THREE CHEERS

Do you actively provide guidance while pairing food with wine or is this something left to the customer’s discretion?

Do you see it as a science or more subjective than that?
Pairing food and wine is part of the service for certain,but it is more a fishing expedition to know what the guest likes,has experienced before and is open to trying. There are some classic pairings that are unbeatable,but for the most part it is a subjective matter.

Why do you think there aren’t many professional sommeliers in India?
There has been long a dearth of sommeliers in India because of the minimal amount of fine wine available (on account of high taxation) and because there is not a culture of imbibing while eating. Wine is meant to be enjoyed along with food,but in India most people drink before and after eating.

Your view on Indian wines?
India has not produced a ‘typical’ or ‘unique’ wine that expresses the region it comes from fully. I don’t know very much about Indian wines but from what I have tasted it appears that most of the production comes from vines that are planted on very rich soils. The vines don’t have to struggle to gain water and therefore,the roots probably remain quite shallow and that influences the flavours in the wine. The best wines in the world come from vines planted in poor soil where the vine roots have to grow deep into the subsoil and bedrock to gain nutrition,resulting in more complex flavors. Also,I wonder if the vines might be planted at higher elevation to produce more natural acidity in the wines,as I think the wines I have tried lack a bit in acidity on account of the regions being too hot.

While Daniel,a highly rated restaurant,probably has greater resources,does the job get harder in terms of customer expectation?
At Daniel,every customer has extremely high expectations and this is a great tool to keep me motivated and inspired to constantly better and elevate our service.

How should a sommelier deal with a difficult customer; if someone sends a perfectly good bottle of wine back. Do you ever have customers challenge your knowledge of wine?
There are those who make life difficult by challenging my expertise or opinion on a wine,or those who simply don’t know how to express what they want and so find themselves in a situation sending back a perfect bottle because it isn’t pleasurable to their tastes. In a prickly situation,it is important not to argue with a guest but I cannot have perfectly good product go to waste. There is a subtle line between taking the wine back and making the guest pay for it. Of course,if it is not expensive,it is not an issue.