What is a sommelier?

In the simplest terms, a sommelier is effectively a waiter who specifically looks after wine in a restaurant and can be asked any question by the diner on the topic of wine.

The sommelier is concerned with wine and pairing that wine with food and he will be called upon to give advice (often combined with just a little bit of sales patter) on which wines suit which dishes. In recent times his - in 99 per cent of cases the sommelier is male - role has been broadened out, and advice can be offered on other drinks. Some restaurants even have separate sommeliers for wine, whisky etc. You can even get a water sommelier.

To become a master sommelier requires an incredible amount of knowledge about wine, the grapes it is made from, the region it comes from and the vintage. And with some restaurants offering wine lists the size of bibles, sommeliers need to have an encyclopedic knowledge about wine and be able to recall their knowledge in a split second when responding to a diner’s inquiry.

Having given the advice, the sommelier is then responsible for sourcing the wine from the cellar, removing the cork and showing it to the customer, smelling the wine himself to check it is good then introducing it the customer and supervising the tasting process. It is not uncommon for diners these days to pass on the tasting of the wine - in good restaurants most people are happy to complain if they discover the wine is bad at a later stage. However, in France in particular, it can be construed as rude if you do not taste the sample offered by the sommelier.

The actual word sommelier is French in origin and was originally used to describe someone who was in charge of provisions. Wine sommeliers used to be reserved for royalty before their role was broadened out into mainstream eating.

The expertise of a sommelier is also called upon by a restaurant’s proprietor when drawing up wine lists, sourcing wine to buy in and stocking the cellar. This is especially important at restaurants which offer multiple course tasting menus, where numerous different wines are matched to a series of varied courses.

In short, you can ask a sommelier anything you want about the wine in the restaurant you are in, and if you are unsure about what to order, simply ask him for a recommendation. Bear in mind though that he is employed by the restaurant, which in turn is there to make a profit.