10/10 Eric Boschman: The Entertainer of Sommellerie

THE VINEYARD AND THE CLIMATE CHALLENGE

In the face of global warming, do you believe more in the migration of traditional grape varieties or in the rise of interspecific varieties?

I strongly believe in interspecific varieties for new wine regions such as Belgium or more northerly parts of Europe. Above all, they will allow these regions to stand out — and that is fundamental. Their huge advantage also lies in their resistance to disease and frost, and their very low need for plant protection products. In my view, in the more or less near future, if new generations regain a little consistency, this should become an important purchasing factor.

In traditional European or Middle Eastern vineyards, I think returning to varieties that were abandoned for economic or downright dogmatic reasons is a really important avenue to pursue. Finally, the migration of certain varieties, such as Greek Agiorgitiko (St George), Tempranillo or even Touriga Nacional, to Bordeaux strikes me as a very smart move. The vine has always been a migrant; there’s no reason for that to stop now…

Which new wine regions do you think are the most promising, and which should sommeliers watch closely in the coming years?

In my view, the near future is Belgium, Luxembourg, the Moselle valley, Trentino, Rías Baixas, the whole of northern Portugal, Valais. The surprises will come from cool, sharp climates. Customers seem to favour tension, minerality and a certain freshness. The same goes for many reds — those who love “blouge”, for example, will find it more naturally in these regions than in areas shaped by heat.

The medium-term future — 15 years — lies in Central Europe and Asia Minor. From Greece to the Balkans, from Cappadocia to Armenia, that’s where things can move fast and in surprising ways. Provided you take off your blinkers, which unfortunately is not easy for far too many sommeliers today.

How can sommeliers help customers accept changing wine styles, and what role should they play with producers?

I believe sommeliers must, above all, stop thinking they are there to educate their customers. As sommeliers, we only create food and wine pairings; we don’t produce the wines we open. We are economic levers in a restaurant. We’re not even important at market level — we are merely prescribers.

Even if some of us are sometimes walking encyclopaedias, we should cultivate humility and humour more often. Our job is to entertain the customer, to make them fall in love with what’s on their plate — not to refuse them an ice cube in their Chablis if they want one, not to force a Pét-Nat on them when they fancy a glass of Champagne.

The same goes for winegrowers: we have no lessons to teach them. We like some wines and not others — it’s our bad faith and our moods that guide us. At most, when we become friends with certain winegrowers and they ask for our opinion, let’s be frank and honest. But until we’ve gone into production ourselves, let’s stay in our lane. We don’t save lives, we don’t raise children and we won’t discover new galaxies. Our job is to make customers happy by guiding them and listening to them. Let’s remain entertainers — it’s the finest job in the world.

CHANGING CONSUMPTION

No-low is booming. A passing trend or an essential pillar of the future wine list?

According to sales figures, the no-low trend isn’t really a tsunami but more of a Loch Ness monster. Everyone talks about it, but sales are extremely fragmented. Supermarkets see fairly significant bottle sales, but as one-off purchases — not in volume — with relatively little customer loyalty. The media talk about it a lot, but consumers aren’t following the movement to the same extent.

For sommeliers, it’s currently rather fashionable to offer an alcohol-free option by the glass to accompany tasting menus. But personally, I have serious doubts about certain products. I drink kombucha, but I have yet to find one that pairs harmoniously with elaborate dishes, mainly because of its natural volatile acidity. The same goes for kefir — which isn’t even alcohol-free. Elaborate infusions are often pleasant decoctions, but nothing to write home about.

It’s a bit like merguez-flavoured veggie burgers: a fun idea with good marketing, but a long way from becoming a market reality. Still, sommeliers have to adapt — but also have the sense not to rush indiscriminately at every passing idea. If you offer teas, you need to know what you’re talking about. That’s the bare minimum.

Gen Z is moving away from classic codes. If you had to bet, what will the typical customer be drinking in 10 years?

Gen Z starts drinking wine a little later than previous generations, but still at the same moment: the first child. The loss of freedom, the routine — all of this makes wine an excellent moment of relaxation. This generation seems to drink a little less, and a touch more expensively, than the previous one. But above all, as every study says, Gen Z wants information and transparency. At least, that’s what people say — but it only applies to a very small share of consumers.

In Belgium, for example, consumption has fallen by less than 2% in three years — and that’s without counting purchases abroad. Overall, the market is extremely stable. In 10 years, customers will still be drinking big labels, not to say “brands”; they’ll still be victims of their own snobbery — or the sommelier’s. If the sommelier does their job a little and gets off the beaten track, the customer could be pleasantly surprised.

How can we reinvent ourselves so that wine remains an accessible pleasure rather than an intimidating luxury?

