Drinks have an important role to play in each meal, being refreshing and delicious enough to stand out on their own while having other characteristics that make the main meal even more satisfying, and no drink complements a heavy meal as much as wine does. Wine curators have long been getting as much benefit as they can from recommending wine to their customers through understanding the drinks inside and out and working with customers to get the best-suited wines.
1- Making wine lists
One of the most important tasks a sommelier has is creating and perfecting wine lists for the establishment they’re working for or for consumers and customers directly. These wine lists are important because they provide information about the different types of wine available for the evening or at a particular time, and it’s the information you’ll be using to place orders. These wine lists are painstakingly made, keeping in mind what works well with the current menu and the meal you’re having, as well as the restaurant has stock because they won’t all have access to the best wines in the world.
2- Finding the right combos for meals
As previously mentioned, meals and drinks work in unison to provide an experience that is greater than the sum of its parts, and this experience relies entirely on how well the drink compliments the meal you’re having. Wines come in different types, from red to white and full-bodied to lighter, and these combinations must be created carefully, keeping in mind the flavor profile of your meal. For example, heavy meals are paired with lighter wines so that the weight of your food is offset, and if your meal has a tangy or strong flavor, the wine may be served bubbly to neutralize your palate.
3- Providing information to patrons
The world of wine curation and development is an incredibly important and complex one, and the behind-the-scenes of how wines are made play a role in the finished product, including taste and consistency. Experts will, of course, know the role of each of these processes in the wine’s final flavor. Still, customers won’t have the same knowledge, which is why these experts make sure to provide information about each of the wines that are being served, including the ingredients, strongest flavors, how they were made, whether they were ground by hand or in a factory, and more.
4- Servicing wine
Wines aren’t all durable, so they have to be serviced properly both before they’re ready to be enjoyed and while being served, and this is where wine experts come in. Older wines and ones made using a specific kind of grape may need special procedures like decanting or even controlling the temperature, which will have a major impact on the final product. Servicing wine is vital to maintaining the original taste the manufacturers have set out to make, and that’s often the difference you’ll be able to find when you’re buying a wine yourself or when an expert is helping you out.
5- Managing stock
Restaurants and major retailers have a lot of stock of wine, often numbering in the thousands of gallons, and wine experts are usually given control of managing this stock, as they know how to curate and maintain a wine cellar to safely store these drinks for as long as possible, protecting the business’s investment. Managing stock is a process that needs to be handled with care, and, in addition, experts may be in charge of rotating the stock they have, getting fresher or more popular wines whenever possible.
Conclusion
Wine curators have an interesting role in the world of dining because they’re working with customers and chefs, finding the exact role a particular wine will play in a meal. While you may have your preferences when it comes to what you want to drink, if you go with the recommendations put forth by a wine curator, you’ll find it’s much more suited to the meal and way more satisfying, which is only achieved after hours of effort and research on the part of the wine curator.
