I don't think you can call yourself a Somm unless you have done the floor work first. I can't tell you how many kids came to work for me over the last decade + and then started an Instagram and just assumed the role/title via Social platform.
When you are tasting and spitting 60 wines a week at the restaurant (or wine bar in my case) and really learning guests palates, that's just priceless knowledge. I also think the key here is less about self-promotion and more about "listening" and learning. The best and most knowledgeable Somms I have met in the industry are quiet and interested.
But floor work is wearisome, so I certainly don't begrudge any Somm from moving onto gentler pastures after they have put in the time.
There are 3 types of Sommeliers (but I'm sure there could be many more): 1) Those currently working the floor of a restaurant or hotel, and responsible for wine selections and customer interactions - this is a "Sommelier." 2) Used to do #1 but now works for RNDC (et al) - this is called a "Former Sommelier." 3) Does not, and has not been a wine steward on the floor of a restaurant, but studies hard, posts cool pic on the Gram and writes a nifty blog about Indiana wines or something - they are called "Never was a Sommelier." The strange (not-so) new creature called the "Somm" is already facing an extinction level event - probably dying off from a chronic lack of definition. (I say all this is in good humor of course.)
Your skepticism is understandable, Jim. Even more former restaurant sommeliers work for Southern/American W&S. Having been in the wine and restaurant industry for over 45 years, though, I can say this: There are far, far more restaurant sommeliers than ever before. Most certainly, far more than when I first plied the trade in the '70s and '80s. I didn't delve into this in my article, but the obvious overlap comes from the fact that many non-restaurant wine professionals choose to study under the auspices of Court of Master Sommeliers, which has no problem welcoming students who have no intention of working in restaurants.
I'm no skeptic, don't get me wrong Randy. As a former sommelier myself (Four Seasons, other restaurants) in the 90s I wore the tastevin and the tux too. My only point I think is to push back on IG influencers who believe talking about wine and pouring wine, in any setting at all, makes you a somm(elier). It certainly does not. Not until you've blasted 35 revised copies of your wine list off the printer at noon, opened 76 bottles at 56 different tables, and sat for dinner with the waiters at 2am, are you in fact, a somm(elier).
Well, even the CMS has always had a broad definition of "sommelier." I've spent time with a good number of these IG influencers you cite. If anything, they are all extremely bright, professional and as studious (if not more) than any restaurant sommelier I've met. Yes, they might not know the restaurant grind, but maybe that's another reason they're so smart!
I don't think you can call yourself a Somm unless you have done the floor work first. I can't tell you how many kids came to work for me over the last decade + and then started an Instagram and just assumed the role/title via Social platform.
When you are tasting and spitting 60 wines a week at the restaurant (or wine bar in my case) and really learning guests palates, that's just priceless knowledge. I also think the key here is less about self-promotion and more about "listening" and learning. The best and most knowledgeable Somms I have met in the industry are quiet and interested.
But floor work is wearisome, so I certainly don't begrudge any Somm from moving onto gentler pastures after they have put in the time.
Thanks for the input, Wendy, well said!
There are 3 types of Sommeliers (but I'm sure there could be many more): 1) Those currently working the floor of a restaurant or hotel, and responsible for wine selections and customer interactions - this is a "Sommelier." 2) Used to do #1 but now works for RNDC (et al) - this is called a "Former Sommelier." 3) Does not, and has not been a wine steward on the floor of a restaurant, but studies hard, posts cool pic on the Gram and writes a nifty blog about Indiana wines or something - they are called "Never was a Sommelier." The strange (not-so) new creature called the "Somm" is already facing an extinction level event - probably dying off from a chronic lack of definition. (I say all this is in good humor of course.)
Your skepticism is understandable, Jim. Even more former restaurant sommeliers work for Southern/American W&S. Having been in the wine and restaurant industry for over 45 years, though, I can say this: There are far, far more restaurant sommeliers than ever before. Most certainly, far more than when I first plied the trade in the '70s and '80s. I didn't delve into this in my article, but the obvious overlap comes from the fact that many non-restaurant wine professionals choose to study under the auspices of Court of Master Sommeliers, which has no problem welcoming students who have no intention of working in restaurants.
I'm no skeptic, don't get me wrong Randy. As a former sommelier myself (Four Seasons, other restaurants) in the 90s I wore the tastevin and the tux too. My only point I think is to push back on IG influencers who believe talking about wine and pouring wine, in any setting at all, makes you a somm(elier). It certainly does not. Not until you've blasted 35 revised copies of your wine list off the printer at noon, opened 76 bottles at 56 different tables, and sat for dinner with the waiters at 2am, are you in fact, a somm(elier).
Well, even the CMS has always had a broad definition of "sommelier." I've spent time with a good number of these IG influencers you cite. If anything, they are all extremely bright, professional and as studious (if not more) than any restaurant sommelier I've met. Yes, they might not know the restaurant grind, but maybe that's another reason they're so smart!
I'm sorry, but by this logic, Frank Abagnale helped the medical profession!
I do not see the logic of that particular analogy, PW, but thanks anyway.