英文原文
When I see a social media link to a new post from the HoseMaster of Wine—the alter ego of former sommelier Ron Washam—I always click. That's more than I can say for most wine blogs. My feelings on his writing are complicated: sometimes I think it merely fuels the fire of the disgruntled, but I also know it fills a critical void. As a profession, we have to be able to reflect on ourselves, admit our imperfections, and see our jobs in a comprehensive context.
Recently, I've personally been a target—ego bruised, hair complimented—but I keep coming back for more of his wit. We thought it would be entertaining and enlightening to interview Señor Hose and pose the question “whither the sommelier?”
I'm a recovering sommelier. We're always the severest critics. To be truthful, I can't remember the last time I ran into a sommelier in a restaurant. That might be because I use the drive-thru window and the sommelier only asks, "Do you want fries with that?" My first impression of a sommelier isn't in their eyes, or their person at all; it's the impression I get from their wine list. Even before a sommelier approaches the table, their wine list makes an impression on me. I might glance through a wine list and already hate the sommelier. On more than one occasion in recent years, I've opened a wine list in a trendy restaurant and been a bit stumped. A lot of choices, but on the entire list, I may recognize about half the wines. I cannot imagine how a customer with less knowledge about wine than I, if such a person exists, feels reading an obscure wine list like that. Except intimidated. Which is not normally why a human goes to a restaurant. That's why you go to church.
I do think that the wine list itself, how it's presented, what it says about the sommelier and the restaurant, how the wines are listed, how it makes the average guest feel when he thumbs through it, is an overlooked but important part of the job. A well-chosen wine list isn't about the sommelier exclusively; it's about the diner's experience as well. I don't want to read the menu and have no idea what the food is. Who likes to ask for a translation of the food? It makes you feel like the Republican nominee, an idiot. I don't want to feel that way about the wine list either. Sure, have wines that you love on the list regardless of whether they're familiar to people, but try to see the list as welcoming to the guest, too, and provide for that.
I certainly do not have any objection to formal education. What I object to is the glorification and misrepresentation of that formal education. If one were to list, in order of importance to humanity, all the occupations and avocations in the world, sommelier would not be in the top 500. It's a glorious job, and I loved every minute of it. So study it all you like, pass all the formal exams and tests, blind taste until you can spot a Xinomavro across a crowded refugee camp, get your lapel pin like you did when you became a Webelos, but at least have the proper perspective on your so-called achievement. How many other professions, the 499 listed before sommelier, professions that require lots and lots of formal education, are there that post letters after their names? Doctors, nurses, dentists, sequels to "Rocky"...and WSET, and CSW, and CWE, and MS, and MW. Call it what you like, but it's hubris, plain and simple. Study wine, study its history and meaning, polish your hospitality skills, enjoy the unbelievable fun the job can be, but, for God's sake, do not succumb to the temptation to think you're someone extraordinary because you know a lot about wine. I assure you, you are not. I hold myself to the same standard.
I do not care in the slightest that my sommelier is an MS or an MW. Now, thanks to the kind of ludicrous publicity that a film like SOMM has given to the profession (in my mind, that film is almost a Christopher Guest parody—I kept expecting Fred Willard to appear instead of Fred Dame) (Oh, I forgot. Fred Dame, MS), when I mention to people I was a sommelier for 19 years they almost always ask me, "What level?" I usually respond, "I parked on the third level most of the time." They want to know how hard it is to "pass the test." Really hard, I tell them, especially the evening gown competition. I want my heart surgeon to have an MD, but all I want when I go out to dinner is a great, interesting, well-chosen bottle of wine with my dinner. One does not need a formal education to do that. Ask Raj Parr. He's no longer in pursuit of balance, I hear, which explains why he falls down so much.
