How to Record a Sommelier Video Job Ad

The sommelier talent pool is small. The combination of deep technical knowledge, genuine sales ability, intuitive guest-reading, and graceful floor presence is rare—and everyone who has it is already employed, usually in a program they helped build. Your job ad competes with loyalty to current employers, established supplier relationships, and wine collections they've spent years curating. A generic "sommelier wanted" posting attracts nobody worth hiring. Video lets you show the cellar, the list, the service culture—the things that might make someone leave what they've already built.

Step 1: Open with the Opportunity

Sommeliers evaluate roles through a specific lens. They're asking: what can I build here that I can't build where I am?

The wine program itself: This matters more than salary for serious sommeliers. What's the list size—80 bins or 800? What's the annual buying budget? Do you have allocation access to sought-after producers, or are you buying from general availability? Can they build and evolve the program, or is the list set by corporate?

By-the-glass programs reveal philosophy. A sommelier who wants to showcase interesting producers cares whether they can pour allocated Burgundy or are stuck with entry-level brands. Coravin availability? Enomatic system? These details signal whether you're serious about wine or just ticking a box.

Purchasing involvement: Direct supplier relationships—meeting producers, attending tastings, building a network—versus purchasing through corporate channels. For career sommeliers, industry relationships are assets they carry between roles. A position that builds their network is worth more than one that doesn't.

Storage matters. Proper temperature-controlled cellar with expansion capacity? Or are you cramming bottles into a room that's 22°C in summer? Sommeliers invest years building collections; they won't join programs that damage wine.

The restaurant context: Fine dining offers prestige, higher price points, and guests who expect expertise. Brasserie-style might offer better work-life balance and less pressure. Hotel operations can provide diverse contexts—banqueting, room service, multiple outlets. Each has legitimate appeal to different career stages.

Career positioning: Head sommelier versus team member—clarify the hierarchy. Court of Master Sommeliers support? WSET Diploma funding? Master of Wine pathway discussion? Producer visits and wine region travel? Competition support? These development opportunities differentiate roles more than salary differences.

Step 2: Show Your Wine Culture

Film where wine lives in your restaurant. The cellar, table-side service, a staff tasting. Sommeliers can read your wine priorities from visuals faster than from descriptions.

The cellar tells the story: Temperature control visible—if you've got proper conditioning, show it. Organisation system—by region, by style, by price point? Range visible on shelves—depth in Burgundy? Breadth across regions? Vertical holdings of age-worthy wines? Space for growth—or packed to capacity?

A cramped, warm storage space signals to serious sommeliers that wine isn't a priority here. A proper cellar signals investment and ambition.

Service style and ritual: Table-side decanting—do you do it, and how formally? Glassware program—Riedel, Zalto, or commodity stems? Wine presentation standards—label display, pouring technique, temperature checking? The rituals show whether wine service is theatre or afterthought.

The list itself: Show your physical list or digital presentation. Is it leather-bound and weighty, or a single laminated page? The format communicates expectations. Price positioning—are you selling £40 bottles or £400 bottles? The average check matters for understanding the sales context.

Guest profile: Wine-educated diners who want discussion and discovery? Business entertaining where expense accounts buy expensive bottles? Special occasion guests who need guidance? The guest profile determines what kind of sommelier will thrive—an educator, a salesperson, or a concierge.

Kitchen relationship: Does the chef involve the sommelier in pairing development? Is there mutual respect and collaboration, or does wine exist separately from food? Sommeliers who care about food-and-wine integration want to see partnership with the kitchen.

Step 3: Paint a Picture of the Role

"Sommelier" encompasses vastly different jobs. A head sommelier running a Michelin-starred program and a team sommelier in a hotel do entirely different work.

For head sommelier / wine director positions: This is program ownership. P&L responsibility—managing margins, controlling costs, delivering revenue. Purchasing decisions—building relationships, allocating budget, negotiating with suppliers. Inventory management—stock control, vintage tracking, cellar organisation. Staff training—educating the floor team, running tastings, building wine culture.

Menu pairing development with the chef. Collaboration on tasting menus, seasonal changes, special events. The head sommelier role is as much management as it is wine expertise.

For team sommelier positions: Clarify the scope. Which areas of the list are their focus—assigned regions, price bands, or general coverage? Guest interaction expectations—primary sommelier for certain sections, or supporting the head? Training role for junior staff? Input into purchasing decisions, or purely execution?

Team sommeliers often want to know the pathway: is this a learning position with progression potential, or a permanent supporting role?

Floor versus cellar balance: How does the time split? Some sommeliers love the floor—guest interaction, reading tables, the performance of service. Others prefer cellar work—inventory, purchasing, list development. Most roles combine both; the ratio matters for fit.

During service: how many covers, and what's the sommelier-to-table ratio? Are you stationed or floating? Do you work the whole room or assigned sections?

