Sommeliers - How do you present wine options to your customers?

[drfokos]

I am working on a fictional story that includes a sommelier at a very high-end restaurant (e.g. Jean Georges, Le Bernardin, Daniel, etc.). I have some questions about the factors that come into play when a sommelier makes wine recommendations. Here is the set-up... A couple are sitting at a table and have already indicated to their server what they would like to order. They would also like to order a bottle of wine, and have asked their server to send over the sommelier.

Here are my questions:

a) does the server relay to the sommelier what the couple has ordered so that he/she may have time to consider the possibilities?

b) obviously, the sommelier is an employee of the restaurant and, as such, is there to sell wine. He/she also wants to make the customer happy. Some of the best wines in the library would certainly be good for the restaurant and it would please the customer, until the bill came that is, so this is often not the wine that gets served. But how do you know what to recommend, and what is your strategy?

For example, do you suggest a midprice wine and then gauge the customer's reaction? Based on the reaction you might then move up or down in price? I think it would be uncomfortable for the customer to have to decline a suggested wine because it was too expensive. Of course, one could always ask the customer if they had a certain price range in mind, as we've all experienced I'm sure, but I dislike this practice. A customer without prior experience with the wines in the cellar (which I would think is the large majority) is not in a position to say whether they would better enjoy a $40, $70, or $100 bottle of wine. You probably have $40 bottles the customer would love and $100 bottles that are not to the customer's taste.

Does anything like this go on, or do you just wing it? Also, I have heard that that at mid-level restaurants one might experience a certain amount of attempted upselling, though this practice is less likely at A-list restaurants. Is this accurate? Finally, what do you do when the two entrees are œnologically incompatible? What is the absolute worst food to have to pair wine with?

Thank you in advance for your candid thoughts and help.

Best regards,

David

[sheepish]

I'm certainly not a sommelier, but I like to drink :-)

My limited experience of high-end places with scarey wine prices is that the sommeliers find a discrete way to warn you of prices. For example, the sommelier saying, "let me just check what we have on the list that would be appropriate" then point at the list when explaining the characteristics of 2 or 3 bottles at different prices.

Bad matches shouldn't have to happen if there are a few choices by the glass. They may not be the most fabulous combinations but at least you won't be serving Pinotage with asparagus.

What I do like about a sommelier is a willingness to chat about the wine. I'd single out Per Se in NY and Gordon Ramsay in London as examples where the sommeliers have enhanced the meal far more than just picking good wine matches. But I know sommeliers move about, so you can't guarantee they'll be there next time you visit.

[LoneSavant]

a) does the server relay to the sommelier what the couple has ordered so that he/she may have time to consider the possibilities?

A lot of this really depends on the restaurant's protocol. As a sommelier, I like when a server gives me a 'heads-up,' but our restaurant is a posh, comfortable, relatively relaxed wine bar, so this is not an "enforced rule." More important than being briefed, I like the ability to converse with the table to acertain the 'type' of diner they are. So sometimes, even if I know what they'll be eating per the server, I'll still open with that question just to get us conversing.

b) obviously, the sommelier is an employee of the restaurant and, as such, is there to sell wine. He/she also wants to make the customer happy. Some of the best wines in the library would certainly be good for the restaurant and it would please the customer, until the bill came that is, so this is often not the wine that gets served. But how do you know what to recommend, and what is your strategy?

A GOOD sommelier recognizes that a happy customer will return with friends. Yes, I could easily blow your mind with a 1961 Calon-Segur, but when you get your $600 bar-tab, you'll be tempted to blow MY mind with a smith-wesson .22. I enjoy ensuring the guest is happy on all levels. Even if they're willing to spend $150 on a bottle, I'll not recommend a bottle that isn't worth the money--in fact, I'll talk them onto a cheaper, better bottle, knowing they'll be happier that their money got its full value. Of course not all restaurants would smile at this, and not all sommeliers have this personal policy, but hey...my guests keep coming back for me!

When it comes to price, depending on the table, I'll either ask flat out (after we've established a friendly repartee) the range they're planning to spend, or I'll suggest two-or-three different "ideas," all very differently priced, and gauge their reactions.

Finally, what do you do when the two entrees are œnologically incompatible? What is the absolute worst food to have to pair wine with?

Well, I do my damndest to make it work--generally the WORST that can happen is one dish will be "uncomplimentary," and the other will be perfect. If you can't get both perfect, then you at least try to do the least damage as possible. If it really comes down to it, and I've done everything I can and they're not receptive, I'll ensure that the hosts/paying people/heads of the party are perfectly paired, and everyone else can bite me.

