In last Saturday's Guardian, columnist Simon Hoggart described wine waiters as salesmen who should be politely ignored.
Is he right? Do wine waiters take advantage of the general public's vinous ignorance to upsell? Or are they a valuable means to ensure an harmonious matching of wine and food?
I like wine but my knowledge certainly isn't encyclopedic by a long stretch.
I always remember going to a fancy London restaurant to be confronted by Italian wines by region. I didn't have a clue where to start but when I suggested we ask the sommelier my wife refused, fearing he'd think us idiots because we didn't have a clue.
I can see her point but our approach of selection by a region her aunt had holidayed in once isn't to my mind the best approach. As luck would have it we got a good bottle though!
Wine waiters are not salesmen. I can't believe someone could ever surely reach that conclusion.
If the act of dining is a mechanism, great wines form the essential lubrication.
A great sommelier should be respected as highly as a great chef. The effort that goes into acquiring and maintaining the knowledge of their art is substantial and requires true dedication and commitment over many years.
Sure, sommeliers recommend wine, and sure wine costs money, but sommeliers take their place in unifying the dining experience and providing options that go well beyond the pursuit of pure commercialism.
There... said it.
The role of the sommelier is primarily to advise the customer on which wines to choose within their price range. A well trained sommelier would be able to find out what the customer is willing to pay for their wine and choose something that not only fits their budget but matches the food they are eating too.
Without the knowledge of the sommelier customers are on their own when it comes to choosing wine and unless they are very confident and knowledgeable, being faced with a long wine list can be a daunting experience. Of course customers have the option of choosing their own wine and ignoring the sommeliers' suggestion, but rather than a salesperson, a sommelier should be seen as a valuable source of advice and knowledge.
Simon Hoggart's comment in full:
As for wine waiters, they should be politely ignored. The kind who point to a wine that costs more than all the food you're buying, while saying "this would be perfect with your meal" is just a salesman. Instead insist on the house wine. For one thing, the mark-up will probably be only £8 or so, instead of £38, and any half-decent restaurant will have a half-decent house wine.
PS Welcome to Table Talk - it's fantastic to have the Academy online sharing its valuable views with us.
I don't read The Guardian, but I do take The Spectator in which Simon Hoggart has a weekly wine column. He often recommends expensive wines to his readers and I'm sure his advice is followed by those with good taste and deep pockets. In this way he is doing exactly what a good sommelier will do. After all, the purpose of a restaurant is to make a profit.
There is no shame in being a salesman!
I really don't think that they should be ignored. They are knowledgeable professionals in their field and they will offer the right advice. They are well acquainted with responsible service of alcohol and wines and they know proper etiquette and management.
Yes, you're right, they are a crucial part of the dialogue between diner ad restaurant, and can help augment the enjoyment of a good meal by making appropriate recommendations across a range of price points.
CSI for all of your international hospitality and catering requirements
No customer is as knowledgeable as the sommelier should be of his cellar.
The true test, is at a restaurant offering wine packages (set wine), at "Castle Terrace" restaurant Edinburgh you can have three wines to match your three courses for £15 at lunch. Invariably the sommelier there will make an interesting choice for each diner dependent on food chosen etc etc and his service is entirely up front and non sales driven.Even at Alan Ducase at the Dorchester (3 star) the same sort of thing is offered , long may it last say I.
Speaking as a sommelier, there is an element of truth to the comment that we are salesmen. In most restaurants that have sommeliers there will be fiscal targets to acheive for the month, and consequently the year, so in some respect the onus is indeed on us to sell. But it boils down to the individuals particular skill set and mentality as to what kind of salesman we are. Regretably there are bad salesmen who would indeed recommend three and four figure bottles to each and every one of their customers. Thankfully i believe that there are much fewer of this kind of ill informed and unprofessional sommeliers in the business now than there used to be. At the other end of the scale there are those sommeliers who will take the time and effort to understand the customers requirements and sensitively offer guidance and suggestions that will fit their needs. I would like to think that i fall into the later category more often that not.
I would say that as a sommelier, sometimes the customers make it difficult by not being clear about what they are looking for and in some cases being openly hostile to being helped. But perhaps that is more a trained response after encountering a particularly bad sommelier.
In almost every restaurant the house wine is in fact the highest marked up wine on the list, representing the worst value for money for the customer.