Published December 9, 2015

Throw Out the Starched Shirt: Stuffy Sommeliers are Out

The old notion of sommeliers as intimidating French experts with immovable and traditional opinions on wine is on the way out. A new model of sommelier is becoming fashionable, one that envisions sommeliers as approachable guides who work with customers’ existing preferences to suggest nontraditional alcohol pairings. These new sommeliers aren’t just tasked with wine, either, as high-end restaurants are pushing food pairings for cider, beer, and cocktails in addition to the traditional vino.

Chefs are also taking a more active role in the alcohol programs at their restaurants, and now chefs and sommeliers often work closely together to create dishes and drinks that perfectly complement each other. The recruitment company Change says that chefs are asking for more informal and creative sommeliers to partner up with.

The big force driving the changing role for sommeliers is that restaurant customers these days are more informed about alcohol. The public’s knowledge about fine wines and beers in the general populace means that the average restaurant consumer both knows more about drinks and has more defined ideas about what they like than the average customer from a decade or two ago. Customers will not tolerate a wine snob making autocratic decisions about their drinks anymore.

Read the full article here: Sommelier Role Changes as Restaurants Embrace Informality