Have you ever gone to a restaurant or a wine shop and tried to purchase a bottle of wine, only to find that you and the person assisting you seem to be speaking two completely different languages? That is probably because, in a sense, you are. Those of us who sell wine professionally are privy to training that can render us incapable of describing wine to people who aren’t necessarily wine aficionados. It doesn’t mean the average wine consumer is unsophisticated or worse, stupid, but it may make them feel that way. This is precisely how wine got its bad reputation for being the most pretentious of all alcoholic beverages.
If we’re being completely honest, sommeliers, and other trained wine professionals, have likely brought this unfair perception about wine’s pretense upon themselves. Yes, wine is a very complicated subject. It can be studied for years on end, and still never be fully learned. It is ever evolving and ever changing, but that is precisely what makes wine so much fun! However, when you work so hard to learn something that most people don’t ever take the time to understand, many can’t help the temptation to act superior about their acquired knowledge. It is human nature, especially in a business like the food service industry where, often times, employees are subjected to some of society’s harshest treatment. Hungry people can be mean! Unfortunately, it can be satisfying to feel a bit superior with one table when another has just asked snapped their fingers and you and instructed you to bring them another glass of Merlot…without so much as a “please” or a “thank you”.
On the other hand, I think we’ve all had the misfortune of experiencing a sommelier, wine steward or manager who has taken all of the fun out of ordering a bottle of wine. Whether it be a holier-than-thou attitude, an eagerness to oversell you on a bottle that you can’t (or won’t) afford, or just a general inability to convey the wine’s true character to you, it ruined the experience, and may have made you hesitant to ever attempt bottle service in a restaurant again. Having a bottle of wine at your table that you truly enjoy enriches the dining experience, and I believe, increases the quality of your service. It’s time to bridge the gap between wine experts and wine drinkers, so this is an experience you relish, not dread. As a reforming wine snob, aspiring sommelier, and eternal wine geek, I feel it is my duty to make wine something that is accessible to the masses. In this column, I will host a tutorial on wine that will demystify the world’s most highfaluting adult beverage! I hope you’ll join us here, and please, if you have questions plaguing you about wine, send them to us at http://learntolovevin.blogspot.com!
Next column: Learn the terms that will ensure that you get the style of wine you want when ordering wine (as long as the person you’re ordering from knows what they’re talking about!)
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