A person who tastes wine is called. Cavist - who is he, what does he do? Elite alcohol specialist

Attention: This article is intended for persons over 18 years of age.

Whenever you visit a country rich in wines, tasting them is one of the most rewarding and worthwhile excursions. If you take a long walk through the vineyards and admire the vines and picturesque scenery with glass in hand, you must first learn to appreciate the subtle beauty of wine.

Steps

Look at the wine, specifically around the edges. By tilting the glass a little, you can see how the color changes from the center to the edges. Holding a glass against the background of something white, for example, a napkin, tablecloth, sheet of paper, you can see true color guilt. Consider the color of the wine and how clear it is. Intensity, depth and saturation of color do not necessarily correlate with quality. White wines become darker with age, while red wines, on the other hand, lose their color, becoming brownish, often a little harmful due to the dark red sediment at the bottom of the bottle or glass. It’s good to inhale the smell of wine and feel its preliminary aroma, so that you can then compare it with the aroma after swirling the glass. In this way, you may notice some off-odors indicating that the (bottled) wine is probably spoiled.

Swirl the wine in the glass. This is done to increase the evaporation surface area of ​​the wine, it spreads inside the glass and reaches your nose, allows it to mix with oxygen and helps the aromas develop.

As you swirl the glass, pay attention to the viscosity of the wine (how slowly it flows back down the sides of the glass).

More viscous wines are said to have "legs" and are likely to contain more alcohol. Although the wine looks beautiful in appearance, this has nothing to do with its quality, but may indicate its strength. Inhale the wine.

First you need to bring the glass to your nose at a distance of several centimeters. Then dip the tip of your nose into the glass. What do you feel? The difference between drinking wine and tasting it is that you have to spit it out! Swirl the wine around in your mouth to introduce it to all your taste buds. You will only be able to taste sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami (the savory fifth taste of MSG). Pay attention to consistency and other tactile sensations, such as a distinct sense of weight and texture.

• Spit the wine into a special “spittoon” if you are going to taste many other types of wine. Drinking alcohol may reduce your tasting abilities. Moreover, if you are driving, you should undoubtedly use a spittoon.

1. Inhale through the wine. Purse your lips as if you are going to whistle, draw a little air into your mouth and exhale through your nose. This releases the aromas of the wine and allows them to reach the nose where they can be recognized. The nose is the only place where the bouquet of a wine is recognizable. However, enzymes and other chemical compounds in your oral cavity, saliva often changes the mixture of wine aromas. By inhaling through wine, you find completely different aromas, separate from those that were in interaction with the oral environment.

   Take your next sip of wine, but this time (especially if you're drinking red wine) let it come in contact with the air.

   In other words, slurp it while smacking your lips (without a loud slurping sound, of course). Notice a subtle difference in taste and texture. Feel the aftertaste.

2. How long does it stay? Do you like the taste? Write down your entire experience on paper.

   • You can use any terminology that suits you. The most important thing is to describe your impression and how much you liked the wine. Many wineries provide their own booklets and pens so you can take notes on the flavor as you taste. This will force you to discern the subtleties of the wine. Also, you will have useful notes on what each wine tastes like and you can easily match it with food or according to your mood. There are 4 main components to wine: flavor, tannins, alcohol and acidity. Some wines have sweetness, but it is only. A good wine will have the right balance of all four characteristics. Over the years, tannins soften (see Tips for a more detailed description). Acidity disappears throughout the life of the wine as it undergoes chemical changes, including the breakdown of acids. The fruit flavor will increase and then fade over the life of the wine. The alcohol content will remain unchanged. All these factors provide knowledge about when to drink or pour wine.
   • Here is a list of the most common varieties of wine and their tastes (keep in mind that the area where the raw materials grew, the method of harvesting, etc. technological features production have big influence on the character of the taste of the wine):
     • Cabernet – black currants, cherries, other black fruits, green spices
     • Merlot – plum, red and black fruits, green spices, floral flavor
     • Zinfandel – black fruit (usually sticky), black spices
     • Syrah (or shiraz, depending on where it is grown) – black fruits, black spices, in particular white and black pepper
     • Pinot Noir – red fruits, flowers, herbs
     • Chardonnay – in cool climates: tropical fruits; citrus fruits in slightly warmer regions, and melon in warmer regions. With an increase in the proportion of malolactic fermentation, Chardonnay loses green apple and goes into a milky note, apple, pear, peach, apricot.
     • Sauvignon Blanc – grapefruit, white gooseberry, lime, melon.
   • Malolactic fermentation (natural or artificial introduction of specific bacteria) gives white wine creamy or buttery taste.
   • Maturing wine in an oak barrel will give it a vanilla or nutty flavor.
   • Other flavor identifiers are minerality, earthiness, and asparagus.
   • "Tannins" is a very common term in wine tasting (usually red wines). They belong to the astringent, bitter components contained in the skins of grapes, stems and seeds, as well as in oak barrels in which the wine is aged. If you want to taste the tannin, simply bite off a piece of the stem or eat a cabernet grape straight from the vine. In young red wines, tannins taste bitter and dry, while in aged ones they are more velvety and pleasant.
3. • At tastings, you will encounter people of varying levels of knowledge about wine. Some of them will have broad knowledge, but don't distance yourself from them right away. “Wine snobs” tend to recruit and rant, but not every beginner is ready to accept this. However, if you are paired with a savvy taster who is willing to share knowledge in a respectful manner, it will be very educational.
   • When using lead decanters or glasses, there is a small risk of lead poisoning, directly dependent on the amount of time the wine is exposed to the lead. Therefore, you should consume wine in lead containers within 48 hours to avoid poisoning.
   • Many wines are not recommended to be stored for more than a few days after uncorking. They lose their freshness and fruity taste. They also expire and oxidize. However, very rarely good wine becomes vinegar. Some people believe this happens, but this is one of the myths about wine.
   • Like golf, wine is associated with status and a business lifestyle. If you want to be accepted into the circle of wine connoisseurs, it can cost you a lot.

