For Eduard Jakab, the Romanian who this year got the ‘Best sommelier of the year in Romania’ award at the Sommeliers Trophy, wine is more than just a drink, with him it's a full time job. In an interview for Romania-Insider.com, he talks about his job and how his love of  wine is a part of his professional and personal life.

For how long have you been doing this job?

I have been working as a sommelier from early 2003, when I transferred from the bartender position that I held in the 550-seat restaurant on board of MV Crystal Harmony, a cruise ship classified 6 stars plus.

How did you become a sommelier?

I completed the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) courses in London in the spring of 2001, Certificate and Higher Certificate, having had experience in services on 5-star cruise ships with Celebrity Cruises and six stars with Crystal Cruises since 1996 as waiter and bartender. The same year, I attended the courses of the Association of Certified Tasters Romania (ADAR), from the Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Winemaking. Later, in January 2007, I received the title of Certified Sommelier from the Court of Master Sommeliers USA, after an examination.

What does a sommelier do in Romania?

I have to honestly admit that I haven't worked as a sommelier in restaurants, but I have organized and presented various events to promote wine producers, blind wine tasting or by presentation of the label, wine and food combinations, training for restaurant staff, corporate team building events. In general, everything related to educating the consumer’s taste towards decent products, and, why not, towards premium and super premium wines.

The sommelier's profession is a very complex one, starting in the cellar of the restaurant, with wine purchase and organization, continuing with preparing the list of wines, glasses and tools necessary for the service, and ending with the recommendation and combination, presentation and wine serving at the location. That is why, in many restaurants, the sommelier is the one serving the cheese in order to make recommendations in how they should be combined with the wine. The sommelier shouldn’t just have knowledge in wine areas and top international producers, but also in alcoholic beverages often served during the meal as an appetizer or digestive. He must have a wide comprehension of all kitchen products to be able to make appropriate combinations with the dishes ordered by the customer. Knowledge of non-alcoholic drinks such as tea and coffee is also necessary for the sommelier, to make recommendations to those who don’t consume alcohol. As a result, he becomes first violin, tenor and soprano in the orchestra led by Maitre d'Hotel of a high class restaurant.

If you hadn't been a sommelier, what else would you have chosen to be?

Like many of us, I would have liked to be rich and so, to be only into wine as a serious hobby. Also, to afford a wine collection in a big private cellar full of jewels of the international wine industry, although I have access to them as a sommelier, even if my taste buds still suffer sometimes under the ‘siege’ of mediocre wine - a sacrifice brought to the altar of knowledge and accumulation of information in the personal chip of the smell memory.

Do Romanians know how to combine food and wine?

There are certainly many Romanians who can combine food and wine. Anyway, all of those who drink wine during a meal, started right, and the rest is just information completed with curiosity, repeated attempts, elimination, and, why not, attending special events about food and wine combinations.

Do you have a favorite Romanian wine?

Honestly, if you would ask me this question every day, I would each time answer with a different name. It depends on the interest I have in that moment, the meal served, and especially the company in which it is served. There are many excellent Romanian wines that deserve to be mentioned and promoted. However, the special wine for me remains a champagne rose, and not because it is the best wine I had the pleasure to taste, but because is the one that I was drinking when I’ve asked my wife to marry me in a gondola in Venice, holding 25 red roses in my arms.

By Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com