Careers for Wine Sommeliers

by Fred Decker, studioD

As career choices go, drinking wine and talking about it sounds like pretty pleasant duty. That's a short version of what a sommelier does, but like most simplifications it leaves out a lot of the less-glamorous details. There are several career paths open to sommeliers, but long hours and unexciting administrative work are usually a part of the job description.


High-end restaurants are a major employer of sommeliers. The sommelier works with the chef and the restaurant's owners to maintain a suitable variety and quantity of wines on hand, to complement the chef's food and provide a more complete experience for the diners. Physically managing the inventory is a major part of the job, from ordering and receiving bottles to ensuring they're stored appropriately. During service periods the sommelier visits diners at their tables, recommending wines that complement the food yet also respect each diner's personal preferences and level of sophistication. An ability to explain a wine's character without the use of industry jargon is especially useful.


Like many other aspects of a culinary education, it's difficult to learn about wine from books. The wine industry is built on subtlety and nuance, and learning to taste and understand wines effectively requires constant, structured learning. Not surprisingly, culinary and wine-making schools draw heavily on sommeliers to provide instruction for their students. An understanding of wines and their relationship with foods is fundamental for any future chef. Instruction from a qualified sommelier is also the only route to meaningful certification in the field; or, to put it another way. it takes a sommelier to make a sommelier.

Wine Industry

Sommeliers also find many careers within the wine industry. Individual winemakers often employ a sommelier to provide in-house expertise in support of the winemaker's efforts. Tours and tastings are a significant money-maker for many wineries, and having a trained sommelier to oversee the tastings can increase the resulting sales. Sommeliers also play an important role in selling wines to potential clients, from major wholesalers to individual chefs. A sommelier's ability to communicate wine's virtues as needed, in either layperson's terms or the specialized language of the industry, is one of the career's fundamental skills


Sommeliers are not regulated or licensed in the United States, so anyone can lay claim to the term, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn't track sommelier employment data. However, in practice, formal training is a necessity for most good jobs in the field. Colleges and culinary programs often feature a sommelier course as one of their offerings, or aspiring experts can complete a six-month program through the International Sommelier Guild. Over time, those who wish to reach the pinnacle of the profession can attempt to become a certified master sommelier. Income in the industry ranges from a low of $28,000 annually to over $160,000, depending on training and choice of career path.

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