The New Trend in Somms
Interesting article in eater about sommeliers a couple of days ago. When we changed our sommelier last year we noticed right away that wine sales went up, and significantly. It was a surprise, as we had always assumed that a roving wine expert would equate to better sales, but what we realized was that a knowledgeable server is far more effective in getting folks the wine to match their food choices in real time, and therefore sales went up.
So why a sommelier at all? First and foremost for training purposes. Our sommelier, Dave Mathiason holds weekly training sessions on Saturday afternoons with our servers. It’s rare in the industry to invest in a wine program so heavily, but by opening wine and holding these classes he has helped to further develop a stable of experts on our team. Just this week two of our servers, Tristan and Jerrod, passed their somm level 1 test, our goal is that every server at Heidi’s will be able to pass the somm 1 by October.
The sommelier’s second job is to keep current with new wines that come to market, and search vendor inventories for wines that match well with the food, and upcoming changes to the menu. This is where the somm matters most to me, and finding someone with a palate that can imagine combinations and flavor profiles is extremely rare. Our somm was a sous chef in his past life, and has extensive food knowledge as a result.
At Heidi’s, we store ZERO wine at room temp (nothing on the walls, nothing in cute cabinets, nothing on center tables) Why invest so heavily in refrigeration, and square footage? Because wine gets cooked sitting out at 70ish degrees.
Very few food writers have much of a clue about wine, and will never notice or mention such an important fact. Or maybe they think that it makes no difference to keep wine stored at room temp, after all the wine stores do it. They fail to realize that the vast majority of wine purchased from stores will be consumed within 48 hours, and not sit for weeks potentially in a room that has as many temperature fluctuations as a dining room.
Further, too many have usually not tried items side by side to consider the difference. I recommend you try it sometime, buy two bottles of the same wine, store one upright on a shelf in a warm room for a few weeks, and store the other in an appropriate wine cooler at cellar temp. You will be blown away.
Then consider how many places store wine on upper shelves in hot dining rooms, yikes-and they want you to pay a three times mark up for that! I guess that is the fee for cooking your wine. On the other hand you can imagine that Dave’s third main function is significant inventory management and rotation. With every bottle stored at various cellar temps, the logistics require constant supervision.
As eater points out, “The era of the authoritative, slightly aloof, sommelier is over. It’s no longer about simply delivering facts based on extensive tasting experience or guiding a diner to choose one vintage over another with few words exchanged.
“The sommelier as Delphic oracle is wildly out of fashion now,” Says Dalton. “You’re no longer there to deliver verdicts from Mt. Olympus.”
Thankfully those days are gone, and a new era has arrived, one that is more guest friendly. Some folks still like a visit from our somm, but that is more rare, especially when they can rely on an expert waitstaff that knows the food, the wine, and the guest.
We are taking tomorrow off in observance of the holiday…we’ll see you back here for “Omaha Meat Week” next week.
Nice post. As a former sommelier (not certified in any way, so I always used the term “wine steward”), I concur, sometimes tables preferred a visit from me, sometimes they preferred server help. And inventory supervision is a fun but time-consuming, detailed task.
Interesting article. I like to think, right or wrong, that Americans are becoming better wine drinkers. We educate ourselves about the characteristics of different wines. We leave the cult of the varietal.
I like the approach the waitstaff at Heidi’s takes to wine. They are able to answer most questions we have, allow us to try a sample if possible, and make recommendations based on what we plan to order. Although I do long for the day a server at Heidi’s uses my favorite wine descriptor: cat pee.
Dave has stopped by our table on occasion; it probably helps that I have known him for almost 20 years.
I couldn’t agree more about having knowledgeable servers. Servers that don’t know wine just reflect badly on a restaurant. I had a bad experience at a local establishment where the server had no wine background. I ordered a bottle of red from Bandol. When the wine came, the year on the bottle was different from the year on the menu (which I find irritating). It happened to be from a year where France had had pretty severe weather. I had to point out the year disparity, who then had to go talk to the sommelier. She then came back to tell me that no, that year was fine for Bandol, just bad for “Chateauneuf du Popes” (sic).
