The Restaurant Guys

TEASER! Aldo Sohm, Best Sommelier in the World 2008

• Jenifer Pascal

Share episode

This is a Vintage Selection from 2008

The Conversation

The Restaurant Guys talk with Aldo Sohm about what it took to be pronounced The Best Sommelier in the World. They talk about wine competitions, formal wine service and pairings –both the wine with food and, most importantly, the guest with wine . 

The Inside Track

The Guys have enjoyed Le Bernardin where Aldo is the sommelier. They all love the business they are in and Aldo states it simply.

“What is more beautiful than eating and drinking?” Aldo Sohm on The Restaurant Guys Podcast 2008 


Bio

Aldo Sohm earned the title “Best Sommelier in the World 2008,” Aldo oversees a 15,000 bottle wine collection at Le Bernardin and his namesake Aldo Sohm Wine Bar. He was awarded M. Chapoutier prize for the Best Sommelier of Les Grandes Tables du Monde in 2019 and Wine Spectator’s Grand Award for Le Bernardin's restaurant wine program in 2021.

Aldo released his first book Wine Simple in 2019. He is the ambassador for Zalto glassware by Denk'art, has designed his own signature Laguiole corkscrew. 

His has a TV series "An Austrian Wine Journey" ("Eine österreichische Weinreise").


Info

Aldo’s site

https://aldosohm.com/


Le Bernardin, NYC

https://www.le-bernardin.com/

If you'll be in New Orleans on July 22, join us for a LIVE show with Jeff "Beachbum" Berry and Annene Kelly at Latitude 29! Tiki talk and tiki drinks. Email theguys@restaurantguyspodcast.com for more info. We hope to see you there!

Our Sponsors

The Heldrich Hotel & Conference Center
https://www.theheldrich.com/

Magyar Bank
https://www.magbank.com/

Withum Accounting
https://www.withum.com/

Our Places

Stage Left Steak
https://www.stageleft.com/

Catherine Lombardi Restaurant
https://www.catherinelombardi.com/

Stage Left Wineshop
https://www.stageleftwineshop.com/


To hear more about food, wine and the finer things in life:
https://www.instagram.com/restaurantguyspodcast/
https://www.facebook.com/restaurantguys

Reach Out to The Guys!
TheGuys@restaurantguyspodcast.com

**Become a Restaurant Guys Regular and get two bonus episodes per month, bonus content and Regulars Only events.**
Click Below!
https://www.buzzsprout.com/2401692/subscribe

Hey Mark. Hey Francis. How are you this morning?

Mark:

I'm doing very, very well. How are you?

Francis:

I'm, I'm well indeed. I I'm, I'm glad to be back in the, in the restaurant Kai Radio chair.

Mark:

Yeah. We took a little time off. It was, uh, well deserved, I think.

Francis:

Yeah. And we're gonna start today's show. on Aldo. So Aldo, so is the, sommelier La Bernadin restaurant with Eric Repair, who's been on our show. He's the chef owners Eric Repair. you know, being a fish chef, we've, you know, we've talked with Rick Moon and one of the other great fish chefs in the country, about how you cook fish. It's a very delicate art and. That's why very often your mediocre cook is best doing as little to fish as possible, and just cooking, getting fresh fish and leaving it alone. That's not what Eric repair does. He leaves this great fish to speak and show you the quality ingredients, but his food is very inventive and interesting. And we're gonna talk with his sommelier on Aldo. So Aldo, so is just elected this year, the best sommelier in the world. should be a lot of fun. We're gonna talk about how to, to pair great wines with great fish. and that is about the, the highest. Culinary Highwire Act you can, manage and we'll do that in just a moment. You're listening to the Restaurant guys Aldo, so was the best American sommelier. That's an official title, 2000 and. Seven. He's the sommelier at Larna Dan Restaurant with our friend Eric Repair, who is the chef owner of Larna Dan. And he was also recently named the Best sommelier in the world in May, 2008 at the International Association of Sommelier's Competition in Rome.

Mark:

Aldo, welcome to the show.

Aldo:

Hello. How are you?

Francis:

Well, you know, um. Whenever you're considered the best in the world at anything. That's, that's a, that's a pretty hefty title. We're pretty honored to have you on the show.

Aldo:

Oh, thank you. It's my pleasure.

