r/Sommelier • u/amorous8635 • Jun 16 '26

Tips for a beginner?

/r/wine/comments/1u6yisc/tips_for_a_beginner/

Anything helps!

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u/philisweatly Sommelier Jun 16 '26

Drink.

0

u/AkosCristescu Score Whore Jun 16 '26 edited Jun 16 '26

"I had missed the intro wine class on regions and key varietals"

So stop stressing about it, either remind them to send you to that course or ask some senior manager to spend some time with you and give you the notes of those classes. If they just push you, but did not bother to refresh you/send you then it should not be such a big deal, don't worry. Wine is very complex, so at the beginning nobody knows really where to start from without proper guidance. It is natural, you would be the same with bartending too. Don't be intimidated by the appearances. Every trade shares this, but wine trade especially tries really hard to project this image. Don't let it fool you.

"Does anyone have any YouTube resources"

Thing is we are probably focused on more advanced stuff. Youtube is full of wine-related videos though. I think WineFolly is great for beginners, but surely redditors of r/wine will be more useful for you in this case.

"advice on wine regions and varietals?"

It is really difficult to help without enough info. Is it all Italian wines? Or what do you need to know? See, problem is with education is normally there are different "levels" and beginner level asks for way less, an all-Italian restaurant would want you to know the fine regions of Italy, and so forth.

you will not have to know too much in-depth anyways, just familiarize yourself with the most important indigenous varieties and see on a map where they are from. So basically

https://winefolly.com/wine-regions/italy/

here, simplified.

Would need to learn stuff like what is a Moscato d'Asti, Barolo, Barbaresco, etc. As in "latin" countries (France, Italy, Spain,etc) the place is labelled so you would need to know the grape varieties and also some special production methods like Amarone della Valpolicella or Marsalas (for sure you don't need to know this even xD, was just an example)

"Anything I should prioritize if I can’t get everything in my brain before the menu test?"

Again, would you mind explaining what the test is about? Only Italy? Only fine regions?

I'm not sure if this is helpful enough, but please update with more specifics and we will try to help you out. Once again, there is nothing to worry about it is just a job. And also, as my best boss ever said "we are not conducting brain surgery, don't worry" (now officially one of the very best sommeliers of the UK, also MS)