"So far, major producers such as Murfatlar, Jidvei, and Cotnari have expressed their intention to invest in the sommelier school in Bucharest, and they will support the project financially," Ovidiu Gheorghe, General Manager of PNVV, told Business Standard.
According to Gheorghe, these courses are intended mainly for hotel, restaurant and coffee shop employees (HoReCa), but are open to anyone interested, and require a total of 360 hours. PNVV has already contacted the International Association of Sommeliers, and instructors will be renowned French specialists.
Gheorghe says four and five-star hotels are obliged to hire sommeliers, who know how to combine the wine with the dishes.
A sommelier should point out discretely when a client is making a wrong choice, and is also obliged to taste the wine before serving it. "Unfortunately, there are very few sommeliers in Romania. Instead, what we do have is many waiters who do not even bother to read the label on a wine bottle," Gheorghe said, adding that a sommelier is the person who presents the qualities of a wine to consumers in easy-to-understand terms. The Romanian wine market is estimated to be worth some €450 million, and its main players are Murfatlar, Jidvei, Cotnari, and Vincon. Annual internal wine consumption per capita is about 30 liters, compared to 81 liters of beer.
