#somm

Can Emrys really be called a stalker if he keeps getting caught?

A scene from a dnd campaign im in with @cavern-of-shenanigans!

My last entry I talked about the bottle that made me love wine. It was "Soul Of A Lion" by Dauo. A rich and velvety Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon. That's a solid way to express the first chapter in what made me a wine lover. But what happened next?

Throughout my twenties I was tending bar anywhere I could. In small theaters, golf ranges, restaurants. The wines I was pouring were Kim Crawford, Coppola, Josh, Bonanza. Good brands, but nothing that made me feel like I needed to become some expert in the grape juice. Just pour it in the glass and keep it moving. I was more concerned about reading up on prohibition era cocktail recipes, visiting bars myself trying every style of beer, liquor, sake...just trying to figure out what I liked. I think that's an important step. Find things you like. What is your style?

Once you start searching for what you like you begin by asking what other people like, and that is the secret to becoming a Somm. A Sommelier is merely someone in service of finding their guest the best possible beverage or pairing with the least amount of worry or work. My mentor Chris Reid always says, "We drink the bad wine so you don't have to!"

There will be more on Chris later as we get to that chapter, but the lesson he taught me was that I no longer just drink wine for myself, but for everyone else. If I had stayed just drinking for me I would have continued drinking Cab, Rioja and Malbecs. Not that there's anything wrong with those varietals. They are staples, but my job is to know about Sekt, Verdejo, Tannat, Torrentes, Furmint...ever had any of those? You don't have to. But if you want to see a Somm light up like a kid, tell them you want to try one of these.

While being a bartender I knew nothing about those grapes. I knew what I knew, and thought that was enough. Being a bartender, I took pride in being able to mix drinks well and to be able to speak on a wide swath of what I had to offer. I was a jack of all trades, a master of none. I still feel this way. But studying wine has shown me how deep the well goes, and I learned I barely had my toes in.

My consumption habits were wrapped around scotch (Glenlivet, Chivas Regal, The Belvenie, The Macallen), delicious bourbon (Colonel Taylor, Blanton's, Buffalo Trace, Woodford Reserve, Jefferson's, Four Roses) and import/craft beer (Red Stripe, Turk's Head, Sierra Nevada, Firestone, Yuengling, Guiness, Heineken, Stella Artois, Golden Road and Goose Island) I was excited that I had found brands that I could be excited by. But I knew that not everyone liked what I liked.

After working at 10+ bars I can tell you, most bartenders see it as a job, not a profession. With that being said, when you learn enough to make 99% of your guests happy by nailing a perfect Cosmopolitan or knowing how to make a Vegas Bomb or a nice Manhattan you can start to feel pretty good about your skill level. You can get by on that for years.

As a bartender, it doesn't feel like there's a ladder to climb. It's a cash grab. Make the drinks, smile and collect the cash. Walk away and come back the next day and do it all over again. The wine world is not this way. It's competitive, it's never ending and there is always a bigger fish. That's what I love about it.

When I started becoming curious about wine I joined Naked Wines. You've probably seen a gift certificate show up in the packaging of some other product you purchased a while back. I never really had any amazing wines out of those boxes. But I was always intrigued by the different varietals. I also liked the TCM wine club because if the wine wasn't great, at least I could still collect a cool labeled bottle from it and turn it into a neat candelabra. Overall I was never really wowed by any of their offerings.

Henry Somm (French, 1844 - 1907)

A lady in the street by moonlight, N/D