Sommeliers get molecular at Food and Wine Conference

In Barcelona this week the Torres family masterminded the One Day Wine & Culinary International Forum. 250 international press and industry professionals gathered from around the world to listen to speakers.

In particular it was noted by Canadian wine-pairing guru François Chartier, that sommeliers are starting to bring scientific rigour into the field of food and wine pairing.

Chartier, who worked with Ferran Adrià at the celebrated – and now closed – El Bulli, is the author of bestseller Papilles et Molecules (Tastebuds and Molecules), in which he identifies a number of flavour compounds or ‘aromatic families’ to which different foods and wines belong.

Many agreed that sommeliers need to know when to impart this knowledge and when to let the customer choose. Wine experts Jancis Robinson and Josep Roca, said sommeliers need to keep their egos in check. If a customer goes somewhere to celebrate they cannot be interrupted with 14 different wines just because the sommeliers vanity dictates it!