Being a Sommelier
Being a Sommelier
This is perhaps the most frequent query I receive through all medium of communication – even in naughty SMSs! So I am re-stating the often-stated, yet once again, encore! Geez, talk about redundancies…
Let me also emphasize that this is primarily to those who want to become sommeliers and work in the field. For someone who is merely interested in wine, this may not be entirely applicable as, since I am trying to help youngsters shaping their vinous careers, I am extremely strict about the institutes I will recommend.
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Are We Being Served??
The world is full of places and institutions that we collectively refer to as the hospitality industry – bars, cafes, restaurants, hotels, motels – all are a dot on the hospitality map. Hospitality itself can be defined as the combination of an array of products (tangible) and a series of actions (intangible) which together help facilitate productive and effective employment of one’s time and also to make one feel welcome and at home.
So when we go and buy a meal or a glass of wine we are contributing to the hospitality industry in exchange for services that can and cannot be quantified. A room we hire is a certain size and we can hence calculate how much a hotel charges per square inch of space they rent out. The bottle of water they sell too has a similar measurable cost component. But what about a bed that is always made and the fact that at some places they buff-shine your shoes and arrange your clothes in neat folded piles? What about the steward who always greets you by your name and remembers your favourite dish and the way you like your drinks? There is no defined way of measuring the worth of all such gests and instances which although almost invisible are an intrinsic and important part of the hospitality product.
These are services and for a sceptic like me they remain the most desirable and yet the least offered part of the hospitality component. Are we, the people of an independent democratic republic, really being served?
