We had the idea of doing an interview with our sommelier instead of writing you a great text! Enjoy reading from a passionate person!
1) Hello, so can you tell me a little bit about yourself?
Yes, of course! My name is Eloi de Butler, I am currently 21 years old and I am a sommelier in Lyon.
2) Thank you Eloi, can you tell me about your school career?
I did a secondary school vocational training certificate ( SSVTC more shorter) in restaurant service in 2 years at the Lycée Jehanne de France in the 9th district of Lyon, I did several internships in wine service and this passion for sommellerie came to me at that time. So I decided to make a living from my passion and to take an additional course a technical school certificate in sommellerie in Nîmes after obtaining my SSVTC.
3) How did you get the desire to become a sommelier?
This passion came to me even before my SSVTC in catering, it is thanks to my family who are great winemakers in France, the Bollinger family in Champagne, of which I am a member, that I was able to discover several regions in France such as Burgundy and the Loire Valley. I think that drinking a wine is also a story of sharing between several people. I also chose this job because it is a good opportunity to travel around the world and to discover the methods of wine making beyond our borders.
4) Can you tell us the main tasks of a sommelier?
The sommelier's first mission is to design the restaurant's wine list. He works a lot with the chef in order to be able to create food and wine pairings for the customers. The sommelier has to know his wine list by heart but also the chef's menu and the flavour of each dish. He has to be a good salesman in order to be able to sell still and sparkling water, but also soft drinks, i.e. fruit juices, soda etc... without forgetting hot drinks and other alcoholic drinks such as rum or gin. Sometimes the sommelier is taken to make cocktails when the barman is absent, his knowledge doesn't stop at the menu! He must also have a very good knowledge of cellar management, which includes stock management and procurement. He knows how to determine the best moments of a tasting for his customers.
5) Are there technical gestures specific to the trade?
Of course then you have a action who consist to pour wine in a carafe, which is the action of aerating a wine by exposing it to a large surface area of oxygen, which is why decanters are generally very wide at the foot. The other manipulation that the sommelier must know how to do is decanting. This involves using a candle to be able to perceive the deposits of a wine and therefore to be able to decant it without putting these deposits on it. As a general rule it is possible to decant and decant a red wine, and to decant a great vintage champagne, but these gestures are not useful for white wines.
6) All right, thank you very much Eloi, now can you tell me about a memorable moment in your career as a sommelier?
Of course, then I have not one but three memorable moments, we'll save the best for the end I would say in third place it was during my complementary mention in my school in Nîmes, we had classes with speakers who presented us 10 wines from their regions, generally 5 whites and 5 reds. After that, we would have lunch with him in order to make the food and wine pairings, but it was above all a moment of exchange between the winegrower and the future sommeliers and it's very important to know how they work in order to be able to market their wines in the best possible way.
My second most important moment was my internship at a vineyard in Saint-Gilles, 15 km south of Nîmes. I was able to complete this internship at the Château d'Or et de Gueules estate. For three weeks I saw the harvesting method from 5 in the morning until about 2 in the afternoon I worked in the vat room where we waited for the grapes picked in the morning to be poured into stainless steel tanks to start the fermentation process necessary to make wine.
Finally come the best for last, it was at the restaurant "La Maison" in Gerland in Lyon. It was the women's soccer world cup and we served 1500 people. This experience allowed me to develop my adaptability because I had to be very responsive to customer requests. The hardest part was on the mental side because I had to cope with fatigue, in fact this service started at 6pm and ended at 6am the next day! But to have met the American players and to have touched the World Cup which was a kid's dream for me, it was just magic, that's why I put this moment in first position!
7) Thank you for sharing your best moments with us! Tell me Eloi, where do you see yourself in 5 years?
I am going to continue to be a sommelier clerk so that I can enrich my knowledge and why not evolve in a starred restaurant afterwards.
8) And we wish thee well. Tell me what would you say to young people who want to be a sommelier?
Don't hesitate and go for it! it's a beautiful job with a lot of human value, moreover working in a restaurant is also entering a family and whatever happens you will always be supported by a colleague who will become your friend! the last advantage is that this type of job offers opportunities to work abroad, French sommeliers are very appreciated for their knowledge and the reputation of French wines abroad! Moreover, it is important to know that the sommelier of the White House in the United States is French. So don't hesitate, it will be hard, yes, but if you like it, you will be delighted!
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