The Exchanges

Q So that probably leads to suboptimal outcomes, right? Hiding or being intimidated by speaking about what you like and your preferences. What would be other mistakes that people make that are easily correctable or that would offer a better experience from a consuming point of view?

A Hmm. Well, there's very simple things, you know, like just, uh, uh, service temperature. Uh, we still, you know, drink a lot of wines way too cold, and a lot of other wines way too warm. Uh, there's not a red wine that's good above 17, 18 degrees, right? And the whole notion of, of room temperature, um, I don't know, that goes back to the Middle Ages, but when, when houses are heated at 22, 23, there's not one wine that's good at that temperature. The, the white wine straight, or rosé, eh? Summer coming around, rosé season, so many people drink their rosés ice cold, and that just mutes the wine, yeah? The better rosés, a lot of the better rosés are much better, like at 10, 12 degrees. A fridge is at four or five, eh? So, when they warm up, they really, rosés are not usually very aromatic wines, they're more textural wines, but you kind of kill that texture when you serve it ice cold. And it really, you know, comes into its own when, when you let it warm up a little bit. So yeah, temperature's another.

AI assessment note: “Well, there's very simple things, you know, like just, uh, uh, service temperature.”

Q So those are all things. And does your ability to distinguish those different smells come from smelling them, and then smelling wine, and just over time again, kind of like the corked one?

A Our nose is like a muscle, right? It's one of our most, um, it's an amazing sense we have, and yet it's our most, it's the one we use the least. We're so dependent on our eyes that we completely underuse our nose. We think. We all can smell. We know we can smell. We think we're good at, oh yeah, yeah, I know what coffee smells like. I know what basil smells like. But try smelling those things blind, not knowing what it is. And you'll be surprised at how very common smells, everyday smells, people won't recognize once you're blindfolded, because we're not used to developing our smell memory. And that's, anybody can do it. It's just an exercise. I've been doing it my whole life, and I still do it. I'm, I'm far from being.

AI assessment note: “Our nose is like a muscle... anybody can do it. It's just an exercise.”

Q How do you, how do you do that?

A You smell everything. I, here in the kitchen, they're always laughing at me, because everything, I always go put my nose in everything. I, I, I smell, I, I train my nose. I smell, I smell when I'm gardening. I smell when I'm walking. I smell when I'm in traffic. Good smells and bad. It's just a question of training your nose, and yes, trying to, sometimes I'll, I'll do it, um, on purpose, right? Put out, okay, certain herbs, certain vegetables, whatever, when I'm grocery shopping. Yes, and, and, but the difficult part is, again, with your eyes closed or you are blindfolded, to be able to remember, um, The smells. So those kind of instant recognition, um, of, of aromas, those exercises are, are hugely important, and they help in developing your, your, your memory of smell.

AI assessment note: “You smell everything. I, here in the kitchen... It's just a question of training your nose”

Q Ok. And what was it like living in France for seven years in terms of culture between here and there, and the differences, and is that what really Started your passion, or?

A Um, no, it, it really fed it, in a way, I guess. Um, I always thought I was a citizen of the world. My mom's German, my father's French-Canadian, we've always traveled a lot. Um, as kids, it's something my parents instilled in all of us, my brothers are still great travelers, and um, I, I thought I had no particular attachment to Canada, that, and it, you know, it, it takes that, you have to live elsewhere to realize how good you have it at home, right? Um, and it did, that, that, that time I spent in that, so there was always this opening onto, you know, onto the world, and European culture in particular, um, Um, so it, it's not as if it was something new. It felt kind of natural, and, and in Quebec there is this strong, um, you know, these strong links, cultural links to France. Um, so it wasn't like, you know, a big, um, a big shock or anything. Uh, but I really, really, um, appreciated the, the, the food and wine culture. And being in Alsace, that's where I was for seven years, um, One of the best places to eat and drink. Um, it was, I really felt in my element. I just loved being around the winemakers, you know, when I was working at, at this winery, I was constantly, you know, had my nose into the, the, the winemaker's lab, asking everybody questions down the cellar, asking, you know, just, you know, really, really curious.

AI assessment note: “no, it, it really fed it, in a way, I guess.”

Q But what is, so the behind the scenes, though, you're constantly traveling, trying to find new bottles that you can bring to people, right? Um, what's involved in the behind the scenes that people wouldn't necessarily think about from a sommelier's point of view?

A And from a wine bar owner point of view. From an owner is like, I think one of the reasons why the industry has such a bad rap is, ah, because too many people go into the restaurant industry because they're great cooks, you know. They have friends, oh, you really go cook, you should open up a restaurant. You need a manager to open up a restaurant because the profit margins are so, so, so tiny. If you're not constantly, um, You know, checking your numbers constantly, constantly, constantly. You can make loads of money and, well, revenues and, and close down because, you know, you're just going bankrupt. Um, so, so you need solid management experience, I think, is, is the first thing before even having a, right? Um, and then from a semi-perspective, yeah, it's just what people see is the, the, the, the service people on the floor serving people, but then, like you said, there's all, you know, building up a wine program. Um, so, ordering the wines, buying wines, managing inventories, are you gonna have a buy the glass program, ah, what's gonna be your pricing, um, so, so there's, and, and then, you know, constantly working with the kitchen for wine and food matching.

