Part of the job as Wine Director is educating the staff (or the Monkeys, as I affectionately call them...) Over the past week, they have been getting "certified" on their wine opening skills. Basically, they just have to open a bottle of wine for me as if I were a guest so I can correct them on any procedures that are a little off. It's a good opportunity to fine tune the process because we all get into bad habits over time.
Tonight, I am launching their first foray into the important regions of the world. Over the coming weeks, I will be providing them a study guide for a particular country and holding them responsible to pass a quiz on that region. Two months from now, the servers at Jar are going to be superstar wine experts! Well... They will be able to tell you what grape is in a Barolo, anyway. Maybe a year from now they'll be superstars.
Our first week of study will feature the wines of France. This study guide took me forever to write. Sometimes I forget how diverse and rife with variety the wines from France are. From the crisp Loire whites to the profoundly age-worthy Bordeauxs. It would be very easy to drink only the wines from France and never be bored.
I'm giving the servers two weeks in France. It's a lot to cram into their brains. And I'm not doing too much more than requiring that they know the grapes and just a little about the region. For example - red Burgundy is Pinot Noir and the whole concept of the region is based on place/vineyard. How's that for dumbing down the most perplexing region in the world? But it's a start! We all start somewhere. I'm fairly certain we will revisit Burgundy somewhere down the road.
Wish the Jar servers luck! They are going to need it!
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