China still has a long way to go
First person | Guo Ying
Editor's note: Guo Ying is a sommelier at the Four Seasons Hotel in the Pudong district of Shanghai. She won the China National Sommelier Competition in 2012, and the Best Sommelier of French Wine award in 2011.
Wine is like a book of mysteries. It intrigues you, so you keep reading, but the more you read, the less you know.
Many people have asked me why, as a female, I choose to become a sommelier. My motives were actually quite simple: My parents are in the wine business, so I was exposed to wine at an early age. I've always wanted to know more about it and improve my knowledge.
Gradually, the more I experienced, the more I wanted to explore and try new wines. My thirst and passion for wine motivated me to become a professional so that I could have the "closest encounters" with wines. This job brings new things every day and is never boring.
Developing wine lists is a sommelier's most important job. That might be easy in small restaurants, but in five-star hotels with Michelin-starred chefs, a list with several thousands labels can be very sophisticated. It requires the sommelier to have deep and detailed knowledge of wines from almost every wine-growing region of the world, including France, Italy, Spain, Australia, Israel and China.
As a sommelier, I love to share. Helping guests discover their own love of wine gives me a sense of achievement.
Good sommeliers not only pair wine and dishes, but also wine and people. When I discover that former guests from different parts of the world have followed me and come to dine at the hotel I now work at, I know that our passionate love of wine is the thing that ties us together.
The job has also enabled me to meet enthusiasts, and I've developed a discerning and scrupulous attitude from them. One guest sent me a 1950's vintage via one of his friends a week before he came to the hotel for dinner. He told me that he wanted the wine to be laid down in my cellar for a week before he arrived because he knew that aged wines need the utmost care. You will not capture the best of an old vintage directly after the bottle is moved or disturbed, or if it has been subjected to changes of temperatures and light.
Knowing about wine is like coming to terms with people: Younger vintages are like fresh and perhaps hard-edged young people, while the older ones are soft and harmonious. But each deserves the best treatment.
I think many people in China have yet to learn about the wine-drinking culture. I have seen guests drink a young vintage French wine by ganbei (emptying the glass in one gulp.) Seeing this, I feel sad that they are unlikely to experience the real joy of drinking wine, and also that such a fine wine was wasted.
The profession of sommelier is relatively new in China and one sees a lot of snobbery. The industry needs time and expertise to develop further, and I hope I can play a part in promoting wine culture by sharing my experience and knowledge.
Guo Ying was talking to Dong Fangyu.