Traditionally, the "hard" foods to pair are artichokes, egg-dishes, strong curries, and smoked things. There are several classic pairings to solve those hard ones, but the REAL twist is when someone comes in and, for example, wants the "smoked salmon with artichoke frittata; can you recommend a good napa cab?" My response is "nope." and I move on to the next table

[drfokos]

Thank you both for taking time to reply -- the information you provided will be very helpful. Of course, I was hoping for something a bit "juicier" (pun acknowledged, but unintended) for my sommelier, but I think an accurate portrayal will be more important. The juice will have to come from other parts of the story!

Thanks again,

David

[Graphix]

for example, wants the "smoked salmon with artichoke frittata; can you recommend a good napa cab?" My response is "nope." and I move on to the next table

I hope that was a joke but if not, why not just recommend them a good napa cab? Who are you to decide whether they can or cannot have a cab with with their salmon and artichoke? They are the ones paying for the meal not you. I used to work in a wine store on a busy main street, people of all backgrounds in and out all day. There would be tastings all day, usually a white and a red. One guy i worked with just didn't know how to deal with customers who were just wandering in for a sip of free wine. All he wanted to do was go into great length about who, what, where of every wine and he could be quite rude when people were not interested. I would just watch and think 'well, we wont see them again.' We're in the service industry our only obligation is to show people a wonderful time...not to force ideas on people who may not be interested. If you meant that jokingly i apologize but i run into so many people with that attitude in the restaurant business, drives me nuts.

On another note, my dad (a chef) once slaved away all day making the perfect sauce for his rack of lamb. Coming off a few weeks of 13+ hour days in the middle of the busy season for us, he was not in the mood to be tried. In the middle of service a waiter comes back and says that his customer would like a side of mint jelly with his rack of lamb. Not willing to have his sauce bested by a bottle of mint jelly he sends the waiter back out to politely decline the request. Waiter returns. The patron is demanding mint jelly. 15 dupes hanging in his face, and things going on all burners, he storms out from behind the line and into the dining room. Marches up to the table, looks the man square in the eyes and says "you're not getting any f**king mint jelly!" And marches back to the kitchen. I imagine the man was in shock. While I don't condone this behavior I can help but laugh every time I think of it.

Brendan

[Doodad]

You may want to peruse On The Line by Eric Ripert. There is a whole chapter on the sommelier. And, I believe it was last month's Saveur that had an article by one of the Le Bernadin sommelier on the how, why and difficult customers.

Hope that helps.

[drfokos]

Thanks Doodad!

I'll check out On The Line. I get Saveur so I've already read that article. Poor guy!

David

[godito]

Let me give you my point of view. I´m not a sommelier, but I am the chef and owner of a restaurant.

1. The sommelier is hired to boost up the wine sales. This doesn't mean he/she is going to try to upsell wines. In general, my experience is quite the opposite. They want happy returning customers willing to listen to his/her recommendations because they are sound and they are not overly expensive.

2. As the owner, I never want the sommelier to dictate what wine are my customers drinking. You can always guide them, but never act like you know better (sommeliers, like chefs, know more, they don't know better) So yes, if they want a Cav with their shallow poached sole, then the sommelier should do the best to estimate what kind of cav would the guest enjoy more.

3.If the customers call over the sommelier because they want a good pairing, then the server should advice him/her on what they ordered, although I see nothing wrong in asking them when approaching the table.

4. Prices should never be mentioned. Advising three or four different wines from several price ranges is the way to go. And that should be only to recognize how much are the customers willing to spend. First, the sommelier chooses a few wines from different price ranges that would pair well with the food. The customer is reading the wine list and the sommelier is pointing at the wines. The customer will tell him which one he wants, and this is when the sommelier has to really listen and read the customer. Why was that wine chosen? Price? Variety? Has he/she already tasted that wine? Then the sommelier has to make sure the customer will be happy with the wine chosen. S/He can try to find out if the customer likes the acidity, boldness, aromatics of the wine chosen and recommend something with simmilar caracteristics. This can also be done in different price ranges, bt with more alternatives in the one already picked.

5. If there is no way to make a wine match both plates, then the sommelier should say so. If the restaurant serves wines by the glass, he/she should advice the customers to each get the wine that best fits their plate. If that's not an optione, you forget a little about the food and ask about their likes and dislikes with wines in general, and base the recommendation upon that. Always trying to somewhat match at least some of the food (at least the food that the customer that chose the wine ordered). And always making sure the customers know that such wine isn't going to match every dish.

Hope this helps.