How to Become a Sommelier: Tips and Tricks for Breaking Into the Wine Industry

A sommelier is a wine steward, or a trained and knowledgeable wine professional, typically found in fine restaurants and across the hospitality industry. Sommeliers know which wines a restaurant has both on and off the wine list, and can help you find the right wine for your meal or occasion.

A sommelier’s wine education has typically been accredited through professional organizations like the Court of Master Sommeliers or the Wine and Spirit Education Trust.

Sommeliers have the following responsibilities:

• Develop the restaurant’s wine list and wine program
• Train restaurant staff about wine
• Manage wine inventory
• Work with culinary team to determine ideal food and wine pairings
• Speak directly with patrons to make recommendations and answer questions
• Have knowledge of all other beverages in the restaurant

When dining out, try to connect with and learn from your sommelier—they can help you in a variety of ways. Here are tips for getting to know and utilizing your sommelier.

• Use their expertise. Sommeliers know the wine list front to back, and their expertise will add value even for the most well-educated patrons.
• Be clear about your budget. Ask for a few suggestions in your price range based on a description of what style of wine you want, like “a full-bodied red from Italy with some oak between $70 and $90,” or “an aromatic white with lower acidity, for under $50.”
• Let them know if something is wrong with your wine. You should always have a conversation with your sommelier if you think the wine doesn’t taste right to you. It’s important to understand that most of these problems are only relevant to the particular bottle you have open. A different bottle of the same wine may well be excellent, and the sommelier will be the person best suited to making that determination.
• Practice good etiquette. It’s polite to order a bottle off the restaurant’s list as well for every bottle you bring in of your own, and to offer a taste of your wine to your sommelier. Don’t forget to tip for the wine service whether you brought the bottle or not.

While there are no government-mandated regulations or requirements for using the title “sommelier,” you’ll need credentials to be hired as one. Some of the top accrediting institutions for sommeliers around the world include:

• Associazione Italiana Sommelier (AIS), in Italy
• Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET), in Britain
• The Court of Master Sommeliers (CMS), in the United Kingdom
• North American Sommelier Association (NASA), in Canada and the United States

Just as there are different levels of higher education (bachelors, masters, doctorate), there are different levels of sommelier certification. The Court of Master Sommeliers, arguably the top organization in the wine industry, has four levels of accreditation:

• Intro
• Certified
• Advanced
• Master

Many sommeliers reach the certified or advanced level, but there are few Master sommeliers due to the extensive wine knowledge and advanced wine tasting skills required. A Master Sommelier is the highest achievable level for wine professionals.

The different levels of certification make a huge difference when it comes to sommelier salary. A Master Sommelier earns an average salary of $164,000 per year, while an Advanced Sommelier earns an average of $87,000—about half as much, despite being just one level below.

The three-year master sommelier examination for the Court of Master Sommelier is famously demanding. The pass rate is less than 10%. That explains why since 1969, there have been less than 300 people who have attained master sommeliers status across the world.

There are three parts to the master sommelier exam:

1. 1. Blind tasting. The examinee must identify key characteristics of six wines—grapes, region of origin and vintage year—in 25 minutes.
2. 2. Oral exam. Examinees take an oral exam with two masters, involving discussion of wine theory for 25 minutes.
3. 3. Service portion. The examinee practices serving instructors as mock restaurant patrons. Instructors might act as difficult customers to test the applicant’s customer service skills.

Candidates must memorize the intricacies of every one of the 10,000 wine grape varietals in the world in order to receive the master sommelier diploma and become a certified sommelier.

Other specialized beverages also have sommeliers. These include:

• Beer sommelier (also called a cicerone)
• Sake sommelier
• Whiskey sommelier

Whether you’re just starting to appreciate the difference between a pinot gris and pinot grigio or you’re an expert at wine pairings, the fine art of wine appreciation requires extensive knowledge and a keen interest in how wine is made. No one knows this better than James Suckling, who has tasted more than 200,000 wines over the past 40 years. In James Suckling’s MasterClass on wine appreciation, one of the world’s most prominent wine critics reveals the best ways to choose, order, and pair wines with confidence.

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