Francis:

Now, talk to me about how you get to be the best sommelier in the world. What is the International Association of Sommelier's Competition? I, I mean, I know what it is, obviously, but for our audience, it's not exactly like, you know, I think there's a difference between saying being Top Chef or Iron Chef, which is sort of geared for a television audience. Um, this isn't really geared for a television audience. This is a, a, a recognition of, of view among professionals, among your peers.

Aldo:

Uh, yes, it's very, uh, focused in Europe, especially, uh, because in America Masters. So education is a big importance. Mm-hmm. And it has also in the united, uh, in the United Kingdom, but that's about it in Central Europe, January. Those competitions are pretty big and everyone spends a major focus into that because, um, it's quite a hard, work to go there.

Mark:

So. So what's hard? How, how are you being graded while you're there? Well,

Aldo:

most of the people think, you know, we, we recognize the most wines, and that's the best formula. Uh, it will be too easy. It's a written, it's writtens about, uh, wine growing, uh, uh, wine loss, uh, wine growing areas, villages, certain vineyards, uh. Vintages even about, uh, coffee, cigar teas, liquors

Francis:

now. But is there a practical component to it as well? Is there a service component to it or a blind tasting component?

Aldo:

That's one part of theoretical. The practical part is to doing even the wine service.

Francis:

Mm-hmm.

Aldo:

Uh, champagne service. Uh, everything is in a time pressure.

Francis:

Now, how do you do this? Do you do it, do you serve other sommelier in a mock dining room?

Aldo:

No, it's, uh, those are judges, independent judges, Uhhuh, uh, where you have to serve. Mm-hmm.

Francis:

And,

Aldo:

you know, they judge how you work. Give you points.

Francis:

Well, now, You took the title of Best Sommelier in the World, for America. You competed on behalf of, you were the American, entry into that competition. Well,

Aldo:

yeah, that's kind of Murphy's Law, you know, as you hear from my accent, uh, I'm not from New Jersey, from Brooklyn.

Francis:

You stole my joke. That's exactly how I was gonna put it. Um, yeah. So, so tell us how you came to represent America and tell you how. Tell us how you came to America. You're, you're Austrian. I'm

Aldo:

originally Austrian, yeah. And I won actually, even in Austria, Western, in Austria four times. And that actually made me move to United States because, um, those competitions always held in a foreign language that's mandatory. And I picked always, uh, English, but my English was not good enough. So, you know, there was no choice, you know, either, you know, resign. From competing or doing better and going a foreign country, you know, to. It fluent in the language.

Mark:

So in, in order to immerse yourself in the language, you just decided to move here and become a sommelier here?

Aldo:

Uh, yes. Uh, of course my best friend asked me if London wasn't far enough London, and it got the right vibe.

Mark:

That's a pretty serious dedication though, Aldo I moved to Europe, but I did it for three months. You know, it was, I, I didn't move my whole life or. Five years to a different place.

Francis:

Well, I, I think this gives you a unique perspective. I mean, as, I guess a lot of folks have, uh, a perspective of coming across, going one way or the other across the Atlantic. But how, how is being a sommelier different in the United States than it is in central Europe?

Aldo:

Um, it's different because you have, especially here in New York, um, you know, the culinary business works a little bit different. And it's also a little bit more concentrated, meaning you have so many different cultures, altogether, which of course you have to open your perspective a little bit because you have to know what's going on in, in Japanese cuisine. Also, you have to know what's going on in French and possibly certain chefs, you know, combine those flavors, which is even the more challenging,

Francis:

well now you work for Eric, repair a French, uh, chef cooking in America, but probably, you know, one of the most celebrated, or certainly one of the most celebrated chefs in America, former guest on our show. do you specifically like working in a, in a French environment? Because I understand that being in New York, you need to, uh, be very aware of a lot of different cuisines. But actually, but working for Eric Repair, do you need to be aware of a lot of different, different ethnic cuisines?

