Interviews
Within the frame of Vinos y Bodegas Cosecha 09, carried out on September 8 to 10 in Buenos Aires, we visited the ample stand of the Argentine Association of Sommeliers (AAS). In this space, three sets of living rooms were receiving every 30 or 40 minutes members of the public interested in receiving a short introduction to wine tasting with the wines provided by the wineries participant in the event, in support of the activity carried out by the Association. The public followed enthusiastically the guided activity, an undeniable sign of the growing interest in sommellerie.
While hosting all the activities, Andrés Rosberg, President of this Association, answered some questions to Bodegas del Uruguay.
How many sommellerie schools are there in Argentina?
AAS recognizes and supports the schools which fulfilled the requirements established by the Association de la Sommelierie Internationale (ASI), which gathers more than forty national associations of sommeliers worldwide and in which we have become members in 2002. Currently there are four institutions in our country which qualify with this requirements: the Escuela Argentina de Sommeliers (EAS), the Escuela Argentina de Vinos (EAV), the Centro Argentino de Vinos y Espirituosas (CAVE), and the Instituto L' Ecole, in Mar del Plata, and we are working to include some more institutions along the country, always with the purpose of giving our professionals a wider and better formation.
How many members has currently the Association?
Currently it has approximately 250 members, and it keeps growing. Most of the full members are sommeliers, though we also have a small number of associate members and students.
Which is the specific activity performed by the Association?
Our goal is to gather all the sommeliers in our country, and promote Argentine sommellerie. This is expressed through several tasks, such as to explain consumers what is a sommelier, to show to restaurant management that hiring a sommelier is an asset instead of an expenditure, to make our profession known, to generate networks so that all the sommeliers are connected among themselves, to foster the continuous improvement of our professionals, to be the voice on wines between the wine industry and the gastronomic activity in our country, and to represent Argentine sommellerie in the international forums for sommellerie, among others.
Do wineries look for the services of sommeliers?
Yes, more and more. Wineries hire sommeliers to work in the tourism area of wineries, to give training to their sale forces and waiters or attendants of restaurants which offer their wines, for tastings with consumers, or to work with their marketing and sales areas, just to give some examples.
Do restaurants look for their services as well?
Likewise, more and more. Of course there is still plenty to do, but nowadays in Argentina there are more than 50 sommeliers working at restaurants and hotels when ten years ago you could count them on the fingers of one hand. Almost all the five star hotels have now a sommelier, and some of them have even more than one. Fortunately, the number is increasing and we are happily observing that this phenomenon not only occurs in Buenos Aires, but is expanding inside the country too.
Do sommeliers travel abroad?
Of course, we sommeliers are subject to the local political and economic ups and downs, and sometimes it turns rather difficult to travel to producing regions for cost reasons, because the exchange rates are not favorable to the Argentine peso, etc. However, most of the sommeliers find a way to travel and taste wines, the passion for wine demonstrated by many of the sommeliers in our association is striking, for many of them use their personal savings and vacation periods to travel to the producing provinces, to taste wines from other latitude, and increase their professional knowledge.
Does the Association as organization travel abroad?
Representing Argentina abroad, cooperating with the organizations that promote Argentine wine, giving our professionals the maximum possible support in their development and international exposure, and increasing regional integration within the American continent are some of the landmarks in the policy of our association. AAS is a member of ASI since 2002, and we go the the Annual Meetings in different countries of the world once or twice a year. Every three years we also sponsor a male or female candidate to the contest for the Best Sommelier in the World, to compete and have access to the international elite of sommellerie, which in turn contributes to making our sommellerie more competitive as well. Two years ago we co-founded the Pan American Alliance of Sommeliers (APAS), together with the associations from Venezuela, Canada, Brazil, Mexico and Chile, to which recently subscribed also Peru. This is generating meetings at the pan-american level. We have also organized tastings of Chilean wines in Argentina, and of Argentine wines in Chile, to set an example of regional integration. Recently, two months ago we organized the First APAS - ASI contest for the Best Sommelier in the Americas - Argentina 2009, which was a celebration for sommellerie, gathering competitors from eight countries and more than sixty delegates and journalists from around the world. The world is increasingly interconnected, and if we want to gain a place in it we have to understand this logic and work jointly.
Do you know the work of sommeliers in Uruguay?
