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theherald com au Saturday April 20 2019 NEWCASTLE HERALD FOOD DRINK 17 Keen to boost wine list quality Stephane Pommier is a sommelier on a mission writes DANIEL HONAN I N 1996 when I first came to Australia I remember seeing this label for Chablis wine and thinking Holy smoke What is this and I mean opening the bottle it was like You ve got to be kidding me That s not Chablis You know it s sweet half of it is alcohol I mean lick the table and you will have more satisfaction Stephane Pommier exclaims recounting the first time he tasted an Australian chardonnay circa 1996 You see Stephane Pommier is French Moreover he grew up surrounded by the great white wine grape vines of Burgundy in the famous wine region of Chablis My parents say I was born in a barrel of chardonnay Pommier says Unlike the chablis wines of France which are fresh flinty and austere Australian chardonnays of the mid 1990s were intensely fruity rich buttery and super oaky In fact it was these traits that endeared many wine lovers to want to drink Aussie made chardonnay in the first place Not Pommier He knew how a chablis should taste It shocked me of course because it wasn t something that I was used to Pommier says But it was also a chance for me to learn Wine is an open conversation he says That s the beauty of it It s what I like most about it When we taste you will see things in the wine that I don t and I will see things that you don t We learn more deeply about it by sharing our experience with each other and talking about it Pommier has been the sommelier at Muse Restaurant in Pokolbin for seven years matching all manner of wonderful wines with chef Troy Rhoades Brown s outstanding food While he has no plans to leave his post Pommier has started a side project called SOM Australia so that he can have FRENCH BY NATURE Sommelier Stephane Pommier Muse Photography by Teresa Brincat TASTE FOR QUALITY Stephane Pommier A SUGGESTION Pommier on the job an open conversation about wine with the other restaurants caf s and bars People come to dine at Muse and they ll say to me why is it only places like this that we can find a decent wine list Pommier says And I think mostly it s a lack of knowledge and a lack of time It s a technique to know how to write a list that is interesting and delicious and all those things The idea behind my business SOM is to educate people to think more about the wine that they are serving in their establishments Hallelujah I ve said it before and I ll say it again with the rare exception Newcastle s dining scene lacks good wine The wine lists that accompany brilliant food seem to me to be not much more than an afterthought deferred and demoted by the owners to a simple one size fits all portfolio containing bush league wine mostly from outside the Hunter Wine doesn t have to be confusing or complicated it s just an exchange says Pommier Wine is an experience just like 80 OFF food And I m sorry but if you re doing your best to serve good food to people then you should want to compliment it with a wine that is just as good And if you don t know how to do that that s fine but I can help he continues I don t know everything about wine but I know enough to teach people what I know to make things better That s the beauty of wine it s so compelling and infinite There s a distinct sense of joy in Pommier s voice whenever he talks about the god s greatest gift It s infectious It makes you want to discover wine more deeply to see smell and taste further to explore more Indeed his enthusiasm for wine drives you to drink in the best possible way Wine is a living pleasure that I want to share with people so that they can share it with others Pommier says With Pommier s help I expect to see the wine lists of Newcastle improve significantly over the next few years In the meantime you can attend a special wine masterclass hosted by him this Easter long weekend at Hungerford Hill in the Hunter Valley Details hungerfordhill com au somaustralia com au UP TO Looking for inspiration in the kitchen Eat Cook Dine Learn For inspiration in the kitchen at discounted prices visit The Essential Ingredient Newcastle next weekend on Friday 8th Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th March The Essential Ingredient Newcastle Shops 8 98 The Junction Fair 1991 essentialingredient com au essentialingredient com au Shops 9 The Junction Fair 02 02 4926 4926 1991

theherald com au Saturday April 20 2019 NEWCASTLE HERALD FOOD DRINK 17 Keen to boost wine list quality Stephane Pommier is a sommelier on a mission writes DANIEL HONAN I N 1996 when I first came to Australia I remember seeing this label for Chablis wine and thinking Holy smoke What is this and I mean opening the bottle it was like You ve got to be kidding me That s not Chablis You know it s sweet half of it is alcohol I mean lick the table and you will have more satisfaction Stephane Pommier exclaims recounting the first time he tasted an Australian chardonnay circa 1996 You see Stephane Pommier is French Moreover he grew up surrounded by the great white wine grape vines of Burgundy in the famous wine region of Chablis My parents say I was born in a barrel of chardonnay Pommier says Unlike the chablis wines of France which are fresh flinty and austere Australian chardonnays of the mid 1990s were intensely fruity rich buttery and super oaky In fact it was these traits that endeared many wine lovers to want to drink Aussie made chardonnay in the first place Not Pommier He knew how a chablis should taste It shocked me of course because it wasn t something that I was used to Pommier says But it was also a chance for me to learn Wine is an open conversation he says That s the beauty of it It s what I like most about it When we taste you will see things in the wine that I don t and I will see things that you don t We learn more deeply about it by sharing our experience with each other and talking about it Pommier has been the sommelier at Muse Restaurant in Pokolbin for seven years matching all manner of wonderful wines with chef Troy Rhoades Brown s outstanding food While he has no plans to leave his post Pommier has started a side project called SOM Australia so that he can have FRENCH BY NATURE Sommelier Stephane Pommier Muse Photography by Teresa Brincat TASTE FOR QUALITY Stephane Pommier A SUGGESTION Pommier on the job an open conversation about wine with the other restaurants caf s and bars People come to dine at Muse and they ll say to me why is it only places like this that we can find a decent wine list Pommier says And I think