Sommelier

Have you ever crushed grapes with your feet? And more importantly, have you ever seen the classic Grape Lady fail: http://tinyurl.com/4t8ktyy

Asked by LCostigan over 11 years ago

Ha. No I have personally never crushed grapes with my bare feet, though I have worked several harvests (we used modern technology to crush our grapes ;).

I have seen that video.  Pretty funny!  

Which wine regions do you think are significantly underrated?

Asked by dan79 over 11 years ago

Wow. Where to begin? Two that come to mind for very different reasons are Greece and Chile. When many think of Greece they think of Retsina of old, and poorly made wines, when in fact the country is developing some of the most interesting wines I’ve had in years. The quality is improving, and the prices are very fair. I see more and more people learning about quality Greek wine in the future, and enhancing its reputation in the marketplace.

Similarly, Chile has been known for years for producing “value wine”, and that’s about it. But quality of Chilean wines are increasing significantly and some of the best Chilean wines can stand up to the best of some of the most reputable regions of the world. You can still certainly find great “value wines” in Chile, but it’s time to also recognize many of the high quality wine wines produced there as well.

My rich uncle proudly served us a wine he'd bought at an auction for $4,500. Everyone ooh'd and ahh'd as they sipped. I honestly couldn't tell it apart from Trader Joe's box wine. Don't you occasionally get a little turned off by wine snobbery?

Asked by Jared over 11 years ago

I definitely get turned off by "snobbery", but I do love to share good wine with people who are interested in learning about it.  When I'm pouring a special (or very expensive) wine, I do my best to try to share what makes it "special" or expensive rather than just pouring for the sake of braging rights.  

Do you think too many people judge a wine by its price? I remember a study where people's rating of how much they enjoyed a wine was dramatically influenced by how much they were told it cost (even when the bottles were switched)

Asked by Davey1 over 11 years ago

What does the (VSE) mean on this wine label? Eleve et mis en bouteille a Chateauneuf-du-Pape (VSE), France

Asked by Trisha over 10 years ago

How much do sommeliers at top restaurants make?

Asked by bacon over 11 years ago

Is vigorously swirling a full decanter of wine or hyperdecanting good or expensive wine a good idea

Asked by Henry Dado over 9 years ago