Over the last century, the world has changed beyond recognition. The once smooth and measured flow of life, centuries-old foundations and traditions are broken by modernity. Scientists, engineers and simply talented and persistent people come up with something new and exciting every day. How to an ordinary person keep track of all these innovations and keep abreast of events, if not all, then at least the most important and relevant? Anyone interested can be helped not to get lost in this or that issue by special guides who will tell you about all the subtleties and nuances of this or that science or aspect of life.

Nowadays you won’t surprise anyone with a personal stylist, personal financial advisor or spiritual guru. It doesn't matter if you have at your disposal a representative of a new and incredibly interesting profession - a cavist. Who is this, what does he do and where does he live?

Cavist: briefly about the main thing

The word "kavist" has French roots and in the original it sounds like cave, which translated into Russian can be interpreted as “cellar”. To be more precise, it is a wine cellar. So, kavist - who is it? The person who makes the cellars? No, this is the one who knows everything about the most valuable content of dark, damp and cool rooms - about wine.

Such a profession as cavist is now well-known among many, but not everyone knows about its features. Most often it is associated with those who taste elite alcohol. There is some truth in this, however, this does not apply to the entire alcoholic range, but only to wine.

Multifaceted personality

True, this only at first glance seems to be a simple and uncomplicated matter. "What's so complicated about that?" - an uninitiated person will ask. Try everything for yourself different wine, know the main differences between dry and sweet, advise what is best to use white with, and when red is suitable - that’s all the wisdom that a cavist should know. Whoever claims this does not understand the depth of the profession and how much a person working as a consultant in a good wine store needs to be able to know and understand.

The field of choice for cavists is specialized wine boutiques. These are very specific stores in which elite alcohol is sold differently from regular retail stores. retail outlets. A good wine store should have all the conditions for... proper storage goods, and its employees, who are also called sales consultants, are generally a special people.

A person applying for the position of cavist must have a developed sense of taste and smell, be able to communicate with absolutely different people, be sociable, erudite and literate, have pleasant manners and appearance. It is simply impossible to list all the requirements and preferences of employers, and for many they differ. For some, it is important that a person has at least a basic understanding of wine, and everything else will be taught to him on the spot; others, first of all, look at the personal qualities of the future caviste, and specially trained people are ready to take on the development of taste and olfactory memory.

Human psychologist

The main task of a cavist will always be sales. A visitor, and therefore a potential buyer, in a wine boutique cannot be a poor person; people come to such establishments consciously, although not always clearly understanding what they need. The profession of a cavista assumes that a person will be able to reach his interlocutor, get him to talk and offer him his ideal drink.

To do this, it is important to have some psychological skills; you need to be able to work with different people, among whom there are often rather gloomy and intractable individuals. The consultant needs to anticipate the desires of his clients, and also remember the history of communication with each of his customers in order to study the range of his interests and tastes, to have an idea of ​​​​what he likes and what he does not accept.

Holiday Man

Many are also interested in the following question: a good cavist - who is it, a man or a woman? Are there sexual preferences on this path? The answer is clear: no. Both genders can be successful wine consultants. For some buyers it is important to cooperate with a male seller, for others it is more comfortable and pleasant to communicate with a girl. Since this profession is very young in our country, many dare to master it, achieving solid success in the shortest possible time.

