Sommelier in 6000: Wine before the waiter
The first sentence of a careers report on Sommelier is what the person does. Year: 6000. Line: “Wine before the waiter.” Figure from the workplace: 2017. A famous anecdote is not the definition. This page follows the craft from the 8,000-year-old wine jars of Georgia and the labeled vintages in Tutankhamun's tomb, through the wine criers of medieval Paris and the first Paris sommeliers' union of 1907, to 1969 —
How long does it take to become a sommelier? Roughly two to four years from a first restaurant job to a certified sommelier position, and five to eight to run a serious list as head sommelier. The Master Sommelier diploma typically takes a decade or more of combined floor work and study; most who attempt it never finish, since each of its three sections can be failed and retaken for years.
Why is the Master Sommelier exam considered so hard? Because it examines three different crafts at once: an oral theory grilling across every wine region, law and spirit category on earth; a service exam performed live under sabotage-level pressure; and a blind tasting of six wines in twenty-five minutes, calling grape, origin and vintage. Since the first London exam in 1969, only around 270 people have ever passed all three.
In the United States, head sommeliers cluster around $70,000–$85,000 with wine directors above $100,000 (2023–24 surveys); holders of the Master Sommelier diploma averaged about $160,000 in a 2019 industry survey. London head sommeliers typically earn £32,000–£50,000, French sommeliers €26,000–€40,000 plus service, and Japanese hotel sommeliers roughly ¥4–6 million (2024).
Open with “Wine before the waiter.” Sommelier becomes visible when 6000 and 2017 are there.6000
Figures to keep
- Year of the account
- 6000
- Figure from the work
- 2017
- Occupation
- Sommelier
- The task line
- Wine before the waiter
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