"What qualities make a great sommelier?" is more a question you should answer, Geoff. But I'll give it a shot. First of all, it's a service position. It's far more about hospitality than it is about wine knowledge. You can teach just about anyone wine knowledge, but hospitality is a much harder talent to teach. Beyond that, the sommelier is a part of the restaurant team. A "great" sommelier, however you define that, is, on his own, as worthless as a great pitcher out there alone on the mound. I suspect if you surveyed restaurant patrons as to whether they'd rather have a great chef, a great waiter, or a great sommelier, sommelier would come in fourth. So a great sommelier has to have more to offer than just wine knowledge and the ability to open a bottle of wine. Above all, a sommelier has to learn to listen. I think that's a trait that is uncommon among sommeliers, and not just when they're at work. In my experience, they like to preach more than Judge Judy having a hot flash. Listening is also about the suspension of judgment, and understanding that your first and only responsibility is to make the customer's experience richer. Educating them is an option only when they want to be educated. Save the preaching for when you judge wine competitions. Other judges are imbeciles.
And let's not forget integrity. Too often a restaurant wants to unload wines as wine by the glass, or as part of a wine and food pairing, simply because they aren't selling. You don't have to go to that many restaurants to sniff out this kind of behavior. Granted, it may be under duress from ownership. But you can't, on the one hand, claim to be featuring great wines by the glass when you're, on the other hand, actually dumping slow-moving wines, or putting wines on the list to pour because you think the salesperson is cute. Or because the wine region sent you on an expensive junket. Or because they have a cool guest house you can crash the next time you're in Napa. There's way too much of that pay for play in the wine business. A sommelier needs to have authority and integrity. I borrowed mine.
I've said many times that there are no great palates for wine. There are only experienced palates. People who have more taste buds per square tongue, so-called Super Tasters, hate wine. Wine, to them, is far too bitter and nasty to enjoy. Consequently, the people we look up to as having great palates really only have experienced palates. A sommelier comes to my table and she's only about 28, I tend to take her advice with a large grain of sulfites. Though I believe she knows her own list, that's not to say she has a great palate. I understand that, but she needs to also. So let's add humility to the list. After all, the one thing everyone who has ever learned about wine eventually understands is that wine outclasses us. It humbles our meager human ability to smell and taste. It befuddles our miserable vocabulary when we attempt to describe it. We may be a little better than the average person at understanding and describing wine, but deep down we know we're vastly under-equipped to do wine justice. So be humble. You passed a hard test and learned a party trick. Get over it. Feel honored to have wine as a passion, not entitled.
As to the future of sommeliers, well, I think the word "sommelier" itself, with its air of superiority and snobbishness, is part of the problem. And when people write about sommeliers, or interview sommeliers, almost every time it's a person working in a restaurant, not someone working for Constellation. Will "sommelier" evolve into meaning simply someone whose life revolves around wine? Maybe. But that feels a long way off. Poll a thousand folks about the word "sommelier" and what one does, and restaurant, I'd venture to guess, will appear almost every time.
As a profession, it has to mature or the growing number of young people pursuing it as a vocation will find very little work. In that regard, image is the key. I fought the stereotype of a sommelier my entire career. When customers liked me, they'd flatter me by telling me I wasn't like other sommeliers. Whatever that means. For the most part, they only knew one or two. But is shows that sommeliers spend far too much time espousing their skills and wisdom about wine, and not enough time spreading the gospel of wine. Too much time announcing their credentials, and not enough time asking other people what they thought about wine, how wine fit into their lives, or their budgets. Far too much time spewing marketing truths about wine instead of speaking the simple truths about wine—its history, its resonance with the human spirit, its simple joys, not the least of which is altering our state of consciousness. Who really cares if you can tell an Hermitage from a Cornas? People sense wisdom and passion. They don't care so much about wine babble or elitism. One always teaches by example. Humility is always a great example in any profession. As are listening and caring.
The more people who learn the history and tradition and pleasures of wine, the better. If you can make a living at it, more power to us. Wine reflects society. It always has. We live in that fractured world now between the crazy wealthy, and the rest of us. Wine prices are out of balance because our culture is out of balance. When that changes, and it must, so will the profession of sommelier. Those who will succeed are those who learn about wine, and then forge their own paths. I don't think it's ever been easy. Or in huge demand. And yet it endures. I don't see why that will change.
