Talk:Sommelier

That's it. Sommelier. That's the definition of sommelier. The rest is the care of wines, a separate topic. Wetman 06:00, 13 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Pronunciation: Is there a difference between English and French pronunciations? Is there some disagreement on the number of syllables? These topics come up for me, frequently. wfbakker2 24 Dec 2004

Isn't a certification process involved in becoming a sommelier? Perhaps that could be detailed in the article.

I believe that (among) the explicit qualifications for sommelier status are salesmanship--and I advise that that is worth pointing out. Getting people to pay 150 dollars for 25 cents worth of fermented grape juice isn't art, but marketing.

In my experience a sommelier tries very hard (and discreetly) to suss out the customer's budget and make recommendations within that. Also, 25 cents is bit of an underestimate, as it doesn't cover labour, demand, materials (did you know that a single barrel of new oak costs 500 Euro?), and so on. — Saxifrage ✎ 18:12, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

Someone in the know

Perhaps someone in the know here would like to fix up 'wine degustation' as it's seems to me that sommeliers would probably would be the waiter who's in charge of the wine.

'wine degustation' - is when you taste a wine and take a small amount of air while/after you sip the wine. This brings the wine all over your mouth and to your taste sensorys on your tounge to distinguish fruit profile, bitter, salty, sweet, sour, and tart. And this gives you the impression of balance, body, and structure of the wine.

Someone please remove the comment about 25 cents for fermented wine. this person obviously doesn't like or know anything about wine. thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rewsf (talk • contribs)

Please avoid erasing or writing over comments when you leave your own, and try to sign your messages. I've restored the question you were answering. As for the comment above about 25 cents, this page isn't the article and people can say what they like. — Saxifrage ✎ 15:16, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

Important tool photo

The image of the "important tool" doesn't mention what it is called. What is this device?

What is the medallion around their necks?

Certain sommeliers at the most chichi restaurants I've been to wear a chain around their necks, with a huge medallion (e.g. http://www.fotosearch.com/thumb/PDS/PDS104/200120149-001.jpg). What is it called, and what does it signify?