Continuous improvement is important here. Self-presentation and self-development are important. Cavists who have been working in the wine business for many years, over time, “grow” their own generous customers who listen to the opinion of their seller and are grateful to him for the gift of the holiday.

But during communication with a client, the cavist must create a special, trusting atmosphere, he must be able to convey in words what he knows from personal feelings, he must, through primitive words, express the fullness of the taste and aroma of a particular wine, do it juicily, colorfully and understandable.

Man manager

In addition to direct work on the sales floor, the seller’s list of daily responsibilities includes elite wine there are quite mundane and routine things to do. He must maintain a good assortment in his establishment; for this, the cavist communicates with existing suppliers, looks for new ones, expands the customer base, weeding out those who offer low-quality or slow-selling goods, replacing them with more profitable partners.

Receiving goods, rotating them, decorating display windows - all these are also the direct responsibilities of a consultant in a wine boutique. We often have to deal with special customers, find unique varieties of wine for them, and obtain scarce and rare wines. It is difficult to call this work easy and dust-free. To understand who a cavist is and what he does, you need to join this profession and experience its pros and cons for yourself.

Encyclopedia Man

For those who have tried themselves in this field, the task of keeping a lot of information of a very different nature in their heads often becomes an insurmountable obstacle. Cavist not only knows everything about wine, he also knows where, how, when and what it was made from. He needs to remember such subtleties as the climate of certain regions where grapes grow, what year it was good year for growing it, and when the summer was damp and rainy. All these nuances affect the taste of the product, which must be remembered forever after trying it once.

In addition to the aromas and tastes of elite intoxicating drinks, the cavist needs to help the client choose snacks. This process can also be reversed, because there are cases when a buyer comes with the specific purpose of buying wine for a certain dish, the taste of which should be fully revealed through good alcohol. It happens that a cavist has to help draw up not only a wine list for a client, but also sketch out a rough menu for him for the evening.

Not to be confused with sommelier

Similar, but somewhat different in level of complexity and goals, is the profession of sommelier. A cavist is a person who works in a store, he sells wine, he needs to understand hundreds and even thousands of its types, be able to read the label so as to remember the taste and aroma of the contents of the bottle, while giving the buyer comprehensive information about the drink.

The sommelier also has a thorough understanding of wine and other fine spirits, but he works with what is available in his establishment. The wine list of restaurants rarely exceeds a hundred items; most often the choice there is much poorer. This does not mean that being a taster and consultant in a restaurant is easier, not at all. While working, a sommelier needs to not only know the taste of wine, he must be able to combine it with the dishes being served so that they are a successful duet and do not drown out each other.

Difficulties of the profession

Being a cavoist is very interesting and exciting, but this profession is associated with a number of specific difficulties and features. Taste and olfactory receptors are the working tools of a wine consultant that must be protected, developed and carefully protected.

To the uninitiated, it seems as if this work borders on constant drinking of strong drinks, which entails unpleasant consequences in the form of alcoholism, but this is far from the case. In order to avoid such a scenario, the cavist must be able to control himself. There is always alcohol in his access area: winemakers send free samples, new batches arrive, frequent presentations and tastings require the seller to literally taste wine every day. Before becoming a cavoist, you need to ask yourself the question: can I just taste wine and not become addicted to the intoxicating drink? To feel the bouquet of taste and aroma, you don’t even have to swallow the alcohol, just inhale its smell in the glass, sip a small amount of the drink, and then spit it out.

Lifelong learning

Many people wonder how to get a specialty like cavist. Training takes place in special courses directly at the wine boutique where the consultant will soon work. However, a fairly short briefing will only give general concepts about the upcoming work, teach the basics, and everything else is in the hands of the youngest specialist.

He will have daily self-improvement, hard work on himself. The Cavist must constantly hone his sense of smell and taste. For this purpose, a universal collection of wine aromas has been developed, it is called the “nose of wine”. This is a collection of the most common aromas that a consultant will have to deal with; without knowledge of this basis, he simply will not be able to work.

Many professionals attend courses and exhibitions in other countries, at various wineries, to learn the history and process of creating drinks from each manufacturer, which greatly helps them in their future work.

These people are professionals in their field. They know everything about alcohol and even more. Who are we talking about? Let's find out...

