Which wine should you serve a Sommelier?

Have you been invited to dinner with a sommelier and are thinking of buying a bottle of wine as a gift? Or have you invited one to your home and are now worried about what wine to buy?
Fear not!
Having a sommelier at your table in no way means that they will judge every wine you serve or for that matter buy for them as a gift.

We’re curious

The truth is it is really very easy! We wine nerds don’t care much about whether the wine you offer is the perfect choice or whether the bottle you give as a gift is exclusive or not.
We’re just excited to try another new wine and share that joy with others. Above all, we love it when we meet others who are curious about all things wine. And yes, we will be interested to know why you bought that particular bottle. And no, we certainly won’t frown and raise our eyebrows when you say you liked the label or that it was cheap.

The snob on the other hand…

Wine snobs, however, are a completely different (usually boring) story… These self-imposed experts are happy to point out every flaw with the wine that is currently in front of them, while telling you about the exclusive perfect wine that they tasted/bought/read about and that no one (except them, of course) can pronounce. If no one has heard of that particular wine, the wine snob looks around condescendingly and implies that all true wine lovers obviously know about this wine and have at least one bottle at home…

We are different

Yes, Wine Snobs are pretty annoying people and sometimes they are confused with the Nerds. But the truth is that the Snob is a breed quite different from the Nerd. The Snob wants to show off their knowledge. The Nerd wants to share theirs. The biggest danger with us nerds is therefore that if you happen to ask us something about the wine, we will burst into a long lecture about grapes, storage and one or more anecdotes about the particular region the wine in question comes from.

What to buy?

So what wine do you buy on your way home to a Nerdy Sommelier?
The answer is: the wine that you like best! But be prepared for us to ask you why you like it, that we listen carefully to the answer, and then recommend other wines that taste similar. Or, alternatively, memorise it so that we know what to buy when we are invited to your home. 😉

Maria Scharffenberg
Nerdy Sommelier and Teacher

ps. and we love when we get questions about wine! Remember, there are no stupid questions, only boring answers.