“A sommelier is not a winemaker. Some tend to forget that”

The sommelier has a duty of education – personally, throughout his or her career, and towards their clients by providing them with knowledge”, claims Fabrice Sommier, who has just succeeded Philippe Faure-Brac at the helm of the French sommelier organisation (UDSF). Sommier deplores the fact that some sommeliers criticise, or even refuse to accept, the choices of certain consumers, like putting ice cubes in a glass of rosé wine. The recipient of France’s best craftsman award in 2007, he is categorical on the issue: “The end customer drinks wine however they want to. We are not there to give them a lecture or to be pedantic”. His viewpoint on the relationship with producers is the same: “We are not doing the same job. A sommelier is not a winemaker. Some sommeliers tend to forget that and lecture winegrowers about winemaking procedures. That’s a mistake. The sommelier’s job is to showcase the winegrower’s work. They have to show respect for the winegrower and lend a sympathetic ear to them”. Admittedly, Sommier has first-hand experience of the challenges of producing wine. From 2015 to 2021, he was at the helm of Domaine d’Azenay, a 17-hectare wine estate in Mâcon owned by the chef Georges Blanc.

Sommier has a long-standing relationship with wine. As a child, he remembers how his grandfather, a farmer growing a number of different crops, would let him taste wines made from now-outlawed grape varieties such as Noah and Othello, straight from the barrel. “That was kind of the catalyst”, he recalls. His passion for the hospitality industry comes from his great-uncle. “He would often take us to restaurants in the countryside, where I was impressed with the constant waltz of the waiters. I am passionate about everything involving service. My experience of the hospitality industry is one of sheer pleasure”.