Mystery Career #6: Who Am I? Can You Guess My Job?

My colleagues and I have eaten the best cuisine the world has to offer, but we are not food critics. We travel the world over researching elevage and noble rot, first hand. Can you guess my profession?

When we are not doing research, you may find me or one of my colleagues at your call during dinner on a Caribbean cruise, or a three star resort in Tuscany, or a revered Napa Valley vineyard, or a world renowned restaurant in Paris. Have you figured out what I do for a living?

Our favorite habitats are below ground, and we are masters of our cellars. Many of my colleagues are of such level of expertise in our subject matter that they can be quite intimidating. While our goal is to satisfy your pallet and budget with the perfection only our extensive knowledge could impart, we belong to such an elite group that we often come across as arrogant and tend to talk at our patrons, rather than talk to them. Forgive us--such is our zeal!

Still can't guess? These are some of the types of work my colleagues and I perform each day: In addition to offering the connoisseur our suggestions during dinner, we create specialized menus in the finest restaurants in the world, and supervise their collections, and suggest and purchase new acquisitions.

If you still can't guess what I do for a living, consider some of the terms we use each day: leg, punt, ullage, botrytis, resveratrol, Trebbiano. Have you figured out my profession?

If you guessed that I am a sommelier (pronounced, some-mel-yea) you are absolutely right! What? You have never heard of a sommelier? The term is French. We are also called wine stewards or cellarmasters.

While any wine enthusiast or connoisseur can claim my title, official training required for basic certification in my profession takes approximately six months. Entry level certified sommeliers earn approximately $30,000 a year.

To reach the coveted, highest level of Master Sommelier, is indeed an honor for which I and many others strive, but may never attain. Since the beginning of the Master level certification program in 1969, only 171 members worldwide have achieved the status. Less than twenty have been women, all based in the United States. Master Sommeliers can make over $150,000 a year.

If the terms I used kept you guessing a bit, the definitions follow below:

1. botrytis: a fungus that can make a wine taste better or at worst, destroy an entire grape crop.
2. cellarmaster: another name for a sommelier.
3. elevage: a wine's pedigree.
4. leg: a characteristic whereby one can determine the thickness and alcohol content of a wine.
5. noble rot: another name for Botrytis.
6. punt: the indentation at the bottom of a glass wine bottle.
7. resveratrol: an antioxidant found in red wine and blueberries.
8. Trebbiano: next to Chardonnay, the second mostly widely planted grape in the world.
9. ullage: the space at the top of an unopened wine bottle from which the wine, overtime, has evaporated.

To read the previous Mystery Career Installment, click here

Sources:

1. "Sommelier," Wikipedia
2. "Sommelier," princetonreview.com/Careers.aspx?cid=146
3. "Sommelier Certifications, Classes, Jobs," chiff.com/wine/sommelier.htm
4. "Wine Glossary - Complete Listing of All Wine Terms," wineintro.com/glossary/t/