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How to become a somm: Inside tips from the trade’s best

Published:  13 November, 2019

Forget Game of Thrones read Jancis instead… Put your social life on hold… Every day is a school day… Have an exit strategy… these are just some of the bits of advice offered from the UK’s top sommeliers when quizzed about how to get ahead in the trade.

Working as a head sommelier at a Michelin-starred restaurant is the pinnacle of many somm’s careers, but it’s a long slog to get there with some punishing hours, tricky exams and plenty difficult customers along the way.

It shouldn’t be a daunting journey though, and learning – not to mention tasting – is the fun part. “Taste, taste, taste to familiarise yourself with flavour profiles and in turn become comfortable in articulating those flavours,” says Margot Tyson from Parsons in London.

“The most important thing is to taste as much as you can, and take notes,” agrees Daniel Jonberger, head sommelier at Rockliffe Hall in County Durham. “Then re-taste and take notes, a healthy dollop of curiosity is never wrong.”

For Lucie Kalertova, the head sommelier at 34 Restaurant in London’s Mayfair, there are plenty of social and cultural (she’s the one missing Game of Thrones) sacrifices to make if you want to get ahead as a sommelier, but she says her journey has been exciting and she’s got to meet some interesting people along the way.

“My top tip for a wannabe sommelier is to hang out with fellow sommeliers because you’ll always learn from others,” she says. “Attend wine tastings where you can meet producers and learn about the product - hanging out with wine people is the best because there’s always conversation about wine and that’s the best way to learn and memorise things.”

She spends a lot of her free time in book shops studying. “Anytime I can I just search for information to educate myself deeper, in the wine industry there’s always so much to learn,” she adds.

When it comes to service itself, dealing with customers and being part of a front-of-house team is crucial. There’s no point having all the wine knowledge if you don’t know how to talk to the customer or work as part of a busy team. “Be honest - if you don’t know a wine on the list, find someone who does and who can inform the customer,” says Tyson. “Talk to the customer - everyone wants ‘a dry, white wine’ but discussing what particular characteristics (fruity, floral, light, richer etc) will enable you to really find their perfect match and make a better connection with them.”

Kalertova concurs. “A key skill is customer service, you can have as much knowledge as you want but you will never put it in use if you don’t have great customer service.”

Maxwell Allwood from Adam’s restaurant in Birmingham believes that knowledge should be ‘a given’ for any sommelier and the traits he most values in the best sommeliers he’s worked with or come across are “humility, honesty, generosity, warmth, enthusiasm, patience and calmness.” It’s these traits he says that enables somms to get on with colleagues and customers.

He’s also pretty realistic about the profession and the toll it takes through long shifts and unsociable working patterns and advises anyone getting into the game to have a plan b and/or a route out. “Finding an end-game is the hard part. Few sommeliers get to the role of head sommelier and feel like they've made it, so have an exit plan,” he says. “You can't work 50-60 hours hard work a week for the rest of your life. Make sure you network, make contacts and work on skills which will qualify you for other roles in the wine industry.”

This is particularly important in a digital age where technology is increasingly finding its way to the dining table. “Nowadays some people would rather open an app like Vivino than take the advice of a sommelier,” says Kalertova. “So in my opinion sommeliers are not as important as they used to be from the point of customer needs.”

She’s quick to add that there’s still plenty of need and demand for good sommeliers though, especially within the fine dining sector. “Sommeliers are important to any high end restaurant as they make the business run and make people come back to enjoy more of the same experience,” she says.