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Our Hotel Manager (and wine connoisseur) Yohann shares with us his top-secret confessions of a sommelier. You’ll get to find out what dishes are the best to pair with your wine, what to do if you dislike your tipple at a tasting, as well as take a sneak peek into the life of a sommelier.
I’ve been interested in wine my whole life. I started working in hospitality in France when I was fifteen and since then my passion for the industry has grown and grown. I love all aspects of it, but wine has always been an integral part.
When I was a child growing up in France, I was allowed to taste wine before I was even allowed to drink coffee! I remember being quite young and going around finishing the drops of wine left in the glasses when my parents had friends over.
Passion. Wine is such a huge world, and it can become very technical. To discover and understand more, you need to be very passionate and perseverant.
Easily the most important part is smelling the wine. It is to detect if there are any faults with the bottle. For example, if it is corked, swirling the wine around helps to release the aromas – which will help discover any potential issues. Look for a musty damp smell. This is usually the sign of a corked wine.
This is a big misconception about tasting wine. Like my answer above, tasting the wine isn’t about deciding whether you like it or not – it’s to detect any faults. Historically, most wines were corked, but nowadays there are so many new types of bottle closures. For example, screw caps and plastic corks. Because of this, it is increasingly unlikely to get an ‘off’ bottle of wine.
I think the act of tasting wine has continued as more of a tradition than for anything else, and it’s certainly one I enjoy taking part in. Of course, if for any reason should you not like the wine you’ve tasted, you should always feel very welcome to notify your server, as they will ensure to do their best to find something perfectly suited to your taste.
I’m always involved in the process when we are developing a new menu, so for any new dishes brought to the table, I’ll have a wine in mind and make suggestions to the chefs.
As for menu pairing, there are multiple ways to approach it. For example, with sweet wine, it can either be congruent or contrasting. Congruent compliments the food – for example, sweet wine with dessert. On the other end of the scale, a contrasting pairing creates a balance of flavours, such as sweet wine and blue cheese. I also enjoy breaking the conventions with wine and discovering an unusual pairing. At the end of the day, the best pairing is what works for you.
About fifteen years ago when working in a five star hotel in London, I was lucky enough to try a Chateau Petrus 1964. At the time, the hotel was selling the bottle for £5000. It was like liquid gold.
As for the wine experience, I will always remember when Jean-Marc Brocard, a very well renowned Chablis winemaker, took me in his helicopter to go flying above his domaine on a beautiful summer’s day. Afterwards we went down to the winery for an amazing meal paired with all the best of his Chablis.
That’s a tricky one! If money were no object, I would definitely go for the best Bordeaux there is.
If I must be more realistic, then I would probably choose a Beaujolais. Either a good Morgon or Moulin-a-vents, which pair well with many different dishes and are highly enjoyable for great value.
We have a large array of organic wines which are proving to be more and more popular. Nowadays the trend is for people to drink less but drink better wines. Our white Burgundies, such as our Chablis or Montagny, are always very popular.
Not that I can think of. I did break a few corks in my time though! Luckily, I’ve always managed to save the bottle.
The food that you enjoy the most with the wine that you enjoy the most. Everyone’s taste is different and there are no wrong answers.
Many regions offers different things. Regions like Bordeaux or Burgundy are renowned all over the world for their wines, but what I like is to discover those little less-known appellations, like the wines of Corsica for example. I’ve tried some divine wines in Greece, Romania and Poland too.
Blue cheese and dessert wine is a match made in heaven. The sweetness of the wine cuts through the saltiness of the blue cheese and creates an amazingly well-balanced pairing. Blue cheese is not my favourite cheese and dessert wine is usually too sweet for me, but the two together is a revelation.
Thank you!
Fancy becoming a wine connoisseur? Learn all about your favourite tipple at our Wine Tasting Evening in The Great Hall.
Stay in the Cornish capital from £169 for two people, including breakfast and dinner. Valid from 1st October 2023 to 31st March 2024.