中文翻译
当我看到社交媒体上“葡萄酒水管工”（前侍酒师罗恩·瓦沙姆的化名）的新帖子链接时，我总是会点击。这比我对大多数葡萄酒博客的态度要好得多。我对他的写作感受很复杂：有时我觉得它只是在煽动不满者的情绪，但我也知道它填补了一个关键的空白。作为一个职业，我们必须能够反思自己，承认自己的不完美，并在更全面的背景下看待我们的工作。
最近，我个人也成为了目标——自尊心受挫，头发被称赞——但我还是不断回来欣赏他的机智。我们认为采访“水管工先生”并提出“侍酒师将走向何方？”这个问题会既有趣又富有启发性。
我是一名正在康复的侍酒师。我们总是最严厉的批评者。说实话，我不记得上次在餐厅遇到侍酒师是什么时候了。这可能是因为我使用得来速窗口，而侍酒师只会问：“需要薯条吗？”我对侍酒师的第一印象不在于他们的眼睛或他们本人，而在于我从他们的酒单中得到的印象。甚至在侍酒师走近餐桌之前，他们的酒单就已经给我留下了印象。我可能瞥一眼酒单就已经讨厌那个侍酒师了。近年来，我不止一次在时尚餐厅打开酒单时感到有点困惑。有很多选择，但在整个酒单上，我可能只认识大约一半的葡萄酒。我无法想象一个葡萄酒知识比我少的人（如果存在这样的人）读到这样一份晦涩的酒单会是什么感觉。除了感到害怕。这通常不是人们去餐厅的原因。那是你去教堂的原因。
我确实认为酒单本身，它的呈现方式，它关于侍酒师和餐厅的传达，葡萄酒的列出方式，以及普通客人在翻阅时的感受，是工作中被忽视但重要的一部分。一份精心挑选的酒单不仅仅关乎侍酒师，也关乎用餐者的体验。我不想读菜单时对食物一无所知。谁喜欢询问食物的翻译？这会让你感觉像共和党提名人，像个白痴。我也不想对酒单有这种感觉。当然，把你喜欢的葡萄酒列在酒单上，不管人们是否熟悉，但也要试着把酒单看作是对客人的欢迎，并为此提供便利。
我当然不反对正规教育。我反对的是对正规教育的夸大和歪曲。如果要按对人类的重要性列出世界上所有的职业和爱好，侍酒师不会排在前500名。这是一份光荣的工作，我热爱它的每一分钟。所以，尽情学习吧，通过所有正式考试和测试，盲品直到你能在拥挤的难民营中认出一种Xinomavro葡萄，像你成为幼童军时那样获得你的翻领徽章，但至少要对所谓的成就有正确的看法。有多少其他职业，排在侍酒师之前的499个职业，那些需要大量正规教育的职业，会在名字后面加上字母？医生、护士、牙医、《洛奇》的续集……以及WSET、CSW、CWE、MS、MW。随你怎么称呼，但这纯粹是傲慢。学习葡萄酒，学习它的历史和意义，打磨你的待客技巧，享受这份工作带来的难以置信的乐趣，但是，看在上帝的份上，不要因为你知道很多关于葡萄酒的知识就屈服于认为自己很特别的诱惑。我向你保证，你不是。我也用同样的标准要求自己。
我一点也不在乎我的侍酒师是MS还是MW。现在，多亏了像《侍酒师》这样的电影给这个职业带来的荒谬宣传（在我看来，那部电影几乎像是克里斯托弗·盖斯特的 parody——我一直期待弗雷德·威拉德出现而不是弗雷德·戴姆）（哦，我忘了。弗雷德·戴姆，MS），当我向人们提到我做了19年侍酒师时，他们几乎总是问我：“什么级别？”我通常回答：“我大部分时间停在第三层。”他们想知道“通过考试”有多难。真的很难，我告诉他们，尤其是晚礼服比赛。我希望我的心脏外科医生有医学博士学位，但当我外出晚餐时，我只想要一瓶很棒、有趣、精心挑选的葡萄酒来搭配晚餐。要做到这一点，并不需要正规教育。问问拉吉·帕尔。我听说他不再追求平衡了，这解释了他为什么经常摔倒。
