Being a sommelier is an exciting job. You constantly get to be around wine and food—two edible things most of us enjoy. Depending on where you’re working, you can also give sommelier tours where you can interact with people and show off a bit, maybe?

However, to be a truly great sommelier, you need experience and these simple but essential tips. 

Be Open to Learning

If you’re becoming a sommelier, your education begins the day you decide to take this career path. There’s a lot to learn, both in theory and practice. But first, you need to have the desire to educate yourself about wine and everything wine related. 

You must also train your palate and learn how to hold your liquor. Being a sommelier and tasting wine professionally is a lot different from casual drinking—learn that difference. 

Also, as a sommelier, there may be boring theoretical aspects of the job that you’d have to embrace, such as wine laws and so on. Just make sure to keep the passion alive!  

Pay as Much Attention to Food as You to Do to Wine 

Wine and food go together, but not all wines work with all kinds of food—learn the pairings. To understand how to pair them well together, though, you need to understand both wine and food on their own first. 

This means you need to be just as enthusiastic about food as wine. Taste and smell as much of both as possible, and keep an open mind. Your palate will eventually start to understand what food it likes better with a particular wine. 

You Don’t Necessarily Need Multiple Glass Designs for Different Wines

People have this misconception that they must drink different types of wine in specifically designed glasses. But an experienced sommelier would tell you otherwise. 

The truth is that you only need one well-designed glass for any type of wine. You’ll notice there aren’t too many types of glasses at wine tastings—that’s just something you see at fancier restaurants. 

Ideally, all you need is a glass with an excellent surface area and enough height and depth to swirl your wine. 

Serve Wine at the Same Time as The FoodIt’s Paired With

 Being a sommelier is often about great service. This includes serving the wine at the right time and temperature. 

At restaurants, the wine will often be paired with the ordered food. Ideally, it should arrive at the same time as the food too; otherwise, it’ll just get warm and alter the whole experience. 

Don’t Be A Wine Snob; Become A Wine Ambassador Instead

Sommeliers are often perceived as snobs, but as a sommelier, you know that’s not you. As a wine-enthusiast, you may have the constant urge to correct people when they’re holding the glass wrong or scoff when people pronounce a wine’s name incorrectly—but there’s another way to go about this. 

Try and be a wine ambassador instead. Educate people politely and teach them to love wine the same as you do. Also, encourage people to try new wines, as our sommeliers do during sommelier tours at Augusta Vin. 

Also, if you’re looking for a fun experience, visit our Texas Hill Country estate winery and take our grand tour. You can also enjoy our seated wine tasting!

Give us a call for more information.