Not only I know it, but since years ago I contribute to making many of them. I am a teacher at the course of sommellerie dictated at the Chemistry College in the University of the Republic in Montevideo, and I travel across the river several times a year. I have also been working and helping Titina Núñez, Isabel Mazzuchelli and Estela de Frutos, when necessary. On the other hand, the other institution where courses of sommellerie are dictated in Uruguay is Gato Dumas Culinary Institute, where the headmaster of the courses is my colleague and old friend Gastón Figún, a sommelier graduated in Argentina and member of AAS. Besides, both him and I are in contact with the new president of the Uruguayan Association of Professional Sommeliers (AUSP), Ángel Inelte Pereyra Borches, to cooperate in the development of this profession in Uruguay. I am persuaded that we can do many things for our profession working in teams and jointly on both sides of the River Plate, especially with the growing interest existing in Uruguay for this profession, either from graduates as well as from the rest of the industry.
At this time José Luis Lanzarini, President of the Fondo Vitivinícola de Mendoza joins our talk, and expresses: "Alliances that potentiate the wines from the New World, this is the reality. Nowadays the market seeks this, differentiation within the existing bunch of products. Uruguay and Argentina do not compete, on the contrary, they potentiate together."
Does the wine industry accompany the growth and development of the activity in Uruguay?
I believe that the interest of the wine industry is increasing. Wineries have started to understand the benefits that imply having a growing somellerie and have started to give more support. However, of course, this is a process that must go on, and it would be beneficial that both wineries and the organizations related to the promotion of Uruguayan wine be involved and support even more this young profession. This is valid for restaurants too, and for other areas involved, such as waters, infusions, other alcoholic beverages, etc. Growth and professionalization of somellerie cannot but contribute to the development of gastronomy and the wine industry in Uruguay.
Is there a concrete field of work for graduates? Where?
The growth of gastronomy is noticeable. I have been at the new restaurant in the Solis Theatre, which has a fantastic cellar, and I had the honor and joy of being hosted by two of my ex pupils. But it is not only at restaurants where this profession has made progress: there are also sommeliers working at wine stores, distributors, teaching, wine fairs, wineries, etc. It is true that there is still much to do, but I believe that they are advancing in the right sense.
Which would be the desirable complementation between Argentine and Uruguayan sommeliers?
It is evident that, the more integrated we are, there will be more possibilities and potential for development. It is well known that union is force, and this is the motto that motivates us in the AAS. Currently we are holding conversations even with AUSP to achieve its admittance in APAS, and later on, in the ASI.
Which are the next events where AAS will take part in the region?
In November, the first contest of Best Sommelier in Asia and Australia/Oceania and an Annual Assembly of ASI in Osaka, Japan, will take place and we are planning to attend. We must hold an Meeting in APAS before the end of the year too, at this moment we are evaluating whether the members of APAS will have a quorum in Japan to hold it over there, or whether we must search for other option. In April 2010, there will also be two events which will be quite relevant: From April 10 to 16, there will be the competition for Best Sommelier in the World in Chile, and towards the end of the month and thanks to an agreement between AAS and the Court of Master Sommeliers, the latter will establish in Argentina its base for South America, those interested in graduating as Master Sommeliers in our countries will be able to sit for the two first tests (out of a total of four) in the city of Buenos Aires, without the need to travel to the United States or the United Kingdom.
Lastly, which are your personal wishes and expectations as President of the AAS?
I owe a lot to this profession, and my hope is to give in return something of all the goodness that it has given to me. We are building AAS to be dynamic, strong, to contribute to the growth of Argentine gastronomy and wine. to the development of sommellerie in the region and, mainly, to construct a frame of contention and support so that the sommeliers in our country may live better, be the best ambassadors for our wines, and develop all their potential. Many positive goals can be achieved if we work jointly and intensely. And the last thought is also valid for Uruguay as well.
Andres Rosberg is a sommelier graduated from the first promotion of the Escuela Argentina de Sommeliers in the year 2000 and co-founder of this Association in 2001. He worked as sommelier in the well known Gran Bar Danzón and the restaurant Villa Hípica, where he obtained an Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator magazine -the first in the country- for his wine program. Director of Forum del Vino since 2001 and in Cavas del Sur -the first wine auction house in Argentina- since 2004. He is responsible for the oeno-culture area in Slow Food Argentina, and also teacher in the course of Sommellerie at the University of the Republic in Uruguay, and member of the tasting panels in several guides and contests. He is a columnist at Cuisine & Vins magazine and collaborates with other media, either national and international. He develops consulting services -for Argentina Luxury Tours and Pannotia Vineyards (USA), among others- and organized oeno-gastronomicevents through its consulting firm Myriad-The Wine Pros where he is founder and director.
on wineries in Uruguay.