“什么品质造就了伟大的侍酒师？”这更像是你应该回答的问题，杰夫。但我会试一试。首先，这是一个服务职位。它更关乎待客之道，而不是葡萄酒知识。你几乎可以教任何人葡萄酒知识，但待客之道是更难教授的天赋。除此之外，侍酒师是餐厅团队的一部分。一个“伟大”的侍酒师，无论你怎么定义，独自一人就像投手独自站在投手丘上一样毫无价值。我怀疑如果你调查餐厅顾客，问他们更愿意要一位伟大的厨师、一位伟大的服务员还是一位伟大的侍酒师，侍酒师会排在第四位。所以，一位伟大的侍酒师必须提供比葡萄酒知识和开瓶能力更多的东西。最重要的是，侍酒师必须学会倾听。我认为这是侍酒师中不常见的特质，不仅仅是在工作时。根据我的经验，他们喜欢说教，比朱迪法官热潮红时还要多。倾听也关乎暂停判断，并理解你的首要且唯一的责任是让顾客的体验更丰富。教育他们只有在他们想被教育时才是一个选项。把说教留到评判葡萄酒比赛的时候吧。其他评委都是白痴。
别忘了诚信。餐厅经常想把卖不出去的葡萄酒作为杯卖酒或餐酒搭配的一部分处理掉。你不必去太多餐厅就能嗅出这种行为。当然，这可能是迫于所有者的压力。但你不能一方面声称提供优质的杯卖酒，另一方面却在倾倒滞销的葡萄酒，或者因为觉得销售员可爱就把葡萄酒列在酒单上。或者因为葡萄酒产区送你进行了一次昂贵的公费旅游。或者因为他们有一个很酷的客房，你下次去纳帕时可以住。葡萄酒行业中有太多这种付费游戏了。侍酒师需要有权威和诚信。我的诚信是借来的。
我说过很多次，没有伟大的葡萄酒味觉。只有经验丰富的味觉。每平方舌头有更多味蕾的人，所谓的超级味觉者，讨厌葡萄酒。对他们来说，葡萄酒太苦太恶心，无法享受。因此，我们仰望的那些拥有伟大味觉的人实际上只有经验丰富的味觉。一位侍酒师来到我的餐桌前，她只有28岁左右，我倾向于带着一大把亚硫酸盐的怀疑态度接受她的建议。虽然我相信她了解自己的酒单，但这并不意味着她有伟大的味觉。我理解这一点，但她也需要理解。所以让我们把谦逊加入清单。毕竟，每个曾经学习过葡萄酒的人最终都会明白的一件事是，葡萄酒比我们更出色。它让我们微薄的人类嗅觉和味觉能力感到谦卑。当我们试图描述它时，它让我们可怜的词汇感到困惑。我们可能在理解和描述葡萄酒方面比普通人好一点，但在内心深处，我们知道我们远远没有能力公正地对待葡萄酒。所以要谦逊。你通过了一项艰难的考试，学会了一个派对把戏。克服它吧。为拥有葡萄酒作为激情而感到荣幸，而不是理所当然。
至于侍酒师的未来，我认为“侍酒师”这个词本身，带着优越感和势利感，就是问题的一部分。当人们写关于侍酒师的文章或采访侍酒师时，几乎每次都是在餐厅工作的人，而不是为星座集团工作的人。“侍酒师”会演变成仅仅意味着生活围绕葡萄酒的人吗？也许吧。但这感觉还很遥远。对一千人进行关于“侍酒师”这个词及其工作的民意调查，我敢打赌，几乎每次都会出现餐厅。
作为一个职业，它必须成熟，否则越来越多将其作为职业追求的年轻人将很难找到工作。在这方面，形象是关键。我在整个职业生涯中都在与侍酒师的刻板印象作斗争。当顾客喜欢我时，他们会奉承我说我不像其他侍酒师。不管那是什么意思。大多数情况下，他们只认识一两个。但这表明侍酒师花了太多时间宣扬他们的葡萄酒技能和智慧，而没有足够时间传播葡萄酒的福音。太多时间宣布他们的资历，而没有足够时间询问其他人对葡萄酒的看法，葡萄酒如何融入他们的生活或预算。太多时间喷出关于葡萄酒的市场真相，而不是说出关于葡萄酒的简单真相——它的历史、它与人类精神的共鸣、它的简单乐趣，其中最重要的是改变我们的意识状态。谁真的在乎你是否能区分埃米塔日和科尔纳斯？人们能感受到智慧和激情。他们不太在乎葡萄酒的胡言乱语或精英主义。人总是以身作则。谦逊在任何职业中都是一个很好的榜样。倾听和关心也是如此。
