An increasing number of wine waiting graduates entering the wine market

As consumers become more sophisticated, the wine market is seeing an increasing number of wine waiting graduates, who are ready to work in this profession. The new wine waiters, regardless of whether they are members of the industry"s professional association or not, are enthusiastically participating in the industry related events. Present at the wine fair which was held in the beginning of this month, Alina Huţă, who last year took a wine waiting class, told us that this segment is rather vast, and it involves having to learn a lot: "I had no idea there was so much to know about a bottle of wine. As you learn more about it, things you couldn"t even imagine, you just can"t help falling in love with this field. It"s a true art, which has fascinated me". The classes last two months, but, according to Alina Huţă, graduates can gain further knowledge by joining the Federation and practicing their profession. "Unfortunately, I very rarely practice this profession, where I work. I am not employed as a wine waiter, my wine waiting knowledge is just a bonus I bring to the company I work for".

Discussing the customers" interest in the performance of a wine waiter, Alina Huţă told us: "It is very important to be able to decant wine, so you can present it professionally. Customers pay a lot of attention and most of them appreciate what a wine waiter does. A lot of emphasis is placed on the show of decanting the wine, consumers are attracted by that. What"s more, presentations made by wine waiters can help wines sell better than they would if they were simply sold by a regular waiter. It would be a good thing if there were more wine waiters in Romania, because products such as wines should be highlighted by the way in which they are being presented and advertised".

The fresh wine waiting graduate told us that she wants to expand her knowledge on the subject of wine waiting, and eventually work as a wine waiter. For starters, she is happy with putting on her wine waiter uniform every now and then and attending any wine related events.

Even though a few years ago, a law was issued that required high-class restaurants to hire a certain number of wine waiters based on their total number of seats, that regulation was later amended, by making the requirement a recommendation. Presently, almost none of the four- or five-star restaurants employ this type of specialists, said Cornelia Toma, who taught all the Romanian wine waiters.