Want to get a rise out of Nessa van Bergen? Just tell the sommelier for Joe Fortes Seafood and Chop House and Goldfish Pacific Kitchen that wine-buying experience qualifies you as a sommelier despite no official training.
“It is a bone of contention for us who are certified and have taken the training that just anyone who happens to put together a wine list or buy wine for a restaurant can call themselves a sommelier,” van Bergen said. “There is actually a certification for that.”
Bergen believes sommelier training is valuable because staff who take it are better able to both share knowledge with other staff, as well as improve the customer experience.
Some of the sommelier training options that hospitality staff take and hospitality business owners encourage include:
- The International Sommelier Guild’s eight-week introduction course, its 16-week second level course and its six-month sommelier diploma program – all taught in Vancouver Community College classrooms;
- Wine and Spirit Educational Trust programs, taught locally via the Art Institute of Vancouver; and
- The prestigious London, England-based Institute of Masters of Wine program, which is such an exclusive club that it has only ever granted 265 masters of wine certificates.
Vancouver’s Barbara Philip is one of those rare wine experts who have managed to pass the IMW’s strict standards. She earned her designation in September.
Philip quit her job as the Fish House in Stanley Park’s sommelier last year to spend as much time as she could to prepare for the IMW’s rigorous four-day exam.
To pass the theory side of the evaluation, she had to write 11 separate 1,000-word essays where she was unable to consult notes, yet required to get at least a B grade in each. She had to write about topics such as grape growing techniques, wine making techniques and the business of wine.
The practical side of the examination was more fun because she got to taste 36 wines, she said. Still, it was no easier. She was given points for being able to identify wine characteristics such as varietal, year and country of origin. She was also given points for her analysis of the wine. For each wine, she had to obtain at least a B grade.
“Most people don’t pass the exam the first time they attempt it. You have up to five attempts, and it is only offered once a year,” said Philip, who teaches at the International Sommelier Guild and operates a sideline wine consulting
business, Barbariain Wine Consulting, with her husband, Iain Philip.
Entrepreneurs such as Marquis Wine Cellars principal John Clerides find value hiring Barbariain to host training seminars to ensure that their staff are able to provide educated advice to customers.
For example, one recent seminar focused on Champagne-style sparkling wines. Half the wines in the two-hour educational session were available at Marquis and half were purchased at competing wine stores.
“We compare and contrast certain styles and price points just so the staff know what else is out there. Plus, they get some background on the region,” she said.
House Wine principals Michelle Bouffard and Michaela Morris similarly offer consulting to restaurants and wine stores. They also offer seminars to business owners who want to host wine tasting sessions as a team-building initiative to help boost morale and retain staff. Bouffard and Morris both also teach at the International Sommelier Guild.
Bud Kanke, who owns Joe Fortes and Goldfish Pacific Kitchen, hired van Bergen because he was impressed with her past experience at restaurants such as Le Crocodile. In addition to her certification, she was able to show that she knew the local market, knew how to find and buy wines from distributors and knew how to correctly price, Kanke said.
Reprinted with permission. "Wine Master Class" by Glen Korstrom. Business in Vancouver. October 16–22, 2007.