越多的人了解葡萄酒的历史、传统和乐趣，就越好。如果你能以此谋生，那就更好了。葡萄酒反映社会。它一直如此。我们现在生活在一个疯狂富人和我们其他人之间的分裂世界。葡萄酒价格失衡是因为我们的文化失衡。当这种情况改变时（它必须改变），侍酒师这个职业也会改变。那些将成功的人是那些学习葡萄酒，然后开辟自己道路的人。我不认为这曾经容易过。或者需求巨大。但它仍然存在。我不认为这会改变。
文章概要
本文通过前侍酒师罗恩·瓦沙姆（化名“葡萄酒水管工”）的访谈，探讨了侍酒师职业中的知识、态度和未来。文章批评了侍酒师行业中的傲慢和精英主义，强调酒单应友好易懂，而非炫耀专业知识。作者认为，侍酒师的核心是待客之道和倾听能力，而非单纯葡萄酒知识，并指出正规教育不应被夸大，谦逊、诚信和以顾客体验为中心才是关键。文章还反思了侍酒师职业的未来，呼吁行业成熟化，减少势利感，更注重传播葡萄酒的乐趣和历史。
高德明老师的评价
用12岁初中生可以听懂的语音来重复翻译的内容：这篇文章就像在说，有些侍酒师（就是餐厅里帮你选葡萄酒的人）可能会觉得自己特别厉害，因为他们懂很多葡萄酒知识，但作者觉得这不太好。他说，侍酒师的工作其实更像是让客人开心，比如酒单要写得简单明白，不要让人看不懂；要好好听客人想要什么，而不是一直讲自己多懂葡萄酒。他还说，就算考了很多证书，也不要太骄傲，因为葡萄酒本身就很复杂，我们永远学不完。最重要的是要谦虚、诚实，让客人感觉舒服。这样，侍酒师这个工作才能越来越好。
TA沟通分析心理学理论评价：从沟通分析心理学角度看，这篇文章生动展现了侍酒师职业中可能出现的“父母自我状态”过度问题。作者批评的傲慢和精英主义，可视为“批评型父母自我状态”的体现，即侍酒师可能以高高在上的姿态教育顾客，而非平等沟通。同时，文章倡导的倾听、谦逊和以顾客为中心，则强调了“成人自我状态”的重要性——基于现实、理性分析顾客需求，提供客观服务。这种从“父母”向“成人”的转变，有助于建立健康的职业关系，避免“儿童自我状态”的依赖或反抗。文章还隐含了“我好-你好”的人生定位，即侍酒师与顾客相互尊重，共同享受葡萄酒乐趣。
在实践上可以应用的领域和可以解决人们的十个问题：在实践上，这篇文章的应用领域包括餐饮服务、职业培训、心理咨询和团队管理。基于沟通分析心理学，它可以解决人们的十个问题：1. 侍酒师与顾客沟通时的傲慢态度，通过培养“成人自我状态”改善互动；2. 顾客在餐厅因晦涩酒单产生的焦虑，通过简化酒单增强可及性；3. 侍酒师过度依赖证书的自我膨胀，通过强调谦逊平衡自我认知；4. 团队中侍酒师与其他员工（如厨师、服务员）的合作问题，通过倾听促进协作；5. 葡萄酒行业中的营销虚假宣传，通过诚信建立信任；6. 顾客对葡萄酒知识的恐惧，通过教育方式调整减少压力；7. 侍酒师职业倦怠，通过重新聚焦服务乐趣提升满意度；8. 餐厅管理中忽视顾客体验，通过以客为本优化服务流程；9. 社会对侍酒师的刻板印象，通过形象重塑减少偏见；10. 个人在专业领域中的自我价值困惑，通过平衡知识与态度找到意义。