AI assessment note: “building up a wine program. Um, so, ordering the wines, buying wines, managing inventories”

Q What would be the, when did you start your process of becoming a Sommelier? In France, or did you do that when you came back?

A That's a good question. Again, there's such a kind of a seamless flow to everything I did that there's no, uh, there's no real defining moment. Um, I think it all kind of falls together, but when I came, after those seven years in France, when I, when I came back to Canada, um, I was seriously, the obvious choice was a restaurant job, because again, there, there's, it's a, the good thing about it is that there's always Work, uh, when you work in the restaurant industry, right? So, so it was an easy thing to fall back onto, but I was starting to think, okay, maybe I could, you know, um, become a wine buyer for the SAQ or the LCBO. I didn't know how things worked back then. It's not as simple as that. Uh, but, so I, I started thinking of wine as, um, more of a possible career choice. Okay. Um, And, ah, when I came back, I, I, I was working in restaurants in France, I came back here, I went directly to restaurants, it was kind of my comfort zone, and just kept evolving in restaurants. I, I, um, I think that, that's, it's an industry I really liked, and that I felt comfortable in, and I felt good in, so, um, and, and it's the first time, I didn't even know what a semi-competition was. I, I didn't give myself the title of sommelier, and I am, I mean, even though I took every class I could, um, during my whole life, I followed every class I could on wine, but at the base, I'm self-ta…

AI assessment note: “when I came back to Canada... I started thinking of wine as... possible career choice.”

Q And what books would you say recommend for not only the beginner, but the person who wants to get into you? Not necessarily becoming a professional sommelier, but an educated consumer.

A To me, the, the, the, there's two Bibles, and, and they're pretty much everybody's, um, the Wine Atlas from Jancis Robinson and Hugh Johnson, which is wonderful because it covers the winemaking world. It's got great maps. It's got a, a general presentation of each country, each region, so it's really a solid, solid basis for wine knowledge, right? Um, and again, understanding about the region, about the topography, about, all of that helps you better understand the wines, you know, and, and, and it's all linked. Of course there are wines today that are completely cut off from where they come from. There are industrial wines that, you can have an Australian wine, a wine from the Languedoc, and a wine from Chile that tastes exactly the same, right? Those are fabricated wines, and, and, and there's nothing wrong with them. I mean, there, there's, they're not, they're, they're not gonna kill you,

AI assessment note: “the Wine Atlas from Jancis Robinson and Hugh Johnson”

Q The more you taste, the better you feel, right?

A But no, even be, you know, without going into the, the, that factor of, of, of the effects of alcohol, but there's just wines that, yeah, they, they, they just move you, and, and that's, I think, what I look for the most in wines. I used to, ah, and it was all part of the learning process, right? So many people, See me, oh yeah, you are the one taking the, I, I filled up, I don't know how many notebooks during my life taking notes on every single wine I would taste. I would go to a wine fair, go to, I was writing, writing, writing, writing. Um, now my, my, my, my, uh, tasting techniques, I mean, sometimes it's that precise. It has to be when I'm training for competitions or things like that, but, um, for buying purposes or for simply simple, more simple evaluation purposes, um, I just taste the wine and, and pay attention to how it makes me feel. I look for, for, for liveliness in wine for something that, that, that, I often say of a wine when, you know, wines are really, I say, Swine's just dead. It's not speaking to me. It's not, and that's often very manipulated wines.

AI assessment note: “I just taste the wine and, and pay attention to how it makes me feel.”

Q So two questions. I mean, what is involved in the path to becoming an official And then what is, what happens at a sommelier competition?

A Okay. Oh, there's two big questions. So, how the path has evolved? I mean, there's still, um, in France, in Europe in general, they've had, I mean, it's a known trait, um, and they've had sommelier schools. There's a sommelier program in every hotel restaurant school throughout Europe, so it's something, um, it was actually difficult when I first went to France and thought, oh, I'll find a job as a student. Um, those aren't student jobs. People train, ah, to become servers, to, to, to occupy every position in the restaurant industry. Um, but it's, it's, it's much more recent that we have official sommelier training in schools in North America. Um, we see it now more and more. I think we've had it again in Quebec for a certain time because of our, our, our links with France, because of many ways we, we have more resemblances with, um, but, um, so it's, it's slowly starting. I'd say in the last 10 or 20 years we've seen more official programs for training sommeliers in, in North America. Um, but there's also a lot still to be, Well, I was going to say, like every other trait, you know, I hope there's not a lot of surgeons that learn, you know, that, that are self-taught.

AI assessment note: “it's much more recent that we have official sommelier training in schools”