Profession cavist(from the French “cellar keeper”) is relatively new and not familiar to many people. These are people who are a kind of sales consultants or managers for the sale of elite alcohol. The only difference from the latter is that cavists work in a very narrow specialization than sellers, who cover almost the entire spectrum of trade. Cavists must undergo special training and, preferably, have a psychological education, as well as be sociable. These qualities are very important in the specifics of their work. After all, cavistas are focused not on supermarkets and regular stores, but on special wine boutiques, where the most elite products are presented. From this we can draw a conclusion about clients and that each needs an individual approach. Cavist knowledge implies helping the buyer not only in choosing a product and indicating the cost, but also in more significant recommendations: name of the manufacturer, brand, year of harvest, storage conditions, aging period and much more. To be a professional in this difficult matter, a cavist must be half a sommelier. The regulars of such boutiques are clients who are real gourmets of rare alcoholic drinks, so they are well versed in quality and technical characteristics. The task of the cavist is not to sell wine, but simply to help you navigate a large assortment: wine, cognac, whiskey, vodka, brandy, etc. While communicating with customers, the cavist finds out preferences, asks a couple of clarifying questions about the desired drink and selects the most suitable option.

Over the course of his career, a professional cavist accumulates a certain circle of clients who trust only his choice, knowing that he will select what is needed. Therefore, it often happens that if a cavist changes his place of work to another, then the entire clientele leaves with him, and this is an important aspect for small wine boutiques. After all, whether a regular customer will come or not depends entirely on the professionalism of the cavist.

In today's market, the demand for cavist is as follows: demand exceeds supply, so every year more and more courses are being offered to train employees for liquor stores.

Word sommelier comes from the French "sommelier" and is not translated into any European language. The head of the Union of Sommeliers in France, Georges Perthuis, gives the following definition: this is the person who is responsible for serving wine and other drinks in restaurants; gives advice on choice; ensures proper serving. Do not confuse a sommelier and a wine taster. These are two different areas.

Responsibilities:

• drawing up a wine list;
• its maintenance and renewal;
• recommendations for choosing dishes to pair with wine;
• be responsible for wine cellar, if any;
• deals with the purchase of wines and personally checks each batch;
• is responsible not only for wines, but also other alcoholic beverages;
• must know all the types of wines (and there are more than 100 types) that are presented in the assortment of the wine list;
• knowledge of several foreign languages, since foreigners often become restaurant visitors;
• During work, the sommelier must use a special one.

Taster

The specifics of a taster’s work are completely different from those of a cavista and sommelier. If the cavist's working tool is a bottle, then the taster's tool is a glass. The task of such a specialist is to assess the quality of wines and wine materials. The taster must have a very well developed sense of smell and memory for smells and tastes. He is not required to learn the cost, rules wine etiquette and other data. Mostly these people work in wineries.

Have you decided to become a sommelier or taster at home and become known as a connoisseur of elite alcohol? Then we present to your attention catalog of alcoholic drinks at the WineStreet store!

Working with wine is exciting and unpredictable, new sensations, discoveries, the opportunity to taste interesting samples or create your own unique specimen, travel and talk about wines, or carefully pick ripe grapes and decide how many months the wine will spend in barrels.
For those who have decided to plunge professionally into the wine industry, The Drinks Business has compiled a TOP 10, which includes the best wine-related specialties.

10. Sommelier

A sommelier is well versed in the world of wine, understands the typology, regions and varieties of grapes, and also knows how to select wines for dishes. Typically, a sommelier works in a high-level restaurant, compiles a wine list, and is responsible for purchasing and storing wines.
The most famous and respected Master Sommelier (MS) qualification, but since similar courses are not offered in Russia, you can choose one of the prestigious sommelier schools.

9. Taster on board the plane

Ken Chase is a man of a unique profession; he works as a consultant for American Airlines. Ken tastes wines and selects those that are suitable for the “high-rise” menu.
Having an aviation education, he for a long time studied wine in Bordeaux, Germany and Italy, he combined his two passions in his real profession.
Great work! Perhaps the vacancy of an “on-board taster” at Aeroflot is still available.

8. Owner of a wine brand

One of the most profitable and profitable professions, which is the top of the wine trade.

7. Work in the tasting room

Typically, a tasting room is located at a winery or near the vineyards, and the employee’s responsibilities include conducting tastings and assisting in choosing wine. And although the work is similar to that performed by a sommelier, it does not require such high qualifications and deep knowledge.
Russia cannot boast of the number of tasting rooms, but there are quite a lot of wine boutiques, especially in the capital, the work of a good wine specialist is comparable to working in a tasting room.

Usually the vineyard workers remain in the shadows, and we know nothing about them, but we remember the hard, manual labor, tanned brown hands and a motley line of workers among the vines.
During the harvest, many farms attract additional labor, giving everyone a chance to get involved in the creation of wine.

