A restaurant's wine specialist, who builds the wine list, runs the cellar, and advises guests and serves wine at the table.
Onisep, the French careers service, describes the sommelier’s work at the table: reading each guest’s taste and budget, recommending a glass or bottle to suit the dish, then presenting, opening and, if needed, decanting it. The sommelier buys from growers to build a list that fits the menus, runs the cellar, checking deliveries and stock daily, and follows the chef’s changes to the menu, work that bears directly on the restaurant’s revenue. A head sommelier, in the European Commission’s ESCO classification, manages an outlet’s ordering, preparation and service of wine.
The Court of Master Sommeliers examines at four levels, from Introductory Sommelier to the Master Sommelier Diploma, and its Certified Sommelier examination tests deductive tasting, theory and tableside service in a simulated restaurant. The Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) offers a separate ladder of wine qualifications, from a Level 1 Award to the Level 4 Diploma, to drinks professionals and enthusiasts.
In job listings
Sommelier titles run from intern and apprentice to sommelier, head sommelier and chef sommelier, mostly in hotel restaurants, where listings ask for cellar management, inventory, food and wine pairing and beverage revenue. Wine and spirits houses name the sommelier community in field marketing roles. See current sommelier roles.
