Too afraid to ask? Amelia Birch from Sydney wine bar Famelia gives us all the answers.
Choosing from a wine list doesn’t always come easy. It doesn’t matter if you are newer to wine or can reel off Bordeaux’s classifications from memory, the process of navigating a venue’s wine selections can sometimes be overwhelming. What if you don’t recognise a single producer on the list? What if you don’t love the wine you end up with? And what will the waiter really think if you go for the cheapest bottle?
Long-time sommelier Amelia Birch of wine bar Famelia in Sydney’s Newtown is passionate about helping people enjoy wine and find the styles they love most. Amelia says feeling comfortable enough to ask what seems like a stupid question can often be the first hurdle. “A lot of sommeliers don’t always make you feel like you can ask those questions,” she says. “I take that business seriously. Everything we do is about making people feel welcome and safe because there’s that psychological element to it that’s super important to me.”
Having started her career in fine dining at 18, Amelia was quickly hooked on the buzz that came from guiding people to a wine they loved. “I always think back to that experience, and I think everyone deserves to have that sommelier experience. It shouldn’t just be reserved for high-end restaurants,” she says. As a result, Amelia switches up the list each month at Famelia (pictured) to ensure people continue to try new wines, and the venue doesn’t have a by-the-bottle list. This means patrons have to engage with staff about the selections, which helps lead them to the wines they actually want to drink.
So, who better than Amelia to answer our ‘stupid’ wine questions? If you’ve ever chickened out of a conversation you really wanted to have with a sommelier, then consider this your shortcut to wine-ordering glory.
“We have to lose the ego on both sides. The customer has to defer to the expert, but the sommelier can also have a bit of ego about it, which isn’t great either. I think it’s all about communication and taking the fear of consequence out of it. This sort of experience can help you understand how you might do things differently next time. Should you ask if they have something open that you can taste? If you don’t like the wine a little bit, will you live? Can you use it as a learning experience? You could also think about having a chat with the sommelier after, and say, ‘You said it was like this, but how would I find that flavour?’ Would you give them a little sip and have a chat about it? That’s a very mature and confident thing to do, but just know that we don’t always make a perfect decision. There’s always a learning to take away from it.”
“Talk about what you don’t like in a wine and what you haven’t enjoyed in the past. It can often be a lot easier to articulate what you don’t like rather than what you do. Have the conversation and engage with the staff – it’s all going to help.”
“Who cares? It’s cozzie livs! You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. It’s so often about staying within your budget, but I sometimes wonder if the person ordering doesn’t feel comfortable enough to say what they really feel like. I do think it’s a shame if someone’s worried about risking money on a wine they might not like and not ordering what they want.”
“It depends how you define ‘best’. It really doesn’t matter – it’s about the wine experience you want to have. There are some wines that are really expensive that are great, but there are also some incredible wines that aren’t expensive and also very worthy.”
