Sommelier Li Meiyu and Olivier Poussier. Photo: Rui Leow
Wine steward, cellarmaster, whatever name you prefer, the traditional and prestigious profession of sommelier which was initiated in the west, France in particular, is now becoming popular among young Chinese.
Li Meiyu knew nothing about wine before the then 24-year-old went to study language in Paris. The first time she came across the word "sommelier" was on Google, and she had no idea what the word meant.
Two years later, she is doing what a sommelier does: She is now in charge of all the wine service of Beijing's Park Hyatt Hotel, which includes designing wine lists, training the restaurant staff, working with the culinary team to pair food with drinks, buying the right wine, and most importantly, managing the cellar and budget.
She specializes in French wines, and she knows how to match them with Chinese food. She also knows that many of her Chinese customers love a fruitier taste and prefer wine from the old world.
"Sommelier is a very traditional profession in France, and most starred hotels and restaurants have one," said Olivier Poussier, who has worked as a sommelier since 1983 and was declared Best Sommelier in the World in 2000 by the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale. Poussier is also the last French person who had won the prestigious award in the world's highest competition of its kind, which is held every three years.
The accomplished and young sommeliers met and shared their experiences in a Beijing forum earlier this week held by the Chinese edition of La Revue du Vin de France.
"To be the best sommelier, one has to know everything about wine," said Poussier, recalling his three-day competition with the top sommeliers from 50 countries back in 2000.
He remembered that one of the questions on the test asked him to describe how the geographic factors and weather affected the grapes in Romania in the year of 2000.
"So you have to know wine in all countries, not just yours," he said.
After finishing her studies in Burgundy, Li passed the national Certified Sommelier Exam, and became a French-certified sommelier.
Looking confident and elegant, the 26-year-old has a generous salary and the hard-won respect of her peers as an outsider who mastered the high French standards after years of hard work.
"There were so many terms to learn regarding wine! For example the word minéral. I didn't know what that had to do with wine, and I spent a whole day studying the basics of it."
Last year she participated in and won the competition for the Best Chinese Sommelier for French Wines, the first of its kind in China, which included a blind tasting, wine service, food pairings and theoretical questions.
Japan has surpassed France in the number of best sommeliers, and is now challenging Italy's No. 1 position, according to Poussier.
"Japan was the same as China 20 years ago," he explained. "China might have taken longer to walk onto the track, but if you look at how delicately and elegantly the Chinese can make tea, you can see it won't take long for them to become great sommeliers."
In 1995, Japanese sommelier Shinya Tasaki joined the competition by the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale, and became the first Japanese sommelier to win Best Sommelier in the World, which greatly boosted the wine industry and the Japanese people's enthusiasm.
"It was such an event! The title of best sommelier in the world means another sommelier in France, but in Japan, Tasaki was made into a star, a hero," he said. "I think China is waiting for a star like that, and then many people will follow."
Although many hotels and restaurants in China have similar professionals, qualified sommeliers are rare, especially those who were certificated abroad like Li.
Poussier believes that to help Chinese sommeliers become accepted worldwide, China should have a national sommelier association, and only one, to value and promote the industry.