A sommelier is a knowledgeable wine professional who specializes in all areas of wine service. They often work in fine dining restaurants, hotels, wineries, or wine shops, assisting customers in selecting and enjoying wines that compliment their meals or personal preferences. When offering matching recommendations, they examine factors such as acidity, sweetness, tannins, and the overall balance of a wine. This ability to establish harmonious mixtures improves the eating experience by allowing customers to completely appreciate the flavors of both the cuisine and the wine.
That all being said, Sommeliers have a heightened sense of taste in order for this all to be possible. Although some people are born sensitive to different tastes, a lot of Sommeliers undergo sensory training programs that focus on enhancing their ability to identify and describe the various components of a wine, such as acidity, sweetness, tannins, and aromas. These programs include exercises like blind tastings, where sommeliers taste wines without knowing their identities to sharpen their ability to detect subtle differences. From there sommeliers learn about the interplay of flavors and how they interact with various types of cuisine by tasting wines. They can identify which wines will compliment or enhance specific cuisines by examining the flavor profiles of wines. They can use this talent to create balanced and memorable meal and wine pairings that enhance the dining experience.
Hi Nayelis! I also wrote about sommeliers, I found this section very interesting because I did not know this was a career prior to this class. It is very interesting how perception and senses can affect the way we taste things, such as wine. The sensory training is very shocking to me as well as I also did not know this was a thing either!
ReplyDeleteHi Nayelis,
ReplyDeleteIt is actually so fascinating how some people have enhanced senses over others due to experience. As wine tasters, they are constantly drinking, smelling, and feeling the warmth and texture of wine. The best part is, anyone can enhance their senses, in this case, their taste. But, not everyone's job is to taste food or drinks, so we all aren't exposed to particular flavors or palettes. Or put in a situation where we have to depict each ingredient. So, it's fascinating to think how sommeliers can examine flavor in any circumstance or meal. You did a great job describing and explaining this profession!
Hi Nayelis! Great post! Learning about sommeliers in this course was very interesting! It was cool learning that brain scans showed enhanced activity in in the regions where taste and smell inputs converge. This likely provides and explains why sommeliers have a vivid representation of flavor.
ReplyDelete