Service rhythm and schedule: Split shifts or straight through? This alone determines whether the role allows any outside life. Lunch and dinner, or dinner only? Five days or six? How far ahead are rotas published?

Beyond wine: Spirits and cocktail involvement—are you responsible for the bar program too? Non-alcoholic pairings—increasingly important, increasingly expected. Coffee, tea, water programs? Duty management responsibilities beyond wine?

Step 4: What You Actually Need

Sommelier requirements vary dramatically by venue ambition and program complexity.

Qualifications and knowledge: Certification expectations: WSET 3 minimum for most sommelier roles; WSET 4 (Diploma) for senior positions; Court of Master Sommeliers equivalents. Be specific rather than vague about requirements.

Regional expertise: if your list is Burgundy-focused, you need Burgundy knowledge. A generalist won't cut it for a specialist program. Conversely, a Burgundy specialist might be wrong for an eclectic natural wine bar.

Breadth versus depth: some programs need encyclopedic knowledge across all regions; others want deep expertise in specific areas. Clarify your priorities.

Experience calibration: Years on the floor in comparable environments—fine dining experience doesn't transfer cleanly to casual contexts, and vice versa. Previous program building versus execution—have they created wine lists, or only worked within established ones? Price point experience—selling £30 bottles requires different skills from selling £300 bottles.

The sales question: Wine knowledge and sales ability are different skills. Plenty of knowledgeable sommeliers struggle to sell; plenty of natural salespeople have shallow wine knowledge. What's your priority?

Can they sell a bottle to a hesitant table? Upsell without pressure? Handle price-sensitive guests gracefully? Read when to offer expertise and when to step back? These matter for revenue; they don't appear on certifications.

Guest intuition: Different tables want different things. Some want extensive discussion, recommendations, the full sommelier experience. Others want to choose quickly and not be interrupted. Some want to be educated; some find it condescending. Reading these signals instantly—and adapting—separates excellent sommeliers from merely knowledgeable ones.

Palate requirements: Fault detection matters at high levels. Can they identify cork taint instantly? Recognise oxidation, reduction, brett at various levels? For expensive bottles where sending back has real cost, palate precision is essential.

Temperature sensitivity, decanting judgment, glassware selection—these service details require refined palate and experience to execute properly.

Step 5: Make the Offer Compelling

Sommeliers know their market value. A vague "competitive salary" suggests you're either uninformed or embarrassed by the offer.

Compensation context (UK):

• Sommelier: £30,000-40,000 base plus service charge
• Head Sommelier: £38,000-50,000 base plus service charge
• Wine Director (luxury): £50,000-70,000+ base

Service charge adds significantly—often £5,000-15,000 annually in established restaurants. Be transparent about how service charge works and typical totals.

Wine-specific perks carry weight: Staff wine allocation. In serious programs, this can represent thousands in value annually—access to allocated wines at cost or below. Sommeliers calculate this carefully.

Tasting access: supplier tastings, trade events, en primeur tastings. Producer visits: travel to wine regions, meeting vignerons. These experiences are career capital; they matter beyond their monetary value.

Personal wine purchasing at trade prices. Competition entry support. Master of Wine pathway discussion for the most ambitious.

Professional development: WSET Diploma funding—typically £3,000-5,000. Court of Master Sommeliers examination support. Study leave for exam preparation. Industry event attendance—RAW Wine, Wine Fair, regional tastings.

Mentorship matters at this level. Who will they learn from? What exposure will accelerate their development?

Work-life realities: Split shifts devastate work-life balance—two commutes daily, fragmented time between services. Straight shifts are a genuine benefit worth advertising. Days off consistency—every Tuesday-Wednesday, or rotating unpredictably? Holiday timing—can they actually take time off during peak wine seasons?

Service patterns matter for candidates with families, outside interests, or simply the desire for a sustainable career.

Step 6: Tell Them How to Apply

Sommeliers expect a professional process befitting a senior hire.

Application substance: Request a CV with wine program history specifically highlighted. Previous lists they've built or contributed to. Certification documentation. A line about what interests them about your program specifically—this filters out mass applications.

Some roles request sample wine recommendations or tasting notes. This reveals palate, communication style, and how they think about wine more than interviews can.

Process clarity: Who will they meet? What stages? Will there be a tasting component—blind tasting assessment, or discussing wines from your list? Floor trial expectations? Decision timeline?

Sommeliers in senior positions are likely fielding multiple approaches. A disorganised process loses them to competitors who demonstrate respect for their time.

What you're really assessing: Technical knowledge through conversation—not quiz questions, but discussion that reveals depth. Service style through floor observation or trial. Cultural fit through team interaction. Vision for your program through genuine dialogue about where they'd take it.

The reputation factor: Wine is a small world. Sommeliers talk at trade tastings, in supplier relationships, through Court and Guild networks. How you treat candidates—even unsuccessful ones—travels. A professional process builds your reputation as an employer serious wine people want to work for.