Profession wine sommelier

Wine sommeliers have general knowledge about wine, its production, service and wind with food pairing. They make use of this knowledge for the management of specialised wine cellars, publish wine lists and books or work in restaurants.

Personality Type

• Social / Enterprising
• Social / Realistic

Knowledge

• Fermentation processes of beverages

  Fermentation processes related to the conversion of sugar to alcohol, gases and acids. 

• Types of wine

  The large variety of wines, including the different types, regions and special characteristics of each. The process behind the wine such as grape varietals, fermentation procedures and the types of crop that resulted in the final product.

Skills

• Apply extensive study of wine types from around the world

  Study wine types from around the world and advise companies and people in the industry. Analyse the types of wine being sold in different countries.

• Analyse trends in the food and beverage industries

  Investigate trends in foodstuffs related to consumers preferences. Examine key markets based on both product type and geography as well as technological improvements in the industry.

• Maintain updated professional knowledge

  Regularly attend educational workshops, read professional publications, actively participate in professional societies.

• Describe flavour of different wines

  Describe taste and aroma, also known as flavour, of different wines using the adequate lingo and relying on experience to classify the wines.

• Host wine-tasting events

  Hosting and attending wine-tasting events in order to share information relating the last trends in the industry, for network purposes and self updating.

• Apply requirements concerning manufacturing of food and beverages

  Apply and follow national, international, and internal requirements quoted in standards, regulations and other specifications related with manufacturing of food and beverages.

• Ensure adequate conditions in wine cellars

  Care for important factors in wine cellars such as temperature and humidity that must be maintained by a climate control system. Protect wine cellars from temperature swings by deciding on underground built wine cellars.

• Decant wines

  Identify when wine should be decanted. Decant the bottles in presence of guests in a professional and safe way. Decanting especially benefits red wines. Pour wine from one container into another, typically in order to separate out sediment.

• Give advice on the matching of food with wine

  Give advice on the matching of food with wine, the different types of wines, the production processes, about the character of the wine, harvest, type of grape and other related advice.

• Apply GMP

  Apply regulations regarding manufacture of food and food safety compliance. Employ food safety procedures based on Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP).

• Apply HACCP

  Apply regulations regarding manufacture of food and food safety compliance. Employ food safety procedures based on Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP).

• Store wine properly

  Proper way to store various types of wines.

• Taste wines

  Taste wines to have a sensory examination and evaluation of wine, and to check wine appearance and evaluate characteristics such as the in glass aroma, the in mouth sensations and the aftertaste.

• Stay abreast of wine trends

  Stay abreast of the latest trends in wine and possibly other spirits such as biological wines and sustainable cultures.

Optional knowledge and skills

Source: Sisyphus ODB