Sommelier.

Sounds a bit fancy, doesn’t it? French words have a way of sounding that way, anyway, but most of us who know even a little bit about wine have heard the term. Without knowing more, we likely associate it with a person — probably a man — working in a nice restaurant giving advice about what wines to drink with which foods.

That’s not entirely incorrect, but nowadays there’s so much more to being — and becoming — a sommelier.

Starting with the fact that quite a few are women. 🙂 

The French word “sommelier” originally translated to “butler,” but now is defined as a “wine steward.” That doesn’t really tell you much, though, does it? Sommeliers are indeed people who work in restaurants giving advice on wines; they are also people who work in many other areas of the food and beverage and hospitality industries. They work for winemakers (some make wine themselves); they sell wine for importers and distributors; they run wine shops; they own restaurants and carefully curate wine lists for their patrons; they teach classes about wine for other budding sommeliers, or for the general public interested in learning more. In short, they are people who are so passionate about wine and winemaking that they’ve decided to pursue careers that let them work with it all the time.

Only a few decades ago, being a sommelier almost certainly meant working solely in a service position, and was just something you became, informally, with time, experience and skill. No official international certification agency existed, and sommeliers earned their titles much as say, a maitre’d would — by working hard, proving they knew their stuff, and moving up in the ranks.

(It’s worth noting that many people who hold the title of sommelier even today feel that you shouldn’t consider yourself a somm if you aren’t actively working the floor of a restaurant, helping patrons and recommending wine. Not everyone feels that way, but some do.)

Becoming a Somm

Today, sommeliers in the United States and internationally earn their certification by completing years of rigorous testing through the Court of Master Sommeliers. Candidates are tested on their knowledge of wine theory — where it’s made, how it’s made, who makes it, what the geography is like, what the weather is like…. basically everything that goes into the trade and then some. Passing takes an extraordinary level of knowledge, much of it obscure to the common wine drinker.

Candidates must also pass exams in service (literally serving wine and spirits, which is much more detailed than it may sound) and blind tasting, where a number of wines are put before them and, using their senses and what they know about wine, they are expected to properly identify what’s in the glass.

After an introductory course, the Court offers three levels of certification, each representing an increasing level of difficulty and each bestowing a different color of lapel pin – certified (purple), advanced (green) and master (red).

How hard is it to pass? Um, very, at every level. The pass rate for masters is less than 10%. Here’s some perspective — since the Court began certifying master somms internationally in 1977, only 256 people IN THE WORLD have earned the title. One hundred sixty-five of those are in the U.S. and of those, 39 are women. Of course, many more have earned the certified and/or advanced titles — my somm hubby Charlie is one, he’s certified — which are notable accomplishments in and of themselves. Those numbers are harder to come by, but estimates are in the neighborhood of only around 10,000 certified and advanced somms in the country. Still pretty exclusive company.

How do you pronounce “sommelier?”

It’s actually pretty easy. Let’s break it down into three syllables:

“some”

“el”

“yay”

“some-el-yay”

That’s it!

So do you have to be a graduate of the Court truly to be a wine expert? Absolutely not. For example, Charlie a) has worked in the business for some 30 years and b) just has a knack for understanding wine and remembering related facts. He was already an expert even before he chose to sit for the exams. Some may not feel the need to validate their knowledge and experience with some silly pin that took many months and thousands of dollars to earn.

But those who do wear the pin leave no doubt: if you have a question about wine, they’ll have answers. 

Now, if you want it to be in something other than wine geek speak, well… that’s why I’m writing this blog. 🙂  

If you really want an inside look at what it takes to become a master somm,check out the documentary “Somm,” available on Amazon and other streaming channels. It follows several masters level candidates during their last few weeks of preparing for the exam. And while it skips over the many, many years of study it took to get them to that point, still it gives you an excellent glimpse into the extremely intense (some might say crazy) world of the master sommelier-to be.