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Pronouncing sommelier
American: som-al-ē-yay
French: som-el-yay
Never: som-al-ear
ters. We've done four," he said. "To get to each
level you have to take the required classes, then
there is a final exam."
The exam includes blind tasting wines of
the seven noble grapes.
"You take a sip … say what it is, then they
ask you some questions about it," he said.
There's also a written test about the differ-
ent wine regions, history, etc. This comprises
the first two levels. After that, you get more
focused knowledge on different areas of wine.
"We took a class that's called the Master
of French Wine, so it's a class just on France.
Eventually you take enough of those and you
get your level 4," he said.
In addition to having fun with the expe-
rience and finding it useful in restaurants and
wine stores, Dr. Meghpara said it's been excel-
lent for networking.
"The most helpful situation is as a network-
ing opportunity. It's a huge conversation starter.
You're out to dinner with your colleagues or
people in industry and if you don't have a lot in
common … everyone wants to talk about this,"
he said.
Overall, Dr. Meghpara prefers Old World
wines (like those from France). Specifically, he
said he likes sauvignon blanc from Sancerre,
France, in the Loire Valley, and French Bor-
deaux as a red.
For those who don't know where to start
when they go out to dinner and are faced with
the wine list, Dr. Meghpara has a word of
advice.
"If you want to hedge your bet, the best
bottle to get is a pinot noir, if you like red wine.
It's a very versatile wine, it works with seafood,
white meat, dark meat. There are tons out there,
but to get a good price point, I would say some-
thing from the Willamette Valley in Oregon.
You almost can't go wrong," he said.
Contact
Meghpara:
bmeghpara@willseye.org
Dr. Meghpara at Barnett Vineyards in Napa Valley,
California, enjoying a glass of sauvignon blanc
Source (all): Beeran Meghpara, MD
