Why Sydney needs wine education at the most basic level

A waitress in a Bondi bar poured a glass of wine from the menu and admitted she knew nothing about wine. The author, who does know a thing or two, offered to help. She asked him, “What does ‘dry’ mean in wine? I get asked about it a lot, especially with rosé, and I don’t know what to say.” It’s a good question, asked in good faith, and perhaps many service professionals have never heard it properly explained. Dry is the opposite of sweet, not wet or tannic.

The incident points to a larger problem: who is actually receiving wine education in Sydney? The city has a vibrant wine scene, bolstered by recently opened, knowledge-focused bars like Claret Club, Aalia Wine Room, and La Buvette. However, there is a practical disconnect. The higher levels of the Court of Master Sommeliers and the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) are designed for professionals looking to advance their careers, and applying for a formal course without prior experience can often be intimidating.

A WSET certificate isn't necessary, but a good wine vocabulary and the confidence to use it are, along with an employer who considers this training part of the job. For the author, knowledge leads to understanding, and understanding, over time, to a love of wine. All hospitality staff should have access to these basic tools.

To find out who enrolls, the author asked three WSET providers in the city. Helena Edgerton, of the Sydney Wine Academy, explains that Levels 1 and 2 are still mostly amateurs; at Level 3, the ratio is roughly 50:50 between professionals and amateurs, and at the Diploma level, it shifts again, with about two-thirds being industry professionals and the rest amateurs, many of them in the midst of a career transition. Andrea Pritzker MW, of Wine Intuition, observes an almost equal split, 50:50 in favor of wine lovers, regardless of the level. Paul Huet, of The Wine Tip, which runs the WSET course at Prince Wine Store in Zealand, says his audience depends less on the level than on the time of day: the same course attracts mostly industry professionals in daytime classes, and people from outside the industry in evening classes.

According to the author, this anecdotal evidence indicates that there is less of a presence of the sector in these classrooms than before, even though the WSET was created precisely for that industry.

Restaurants and large groups invest in wine training, albeit often indirectly. Companies like Joval and Negociants include WSET courses in their commercial contracts with the establishments they supply, and Merivale, in addition to providing the courses, offers its "A to Z" program to staff it deems worthy of training. But many establishments, from fine dining restaurants to the local pub, have staffs full of students and young people on working holiday visas who don't yet feel they deserve such an investment. Those who want to train on their own, due to the cost of living or rising rents, don't always have the funds. As Edgerton says, "The industry simply doesn't have the money."

Edgerton adds that formal courses are important for those working in hospitality who need to promote wine with confidence, but that attracting the next generation of wine drinkers is another problem, one that isn't solved by simply putting more people in classrooms. According to her, the industry alienates newcomers with its language; a more inclusive industry begins by giving those already serving wine, regardless of their background, the same basic knowledge. At a recent trade day for distributors in Sydney, the author saw a massive influx of young restaurant employees, eager to taste wines and learn where the grapes were grown and how the wine was made. They often go unnoticed because they don't approve purchases, but they are present in the dining room and can recommend a bottle or influence a table's orders: they are, potentially, the buyers and sommeliers of the future.

Bar owners could offer alternatives to formal training: informal wine information sessions, veteran professionals dedicating time to mentoring younger staff, or tastings open to the entire team, regardless of their background or seniority. It is the bar owners, restaurant managers, and wineries, who decide where to invest in training and marketing, who will make this change possible. They must adapt to the new reality for the benefit of the Bondi bartender and all those starting out in the world of wine, because they are the future of the industry.