Of course there were so many things wrong with that scenario (not the least of which the horsing around meant that we were rushing to finish before our show) but needless to say, we haven’t been back.
what you describe is 10000% acurate. Wine and beverage service of all kinds is ignored often by writers, because they often know little and apply oddly placed standards. i dont drink, but i know the food wont measure up at any place that doesnt take beverages seriously…you know it the moment the server starts in wiht the drink order and starts doing the ‘by the glass’ shuffle before anyone even looks at a menu….suggesting wine for apertif for those who desire it is the first place u pick up on flawed service..make that second, the wines stored at room temp is a dead give away. on the upside, its amazing watching peoples eyes pop when i take them to Lotus of Siam and they see the massive temp controlled wine rooms, sgemneted and partitioned and glass walled for viewing all in a thai restaurant to boot!!
Nice article. I find too many restaurants serve their whites ice cold and we are talking about good restaurants. Stemware has improved in this town but continues to be an issue. Wine lists are more interesting but paying $30 for a $8 bottle is a bit too much. Shef I see at least some Rieslings on your list which is good. I am glad to see training on wine for your servers as many restaurants in your peer group have servers who are unaware of the Bordeaux Region.
Thanks for writing this Stewart. Comparing wine service between restaurants is a fascinating (though not cheap) hobby of many, including me. Your service standards blow others out of the water.
Interestingly, though, I always wonder how many people notice. I’ve always had a nagging feeling that a customer can leave a restaurant and say to his or her spouse, “That was one of the best meals I’ve ever had” but subliminally it was the quality of the wine, the service, and the stemware that eased that exclamation into the world. No doubt the food has to be great, but the things surrounding the food (wine) have to be on the same standards.
Good idea on the comparing two bottles. I’d take it one step further: fill one glass with ice water, fill one with hot water, and just set the third on the counter. Give them ten minutes, dump the water, then pour just a couple ounces of the same wine into all three stems. What you end up with is about a 7-10 degree difference in wine temperature between each glass. It’s a great way to learn about this topic. I was at a restaurant in Seattle recently that used to do this as a wine education flight and they sold a ton of them.
Simple final verdict: there is no downside to a restaurant taking its wine program more seriously. Thanks again for writing this.
First of all kudos to you for taking your wine program seriously.
I am hoping that you’ll maintain humility about it as well — many sommeliers have become so zealous about chilling red wines that they’re going to the other extreme.
The concept of chilling red wine had to do with trying to match room temperature levels of European upper class houses before the advent of modern heating. This is not necessarily the answer.
In the rush of many sommeliers to chill a good majority of red wine, they would be well advised to follow the testing method suggested by the prior poster, Jason.
There are many red wines that perform much better at modern room temperature of 70 to 72 degrees. Certain complexities of some red wines only open up at warmer temperatures. (Ask a serious Scotch drinker to put some ice cubes in their single malt: there’s a reason they don’t do it. It mutes the complex flavors).
Some of the sommeliers (e.g. Rajat Parr) are prime fodder for a “Portlandia” skit.
Again, great restaurant and keep up the great work.
Granted that you have an extensive wine list, but is there a reason that you couldn’t provide samples on a portion of your wine list?
Trusting a sommier’s recommendation is a serious leap of faith.
JohnnyU, I would never ask you to eat or drink something that you do not like.
If you order wine chez moi, you taste it and don’t like it, by all means tell us it’s not for you, we are not in this game to force things on folks.
Wine temp. That’s a tough call, most reds show better when they are served at 65 degrees. That being said there are definitely times that reds are served too cold, but the major issue is that most are served too warm, 72 is almost always too hot. Or so the experts say, take it for what it’s worth, and do what you like.
Lotus of Siam in Vegas has a wall of wine? Must have been added during their renovation, because I remember no such thing from my last visit there.
Great article. As a marketing coordinator at a wine bar and restaurant (and also server), I think investing in the training of their staff on the wine is one of the most important investments a restaurant can make. When a customer has a great experience with a server’s suggestion for pairing or even just drinking, these people will be back. When the suggestion is just okay, or the server seems lacking in explanation, the entire experience is affected. Kudos to you for doing such a great job with your restaurant.