Taylor Parsons’s Tips for the Sommelier

Leave your ego at the door. Wine is an unbelievably vast universe, and as with all such things it’s best to cultivate the beginner’s mind. I’ve been working in this business for almost a third of my life, and I feel like I’m just grasping the tip of the iceberg. Stay open, relentlessly curious, and humble.

Being a sommelier is about more than tasting wine. Every one of us has been told at some point—by a guest, friend, or family member—an iteration of the following statement: “Oh, what a great job! You get paid to drink wine!” And while tasting is obviously an important element of what we do for a living, it’s really just one small facet of a job that requires a lot of hard work. A top-tier sommelier is also a rock-solid server, a welcoming host, a dedicated student, a great communicator, an organized cellar master, and a tireless mover of boxes. The best sommeliers I’ve met are the ones who are able to wear all of these hats with grace and aplomb. (They tend to be pretty good tasters, too!)

Create a positive wine environment, and fill it with a staff of wine lovers. Regular staff training is absolutely critical, and it’s a huge part of driving sales on the floor. More importantly, it’s a crucial element of our most important duty: cultivating a vibrant wine environment in our restaurants. To that end, you should do everything possible to get your coworkers excited about wine. When a guest shares a pour of something great, taste it with as many staff members as you can. When a winemaker is in town and showing his wines, ask if you can invite a few extra folks. Include as many people in the education opportunity as your boss will allow. Creating a great, positive energy around your wine program doesn’t just improve sales; it’s a sure-fire way to create meaningful dining memories for your guests, which is why we should all be doing this in the first place.

Buy wine for your guests to drink and enjoy, not for yourself to count every month when inventory rolls around. Enough said.

Be a wine drinker, not just a wine taster. The best sommeliers I know relish the opportunity to sit with a bottle of wine (or two or three …) and drink them for pleasure and pleasure alone. Wine is produced to be enjoyed, not to be dissected by a bunch of technicians demanding to know total acidity and RS levels. And while our profession demands that we take hard looks at the wines we consider for our programs, it’s vitally important to take time in your schedule to turn off the critical/analytical side of your brain and just drink some good wine. It’s worthwhile for the quality of your sommelier skills, but even better for the quality of your life.