Thursday before Thanksgiving...most people in the wine world love to celebrate this special day--the release of that year's Beaujolais Nouveau. I found myself in the Windy City and had scouted a place I was hoping to go to that day to toast the young, fun wine. I found a spot online, and the establishment even had several good reviews, but I don't want to name the bar because this blog really isn't about them; it's about something much bigger. I thought sure this would be my in-the-city, Nouveau experience, but it was evident I was wrong from the instant I sat down. The waitress came over, and I excitedly asked if they had any Nouveaus on the menu for that night. The young girl looked at me like I was a specimen stuck to the bottom of her shoe and said she would check, but I knew she wasn't going to check as she acted completely put out by my question. I'm still not sure if she knew about the release date or didn't know and that's why she was so snotty to us. But the snotty behavior continued when the two friends I was with (who do not drink, let alone drink wine) only ordered food items. It overall was just not a good experience, and I didn't get any 2011 Beaujolais! : (
However, I digress. This blog isn't to complain about any establishment. I've worked in the service industry, maybe our waitress was just having a bad day. What bothered me about this experience is the issue I see many times over again in the wine industry, and that is the need for some people to try to belittle others' knowledge or experience with wine. One of the parts I love about being a sommelier and wine educator is taking that fear away from wine, especially for wine novices. People in the wine industry need to spread their knowledge to others, not just try to prove to others how incredibly smart they are by making people feel dumb. Wine is intimidating enough without servers and professionals making drinkers uncomfortable. This was the first wine bar my two friends had ever been to. I was hoping it was going to be such a positive experience, and they would want to learn more about wine or go to another wine bar some time. However, instead of a positive experience, my friends took away even more intimidation from the wine industry. The stereotype of snooty, unfriendly wine people was passed on to these wine beginners, who now have absolutely no desire to venture any further into the world of wine. An opportunity to bring two more people over to the wine side was lost...and probably gone forever.
When I was telling some people about this experience, they, of course, wanted to know if I told our unfriendly waitress I was a sommelier or left her my card. I didn't. I decided to take the high road. It would seem a bit hypocritical of me to complain about how snooty the server was and then turn around and treat her in the same manner. The bottom line is I don't feel the need to prove that I have wine knowledge. I know I'm confident with my ongoing education. (The longer I am in the wine industry, I also know I want to learn more and more and more!) Others may or may not know very much about wine, but I don't want to beat people over the head with my "expertise" and make them feel badly about themselves in the process. It goes against what I feel is my goal: to take the fear and intimidation out of wine, making it accessible for more people! I hope you will all join me on this mission. Oh, and I also hope you all enjoyed your 2011 Beaujolais Nouveau! I've still yet to get mine.