Fundamentally, we must put an end, ONCE AND FOR ALL, to crazy mark-ups. Buying a bottle of wine and selling it within the following weeks does not justify multiplying its price by 4 or 5. This disastrous habit — which most often looks like a hold-up — made sense when restaurants relied on cellars stocked for at least a decade. Today, only a handful of magnificent establishments still have a true cellar managed over the long term that could justify such a practice.

A fixed corkage-style margin, as practised in quite a few countries, can reconcile customers with wine. In southern Europe, it’s common to find wines on the table at prices close to the cellar door — why not work like that in France, Switzerland or Belgium? The only value a restaurateur adds to a bottle is the service. That has a cost, of course. But it doesn’t justify learning your multiplication tables.

THE FUTURE OF THE PROFESSION AND TRAINING

Beyond service, how do you see the sommelier’s role evolving?

I think sommellerie needs a profound reform. We need more humans, more storytellers, more intellectual freedom. Less uniformity, less herd mentality. A tattoo, a cap, a T-shirt, a tie, a bun, a navy-blue suit or a pewter grape pin on the lapel have never made free spirits. The sommelier must have no gods and no masters, must think for themselves, and become spontaneous again!

A sommelier should never focus on wine alone. I was lucky enough to receive a broad training — a bit of everything — and then I went deeper into certain products. Nobody can know everything, but hyper-specialisation is intellectual poverty. The tea sommelier who knows nothing about beer, or the beer expert who knows nothing about coffee, is partly handicapped and of little use. In my eyes, a sommelier’s strength lies in being a generalist. To last in this profession, you have to be open to everything that comes along — but also take an interest in geography, geology, a great deal of history, chemistry, physics, oenology and agriculture. In a world where siloed knowledge is king, the sommelier is a dinosaur who must learn like an Enlightenment-era encyclopaedist.

What viable business model do you see for tomorrow’s wine lists?

When I put together a wine list today, depending on the type of establishment, I go for efficiency rather than showing off. A list with 5 Chablis, 8 white Sancerres and 9 Grand Cru Rieslings from Haut-Rhin can only be managed by a sommelier of real stature. Yet the profession is becoming increasingly rare. So wine has to be made appealing, but also manageable when the person in charge of serving it isn’t there.

Customers want simple answers to questions that are complex in spite of themselves. So you have to balance favourites, passion and obvious clarity. In an age when most people hope to be spoon-fed everything, pre-chewed if possible, that’s not easy. But being a sommelier also means being an optimist and telling yourself that you get the customers you deserve…

What’s the best way to train effectively in sommellerie today?

Let’s not get caught up in a race for diplomas. Having WSET Level 3 or 4 certainly doesn’t make you a sommelier, let alone a good one. I believe in medium-term apprenticeship. Having a diploma means you were able to answer the examiners’ questions. Full stop. Being a sommelier — even a mediocre one — means being capable of psychology and empathy. And that can’t be learned in a school; it’s passed on. Nothing will ever replace that, not even AI.

On which specific points should restaurateurs rethink their working conditions?

It takes humanity, but also charisma. For a team to be happy, it must feel loved, surrounded and supported — but also guided, managed and motivated. Salary is one thing, hours too, but without clear leadership and people management, nothing will happen. A break room with a foosball table will never make a team. What binds a team together is mutual respect. No harassment, no hazing — still far too common in France. Respect for one another, treating women on the same footing as men, everyone on an equal footing. And when one bad apple spoils a team, you fire it without hesitation. Otherwise the whole team will fall apart.

Finally, and above all, never forget to build human bonds, to party together regularly, to do things that break the routine. Young people have always been different from previous generations — not worse, not better. Gen Z and the coming Gen Alpha are like the others: if they’re not motivated, they lose interest. It’s up to us to make them love their jobs.

FINAL WORDS

What advice would you give a young person who wants to go into sommellerie, or is still hesitating?

Sommeliers aren’t born, they’re made. A little more every day. It’s the finest and one of the oldest professions in the world. Like the rest of a restaurant team, we have the joy of witnessing our customers’ immediate happiness. Even as a wine merchant, you’re working on happiness to come. Let’s never forget that we are postcard sellers: a wine is above all a story. If we describe flavours, we must bring them to life in people’s minds before they reach their taste buds.

If I had just one piece of advice, it would be to go for it and work hard without looking back. As in any sport, you have to pedal hard to stay ahead of the pack. My father, who was no great psychologist, “motivated” me throughout my teenage years by telling me that “the only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary”. In fact, he wasn’t wrong.

I haven’t made a success of my life yet, far from it, but boy am I having fun. That’s my advice: have fun, every day, find something to smile about, laugh, burst out laughing. It’s only a life after all — nothing very serious, really…