5. Liquor Store Owner

The life of a wine store owner is full of unpredictable changes: laws and rules of the game change, the market and tastes change. We need to take everything into account, predict and maneuver in order to stay afloat.

4. Wine Writer/Blogger/Journalist

Many wine lovers can write intelligently and competently about wines, but when they start getting paid for it, then we can talk about the profession of a wine writer or journalist. It happens that a wine blog becomes popular and brings not only satisfaction, but also profit.
In addition, writing provides the opportunity to travel the world, visiting and reporting on wine-producing countries.

The cellar master works side by side with the winemaker, overseeing the production of wine from the grapes arriving at the winery to the bottles being shipped to the customer or being stored. The cellar master can be called an assistant winemaker.

2. Vineyard owner

Being a vineyard owner means enjoying the fruits of your labor without delving into technical details.
For example, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie purchased 500 hectares of vineyards in Provence in 2008 and, in partnership with Mark Perrin, released their first rosé wine in 2012. But it is unlikely that they have heard about radical tremors, the “bloodletting” method or carbon maceration.

1. Winemaker

Being a winemaker means being the center of the entire winemaking process, its heart and soul. The winemaker is the creator who decides all the issues: the time of harvest, how and where the fermentation process will take place, how long the aging in barrels lasts and their capacity, assemblage and much more. All in order to get the perfect wine.

– You need to contact Alexey. Sommelier.
- Excuse me, but does he speak Russian?
This question was once asked by visitors to the San Michele restaurant to the service staff. I had to explain to them that sommelier is a profession, not a surname. This is the name of a person who understands wines and spirits.

It is not surprising that many have not even heard of such a word, because this profession appeared in our country only 10-15 years ago and is not yet very widespread. Since the times of ancient Rome, wine has been served by special people - sommeliers. They had to be able to present it, pour it into a decanter on time, that is, decant it, and, most importantly, be well versed in the science of wine - oenology. And this meant: distinguishing between grape varieties, knowing in which barrels the wine is aged, methods of its production, categories of wines, etc.
Today, sommelier refers to restaurant workers who are responsible for supplying and storing wine, liquor store workers, and managers working in the field.
Alexey Sidorov, who is now the director of the San Michel restaurant in Moscow and, at the same time, the president of the Russian Sommelier Association, was the first representative of this profession in our country. At that time he worked at the Nostalgie restaurant. At first, people did not understand what was happening: a man dressed in a suit was walking freely around the hall. unusual shape , approaches visitors and tells something about the wines, and, most interestingly, tastes them. After all, without a sample, the sommelier cannot serve the client, since he needs to determine whether it needs to be cooled or vice versa, made warmer, poured into a decanter or left in a bottle, and finally opened correctly. But in Russia, unlike in the West, clients do not trust the sommelier. And many people believe that after tasting a wine, they should rate it, and if they don’t like it, ask for another one. This is fundamentally wrong. Wine is poured to the client so that he is convinced of his gastronomic choice; There can be no doubt about the quality of the wine.
For those who want to learn to understand wines, Alexey Sidorov decided to organize a sommelier school - “Wine World”. There are four such educational institutions in Moscow. A. Sidorov's school differs from others in that it has the longest training - 3 months; Classes are held 5 times a week for 3.5 hours. After completing the course, students receive diplomas and can do an internship at the San Michel restaurant. School graduates have no problems finding work: every year more and more restaurants, wine shops, and wine trading companies open; Therefore, specialists in this field are in great demand. Among the school's students are not only those who want to become professional sommeliers, but also those who simply want to know more about wine. Some men send their wives to school so they can learn how to buy good wine. Of course, not everyone is comfortable attending classes so often. Therefore, the school also has individual programs, which are especially popular in the regions. Some take 1-2 lessons for 6-7 hours, buy teaching aids

, stock up on wine lists in order to independently study this science. Studying consists of blocks. Each week is dedicated to a particular topic: the history of winemaking, wines of Spain, France, Italy,, New World strong drinks etc. Classes on psychology and etiquette are conducted. After all, in order to give advice, a sommelier must understand at first glance what a particular person will like. Also, the sommelier must understand cigars, which is also taught in school. If a student misses a week, he can listen to the missed topic with the next group. All classes include wine tasting. During the entire course, students try more than 100 types of different drinks, about 3-4 varieties of 25-30 ml per day. Alexey assures that you don’t need any special talent to master the profession of sommelier. All
There are no more than 14 people in a class. Several groups are studying at the same time: morning, afternoon, and soon evening will be opened.