Aldo:

Uh, yes, because he is a very, he has a very playful way of cooking. He uses a lot of different flavors and very delicate flavors. And his fish, he cooks it always in a very light way. Which is for me once in a while, a little tricky, you know, in order to don't overwhelm with the wine, the food,

Speaker 3:

Uhhuh,

Aldo:

Uhhuh, and rather a marry dose

Francis:

now, you know, being the best sommelier in the world. One of the things that I think people assume, and that is certainly true, is that if you're the best sommelier in the world, you are the guy. Um, who, if someone is gonna spend a lot of money on wine, or someone's very knowledgeable about wine, they really want to go to you because you know you are the expert in the field. You can, you can bring people a novel adventure, but I know that you believe as well that the sommelier has a great duty to someone who's a novice in wine or someone who may not know very much about wine at all. What, talk to us about that and how telling

Aldo:

the truth. That's for me, uh, I have more fun doing that. Than the other. Mm-hmm. Because what is for me is always on the end of the day, nothing is more pleasurable than you see someone coming in at Berda, possibly for the first time. You see that right away. They feel uncomfortable and they feel nervous. And when they open a big wine list, then, you know, then it's over.

Mark:

It can be very, listen, we, we have a pretty big wine list in, in our restaurants and it's intimidating for people. It's intimidating though. You, you, you need to do something to allay their fears.

Aldo:

But nothing is more fun, you know, to make these people feel comfortable right from the first second when you go there and tell them, look, uh, it's not a problem at all. I'll find the right wine for you in even a comfortable price range, whatever it is.

Francis:

You know what's funny? I sort of have a standard joke and when you're a respiratory, you can, you can run with the same joke for like a couple of weeks because. Then you start to get people who come back a second time and you can't tell that joke again, but you've got a couple of weeks, you got a whole bunch of new people to say, my, my recently, I've been going into people and, and I'll say as they open the wine list, I'll say, um, hi, how are you? I, I just like to introduce myself. I'm the, I'm the resident alcoholic. I've tasted every bottle on that list, but I have a great memory. I. And I'm highly functional so I can, you know, help you select a bottle of wine. And it's, I'm sort of making light of why, why I am there. But it's, it's a very different perception of the, than the sommelier of, say, 25 years ago, who was this sort of imposing figure who took an imposing wine list and made it more imposing.

Aldo:

Well, you know, when you work in a, in a four star restaurant, you know, you still, especially here at Laborda, a little bit more conservative focused. So in order to make that that joke, you know, it's kind of, for me, very, very tough to do that.

Francis:

Oh, I wasn't recommending it for you at all. And in fact, and in fact if I'd heard you'd stolen it, I'd have written you an nasty email. Thanks my joke. But the point, but my point is that, you know, we've, mark and I have dined at La Bernadette for lunch a couple of times, and, and your staff is so gracious. but the contemporary sommelier, although it's a, it's a mouthful of a word for a lot of Americans to say that the role is to be sort of, the wine sommelier is the wine waiter, right? But it's to be the guy who comes over and, and removes any sense of intimidation and adds a sense of fun and adventure and, removes the fear

Mark:

from one, i I think for a lot of. Customers who come into restaurants. I think that the wine list is the most intimidating part of the meal when you go to, to, to a really upscale restaurant. I think a lot of people, that's the part, you know, a lot of people will see foods they recognize, and you can always skip over if there's one food you don't recognize or another. But that wine list can be daunting. And, and I think that the, the role of the sommelier is even a greater one than it, than it was 25 years ago.

Aldo:

Yeah. Absolutely. And, but people, you will be surprised. People know very well about wines and they have special interests. You know.

Francis:

Do, do you, do you find that you occasionally get, uh, you know, a very knowledgeable guest who his goal is just to sort of trip you up or quiz you on your knowledge

Mark:

to stump,

Francis:

to

Mark:

stump

Francis:

the chance, the sommelier. Do you find that happens at all?

Aldo:

Well, it happens, but you know. You have to be cool about that. You know, if someone wants to know about something, uh, I feel more than comfortable to answer that. If someone doesn't, you know, I have no problem to keep that for myself. Yeah. I don't have to show off, you know.

Francis:

But I wanna talk with you Aldo, about Austrian wine. One of the first guests we had on our show and our show's about three years old now, so about 475 shows ago. Um. Uh, our friend Peter Schlemer, was, was one of the first guests on the show. Yeah. Do you know Schlemer? Yeah. He's, he, the, the laughter is that we all know Schlemer crazy man, friend of ours, uh, advocate of Austrian wines, and, and one of our first shows was about Austrian wine. And at that time, you know, the, the Austrian wine,