well my responsibilities here go beyond the wine. I am in charge, from the beginning to the end, of whatever happens at this prestigious clubhouse. Besides being the resident sommelier, I am the clubhouse manager. Sommelier responsibilities will vary on a day to day basis, but overall we hold many events here on any given day. But throughout the year, very busy club. We have some of the most prestigious weddings. We do about 42 weddings a year. We also have a fine dining room for membership, that I consider to be one of the best in the city for sure."