Memories in a Bottle

Gathered around a living room coffee table, my mother and my sister sit, expressively discussing that night’s plans for Homecoming prank retaliation, and awaiting my presentation of a bottle of sparkling wine. I walk over to my sister and present the bottle out to her saying, “I have a 2017 Yellowtail from Australia.”

She stares at me with a smile and says nothing.

“Alright then, I guess I’ll pour you a glass.”

I struggle for the next five minutes to figure out how to open this bottle to pour our glasses, so that we can get on with tonight’s movie feature: Sleepy Hollow. It was my first encounter with a sparkling wine enclosed with a plastic cap opposed from the usual wire cage. Eventually, failing to achieve the quiet and professional hiss, it opens with a loud POP! and I proceed to pour their glasses. I start with my sister because she is the youngest lady at the table, pouring from her left side (always from the left!) and then my mother. Luckily, our chicken alfredo did not get too cold due to my incompetence. My attempt to impress my family with wine service would have surely unsettled Tim Burton himself. I have some work to do before I’m ready to face the Court of Master Sommeliers.

The Court of Master Sommeliers is one of the most esteemed organizations known in the industry of service, spirits and food. Established in 1977, with only 231 professionals earning the title of “Master Sommelier” worldwide, the standards that it holds its members to are borderline perfection. Commonly known as a “Somm”, this is a person who is crazy enough to devote their lives to fermented grape juice and is tested on three different areas of wine: Theory, Service and Tasting.

Theory is composed of questions of varying degrees of detail dealing with grape varietals, vineyards and their location, soil and climates, and aging procedures. Even that’s just scratching the surface.

Service is based around professional presentation. It’s presenting and opening a bottle of wine with grace and efficiency. It’s maintaining composure when you spill red wine on white linen in front of the host of a business meeting. They don’t care if the aerator malfunctioned and it wasn’t even your fault. It doesn’t matter if the bottle was $20 or $300, you just made them look bad. Even in moments like this, good service is smiling, pouring and not messing up again. You still have to finish the night out and there will no doubt be more wine.

Tasting is exactly what it sounds like. It’s being able to know the qualities of certain wines, the characteristics of certain elements like soil types such as limestone or clay or aging containers such as new oak versus steel tanks, and how each one effects the flavor profile of wine. It is a deduction process down to the varietal, country, region, producer, and even a particular bottle. Honestly, it’s a super power. While determining the price range and quality may be hard to pinpoint consistently, this skill is important to have when helping a guest choose a wine that fits their palates.

The discipline and confidence to face challenges like these excites me. Customers trust a Somm’s opinion and capabilities in giving them a memorable experience. I hope I can conquer the nerves and live up to their trust, so that I can deliver the smiles. It would be impossible to do, however, without a place to practice.

My classroom and office is Marcello’s Wine Market and Café, in Lafayette, Louisiana. It is a popular restaurant where locals, celebrities and those just passing through come to enjoy a relaxed atmosphere, delicious food and great wine. Their wine selection is one of the most vast and affordable wine selections in the city, standing up to local places like Phillipe’s, Ruffino’s on the River, Ruth’s Chris and Charley G’s; some might even say better. Managing the restaurant and the wine list is level two Sommelier, Miki Hebert. Originally from Japan, and raised in Germany, she began her career in the restaurant business at Cochon’s in New Orleans.

“It was an expensive bottle of Chateauneuf-du-Pape,” she says describing the bottle that got her interested. “I sold it while I was working at Cochon’s and thought ‘Hey, I can really make some money off this.’”

However, it wasn’t until she later came across a bottle of French Nuits-Saint Georges before she fell in love.

“This bottle made me cry. It brought me back to picking strawberries with my mom in Germany.”

For me, the bottle that got me curious about the secrets of wine was a bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau from Burgundy, France. It’s a bottle that the winery releases a mere few weeks off the vines and is shipped out just in time to help celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. It smells of bubblegum and strawberries and is just as savory as a piece of sweet potato pie with whip cream. Miki’s response showed me the passion that she held not only for wine but for family. I knew at that moment that the true reason I wanted to pursue a career in wine was to see people recall or create cherished memories. Miki has been a great mentor and will continue to be my go-to source in my journey to becoming a sommelier. While I am currently aiming to pass the Introductory class which is mostly theory, my goal goes beyond a certificate. My goal is excellence in not only service but character, so that no matter what is on the inside of the bottle, what’s on the outside will never be forgotten.

In the bible, Jesus’ first miracle was turning water into wine. I love this because I see it as him taking something which we rely on for survival representing our worries of tomorrow, into something that forces us to stop, slow down, and appreciate the blessings of today. Wine is more than just a beverage. It’s a story waiting to be told and heard. It can bring to mind that memory of a distant loved one. It’s New Year’s Champagne bringing people hope of new lives or fulfilled dreams. It can bring to mind lost memories, help create new ones or if you drink enough, help you forget. Each bottle a song. Each vineyard a story and each region, a library of tales that touch the soul. To me, wine is that bottle of Silver Oak which will always be our 1-year anniversary in the back booth, second floor of Smith and Wollensky, after a carriage ride on a chilly night in Boston. Or it will be the bottle of Burgundy, Pinot Noir that was akin to sticking my nose in a freshly blossomed spring rose and making me realize that there was more to wine that meets the nose. Being a Sommelier to me, means giving people that one experience that made them stop, and appreciate the world for the beauty of a simple moment in time where life was cherished and all worries were forgotten. Giving people a reason to slow down and take life for what it is; beautiful, savory and unforgettable. The power to make people appreciate the beautiful things in life like good company and good times, is worth all the endless hours of studying, nerve racking, self-inflicted pressure and money spent. That expression of joy and awe is why I hope to pass my exam. It would grant me the confidence and ability to give people the chance to slow down and appreciate the simple moments that make life worth living.