Sommelier Kimberly Wittstadt & Wolfgang Puck
How to ask a Sommelier for Help…
Hint: Don’t be Intimidated
Kimberly Wittstadt minored in Museum Studies. Today she’s the Lead Sommelier at Wolfgang Puck’s Spago, in Las Vegas.
Interestingly, she credits the skills she learned with helping in her current role – from curating the wine list, to managing a 4,000-bottle wine cellar inventory. In the past ten years, she’s honed her talents at fine dining restaurants in D.C. and Cajun Country, before moving to Las Vegas, where she collaborated with esteemed chefs Michael Mina, Julian Serrano, and now, Wolfgang Puck during her time at the Bellagio.
Wine Not? asked her how she helps diners navigate the restaurant’s wine list:
1. Don’t be intimidated. If you’re nervous about asking for help, tell your server that you’re looking to try something new and ask if the sommelier could recommend something.
2. Let the sommelier know what type of wine you prefer. If you’re not sure, let them ask questions to help identify a wine you might like.
3. It’s fine to provide the sommelier with a price range that you’d like to stay within. It’s their job to have options on their wine list.
4. Most sommeliers have tried all the dishes on the menu, so they know what pairs well with the food. They can steer you to a bottle that will work perfectly with your meal.
5. When it comes to decanting wine, Wittstadt says her rule of thumb is to decant anything with more than ten years of age on it. She will also decant bigger reds such as Cabernet, Malbec, Bordeaux, and Syrah because they will benefit from the aeration.
In terms of what wines excite her now, she’s really enjoying red wines from Washington State and Chile. French producers from Bordeaux are active in the latter and Napa producers are taking advantage of the similar terroir (climate, soil, and terrain) in the former. She recommends taking a chance on up-and-coming regions.
If you’re a fan of a particular type of wine, and don’t want to experiment, that’s fine too. Embrace what you like. At the end of the day, Wittstadt says that if the guest leaves happy, she’s happy!
