Wine education, right from the comfort and privacy of your own home

February 18, 2022 Post a Comment

Sommeliers fret over wine glasses: Are they of the right shape? Are they spotless? Do they feel cheap? Not many would imagine that a wine bucket – that utilitarian container which sometimes doubles every bit an unglamorous spittoon during wine-tasting sessions – has the potential to ruin an event.

At a loftier-contour upshot in Singapore, private sommelier Tan Kok Hong realised that the hosting restaurant had wine buckets that were of the wrong size: His client had brought elevation Bordeaux and Burgundy wines in big bottle formats – Imperial (six-litre), Salmanazar (nine-litre), and Balthazar (12-litre) – none of which could fit into the regular size buckets.

In the stop, he resorted to using a big soup pot to chill the wines at the back of the house.

As a private sommelier, Tan has to "react spontaneously to problems". "I demand to ensure that the flow of the event is smooth. At that place is no room for mistakes. It's similar a concert; i have from the start to the stop," said Tan, who has 21 years of experience every bit a restaurant sommelier.

In 2017, he set up Kohota Consultancy, a wine and spirits consultancy that offers marketing services for wineries and sake breweries, and sommelier services for private and corporate clients. His clientele for the latter consists of politicians, doctors, lawyers, belongings developers, and celebrities – most of them come from Asia, while some are from Europe and the Us.

Tan is ane of the growing band of sommeliers who are offer their expertise to private customers. He notes that many private sommeliers are also employees of wine distribution companies.

"[These distributors] take a quite a number of private clients, so a individual sommelier can offering their expertise as an add-on service on tiptop of the wine sales to build loyalty," he said.

"Many [of my individual customers] are vino enthusiasts who desire to acquire something about vino merely are not certain how to go virtually doing it, and then I help to guide them." – Gerald Lu

Indra Kumar is one such private sommelier. Equally a project consultant for Singapore Straits Wine Visitor, a wine retailer and distributor, he offers his services to private clients and corporate events.

"The main challenge [in my task] is to give my repeat clients new experiences," said Kumar, who has 14 years of industry experience and final worked as a sommelier at VLV Restaurant and Bar. "Nosotros don't want to keep doing the same matter, and so I have to recollect of new activities and concepts."

He conceptualises the wine event around a given theme or the customer'due south preferences. If he is given a carte du jour blanche, he'd find out what the client has washed in the by and offer new ideas. Some events involve wine games with prizes to be won, and activities that serve every bit team-bonding sessions.

Kumar says he has the opportunity to select wines from the portfolios of unlike importers – and non just Singapore Straits Wine Company'southward – for his clients, whereas a restaurant sommelier may be limited past what he has in the eating house.

Not every private sommelier is doing their gig as a total-time chore, though.

"Most of them are usually working [full-time] in F&B establishments because that is their main source of income. Then they offering their private sommelier services every bit a freelance consignment or as an extension of the services from their existing employers," added Kumar.

For case, Gerald Lu, caput sommelier of Praelum Wine Bistro, works freelance as a private sommelier. He handles engagements like private wine classes and dinners, and also advises on food and wine pairings. "Many [of my private customers] are wine enthusiasts who want to learn something about wine simply are not sure how to go about doing it, so I aid to guide them," he said.

"My clients tell me they feel relieved in engaging me as a private sommelier. I took away their stress in the wine-handling expanse. They could relax and just focus on entertaining their guests and enjoying their food." – Tan Kok Hong

His clients are "adequately wealthy" people who want to do individual dinners in their homes and are comfortable with paying "S$2,000 to S$three,000 for the entire service". Others are corporate customers who hold the event in their role or at their boss's house. The fee varies, depending on the vino selections and venue logistics.

Lu says the role of a sommelier has evolved to cater to trends in the market. "The concept of luxury is no longer about people walking into a three Michelin-starred restaurant. It is now more of a silent luxury, doing what you can beget and having the feel in the comfort of your ain home," he remarked.

Being role of the shut-knit sommelier fraternity in Singapore is advantageous for Lu'southward role equally a private sommelier, too. During a private event, he discovered that ii of the wines were "corked", an manufacture jargon that refers to the chemical ii,4,6-tricholoranisole (TCA for short), which taints corks and gives a mouldy odour to wines.

Since it was a weekend, suppliers didn't deliver wines. He made a couple of telephone calls to his sommelier buddies, who loaned him the same wines from their establishments.

Lu thinks the main difference between a restaurant sommelier and a private sommelier is the latter offers a more intimate interaction with the customer.

"In a eating house, you have to serve other tables. Just equally a private sommelier, you aren't rushed; you have fourth dimension to sit downwardly and explain, talk in detail well-nigh wine regions or show pictures [from your phone]," he said. "Equally a guest, you tin can pick the sommelier's encephalon and tap his knowledge. And there's the friendship you cultivate with a sommelier. It'south ever adept to have a sommelier friend."

Tan said, "My clients tell me they feel relieved in engaging me every bit a private sommelier. I took away their stress in the wine-handling surface area. They could relax and just focus on entertaining their guests and enjoying their food."

"The main challenge [in my job] is to give my repeat clients new experiences. We don't desire to keep doing the same thing, so I have to think of new activities and concepts." – Indra Kumar