🍷 Sommelier

A sommelier is a wine expert in a restaurant. He or she advises guests which wine to choose, serves it at the table and looks after the wine cellar. A good sommelier knows wines of different countries, grape varieties and production methods, and can match wine to dishes.

The word is French. It once meant a court official responsible for supplies and the carrying of loads, and over time it came to mean a person who deals with wine.

The sommelier's work includes several tasks. The sommelier compiles the wine list, buys wines, leads wine tastings and opens bottles. For this they usually carry a waiter's corkscrew, and sometimes a tastevin: a small silver cup, a symbol of the profession.

There are also high levels of skill. The title of Master Sommelier is earned after very difficult exams, and few people in the world hold it. As a barista knows coffee and milk, a sommelier knows wine: it is a profession that needs memory, taste and experience.