What it’s like to be a sommelier (aka wine expert)
Hollywood seems to have a new obsession of late: the esoteric world of sommeliers — wine experts who help high-end diners select the perfect bottle of wine for any meal or occasion.
The 2012 documentary “Somm,” streaming on Netflix, and the new Esquire reality show “Uncorked” follow sommeliers in their pursuit of acceptance into the almost cultish Court of Master Sommeliers. The follow-up “Somm: Into the Bottle” is set to make its local debut as part of the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival, running March 15 to 20, and Vintage Paso: Zinfandel festival, March 18 to 20.
The productions depict candidates’ exhaustive preparations and brutal examinations: memorizing endless information about wines and varietals from every region and producer in the world; racing to identify varietal, region and vintage for six blind wines in 25 minutes; and serving demanding and often unreasonable judges acting as diners.
We asked Ian Adamo, the sommelier and wine shop manager at Bistro Laurent in Paso Robles, to share his perspective on the field and Hollywood’s newfound interest.
You can smell 10,000 things, but you can only taste sweet, savory and spicy, so your nose is important.
Sommelier Ian Adamo of Bistro Laurent
Adamo, 33, earned advanced sommelier certification — one step below master sommelier — but then opted to enroll in the London-based Institute of Masters of Wine instead. While the MS program is aimed at people working in the restaurant industry — with its emphasis on service, as well as theory and tasting — the MW is more broad-based and academic, including studies of viticulture, winemaking and the business of wine.
Adamo spent five years preparing for the MW exam, which he is scheduled take in June. If he passes and completes a dissertation, he’ll become one of about 400 people who have earned the degree since the program began in 1953.
He’s worked in venerable New York restaurants and now flies all over the world conducting educational tastings, including one at the Super Bowl this year.
But, for Adamo, it’s not about awards and accolades. It’s about making people comfortable and helping them learn the basics of choosing good wines.
“People are comfortable talking about their favorite cocktail or beer, but they freeze when you ask them about wine,” he said.
Q. Why did you opt for the Masters of Wine program?
A. With the Masters of Wine, they always come back to “Why?” So if a syrah tastes like peppercorns or it comes from Côte-Rôtie or if it’s $50 bucks or $1,000: why, why, why, why, why. It also teaches you how to farm the land, how to make the wine, the whole tasting portion. By the end of it, you have a good feeling for every single aspect of the wine industry.
Q. Both programs require tremendous preparation. What’s the payoff?
A. The financial payoff? Well, I don’t know yet. But the idea of really understanding is so valuable when I go out to wineries. They send me to London, Hong Kong — all over the world. It’s funny, you go to these places, and you’re supposed to be teaching them, and you’re actually learning more from that experience. It’s fun.
Q. Between the movies and the reality shows, what do you think is driving the interest in sommeliers?
A. We’re in the golden age of wine now. People became obsessed with
organic and stuff a few years ago, and now that’s coming to wine. People want to learn, and it’s not just about the stuffy Bordeaux, stale, old-school, “decant this in a silver cup.” The old guard, Generation X, millennials — they all want wine. I pair wine with people’s beards now.
Q. How well do those programs capture the sommelier experience?
A. They do a really good job of showing how much work there is and how little payoff there really is. You have to really want to do it, right? You can become a doctor before you become an MS or an MW.
I pair wine with people’s beards now.
Sommelier Ian Adamo of Bistro Laurent
Q. The blind tasting is fascinating. What can the average wine drinker take away from that?
A. The best part for me is how to assess quality. So we use BLIC. Balance: oak, acid, alcohol. If none of those things are interfering too much, it’s fairly balanced. Length: If something’s lasting over 5 seconds, it’s pretty good, 10 seconds is great, 15, 20 seconds is awesome. Intensity: If I describe cherries, how long does it take for you to smell it? Are you looking for it, or does it just pop right out? Complexity, that’s where I think wines really separate themselves. Why does Saxum get 100 points? Because there’s 10, 15 things you’re talking about with one wine. Then sometimes you have this big, balanced, intense wine, but it only has two things going on.
Q. Can the average consumer really taste all those things?
A. You can smell 10,000 things, but you can only taste sweet, savory and spicy, so your nose is important. Some people are more sensitive to different smells. Some people don’t smell corked as well. Everyone has a different nose. But I do think people can be taught how to look at a wine. We can all see the little clues and hints: Ok, the rim is this color, the core is that color, there’s sediment here. There’s all these little things that inform the person what it could be just by looking at it.
Q. What’s your advice on choosing a good wine?
A. Understand what your moment is, why you’re there and what you’re doing. There’s a perfect bottle of wine for everything. It’s a sunny day, it’s hot out, you’re having lunch, rosé or champagne or a clean white is awesome. Just really understanding why you’re here and what the moment is. Never be intimidated. Wine can be overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be intimidating.
Q. What makes a good sommelier?
A. A good sommelier makes people feel relaxed, understands and teaches. You don’t tell someone what to have, it’s figuring out what they want. You’re coming into our home and we want you to feel comfortable.
Q. How do you help diners choose the right wine?
A. Some of the questions that I usually ask are, obviously, red or white? Do you want old world and earthy or more new world and fruit-forward? That’s really an important question. From there, any particular grape you like or variety or region you’re comfortable with or want to know about? What are you eating? That narrows it down pretty quickly.
Q. What’s your favorite wine right now?
A. It’s a boring answer, but I just love Burgundy. It’s probably the most studied region on the earth.
“Somm: Into the Bottle”
Friday, March 18, at 7 p.m.
Park Cinemas, 1100 Pine St., Paso Robles.
Movie: $15, or $12 for students and Film Society. Tickets at www.slofilmfest.org.
Fred Dame, a master sommelier featured in the movie, will moderate a pre-screening zinfandel seminar. $35. Tickets at pasowine.com.
This story was originally published March 11, 2016 at 3:46 PM with the headline "What it’s like to be a sommelier (aka wine expert)."