mostly it s a lack of knowledge and a lack of time It s a technique to know how to write a list that is interesting and delicious and all those things The idea behind my business SOM is to educate people to think more about the wine that they are serving in their establishments Hallelujah I ve said it before and I ll say it again with the rare exception Newcastle s dining scene lacks good wine The wine lists that accompany brilliant food seem to me to be not much more than an afterthought deferred and demoted by the owners to a simple one size fits all portfolio containing bush league wine mostly from outside the Hunter Wine doesn t have to be confusing or complicated it s just an exchange says Pommier Wine is an experience just like 80 OFF food And I m sorry but if you re doing your best to serve good food to people then you should want to compliment it with a wine that is just as good And if you don t know how to do that that s fine but I can help he continues I don t know everything about wine but I know enough to teach people what I know to make things better That s the beauty of wine it s so compelling and infinite There s a distinct sense of joy in Pommier s voice whenever he talks about the god s greatest gift It s infectious It makes you want to discover wine more deeply to see smell and taste further to explore more Indeed his enthusiasm for wine drives you to drink in the best possible way Wine is a living pleasure that I want to share with people so that they can share it with others Pommier says With Pommier s help I expect to see the wine lists of Newcastle improve significantly over the next few years In the meantime you can attend a special wine masterclass hosted by him this Easter long weekend at Hungerford Hill in the Hunter Valley Details hungerfordhill com au somaustralia com au UP TO Looking for inspiration in the kitchen Eat Cook Dine Learn For inspiration in the kitchen at discounted prices visit The Essential Ingredient Newcastle next weekend on Friday 8th Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th March The Essential Ingredient Newcastle Shops 8 98 The Junction Fair 1991 essentialingredient com au essentialingredient com au Shops 9 The Junction Fair 02 02 4926 4926 1991

theherald com au Saturday April 20 2019 NEWCASTLE HERALD FOOD DRINK 17 Keen to boost wine list quality Stephane Pommier is a sommelier on a mission writes DANIEL HONAN I N 1996 when I first came to Australia I remember seeing this label for Chablis wine and thinking Holy smoke What is this and I mean opening the bottle it was like You ve got to be kidding me That s not Chablis You know it s sweet half of it is alcohol I mean lick the table and you will have more satisfaction Stephane Pommier exclaims recounting the first time he tasted an Australian chardonnay circa 1996 You see Stephane Pommier is French Moreover he grew up surrounded by the great white wine grape vines of Burgundy in the famous wine region of Chablis My parents say I was born in a barrel of chardonnay Pommier says Unlike the chablis wines of France which are fresh flinty and austere Australian chardonnays of the mid 1990s were intensely fruity rich buttery and super oaky In fact it was these traits that endeared many wine lovers to want to drink Aussie made chardonnay in the first place Not Pommier He knew how a chablis should taste It shocked me of course because it wasn t something that I was used to Pommier says But it was also a chance for me to learn Wine is an open conversation he says That s the beauty of it It s what I like most about it When we taste you will see things in the wine that I don t and I will see things that you don t We learn more deeply about it by sharing our experience with each other and talking about it Pommier has been the sommelier at Muse Restaurant in Pokolbin for seven years matching all manner of wonderful wines with chef Troy Rhoades Brown s outstanding food While he has no plans to leave his post Pommier has started a side project called SOM Australia so that he can have FRENCH BY NATURE Sommelier Stephane Pommier Muse Photography by Teresa Brincat TASTE FOR QUALITY Stephane Pommier A SUGGESTION Pommier on the job an open conversation about wine with the other restaurants caf s and bars People come to dine at Muse and they ll say to me why is it only places like this that we can find a decent wine list Pommier says And I think mostly it s a lack of knowledge and a lack of time It s a technique to know how to write a list that is interesting and delicious and all those things The idea behind my business SOM is to educate people to think more about the wine that they are serving in their establishments Hallelujah I ve said it before and I ll say it again with the rare exception Newcastle s dining scene lacks good wine The wine lists that accompany brilliant food seem to me to be not much more than an afterthought deferred and demoted by the owners to a simple one size fits all portfolio containing bush league wine mostly from outside the Hunter Wine doesn t have to be confusing or complicated it s just an exchange says Pommier Wine is an experience just like 80 OFF food And I m sorry but if you re doing your best to serve good food to people then you should want to compliment it with a wine that is just as good And if you don t know how to do that that s fine but I can help he continues I don t know everything about wine but I know enough to teach people what I know to make things better That s the beauty of wine it s so compelling and infinite There s a distinct sense of joy in Pommier s voice whenever he talks about the god s greatest gift It s infectious It makes you want to discover wine more deeply to see smell and taste further to explore more Indeed his enthusiasm for wine drives you to drink in the best possible way Wine is a living pleasure that I want to share with people so that they can share it with others Pommier says With Pommier s help I expect to see the wine lists of Newcastle improve significantly over the next few years In the meantime you can attend a special wine masterclass hosted by him this Easter long weekend at Hungerford Hill in the Hunter Valley Details hungerfordhill com au somaustralia com au UP TO Looking for inspiration in the kitchen Eat Cook Dine Learn For inspiration in the kitchen at discounted prices visit The Essential Ingredient Newcastle next weekend on Friday 8th Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th March The Essential Ingredient Newcastle Shops 8 98 The Junction Fair 1991 essentialingredient com au essentialingredient com au Shops 9 The Junction Fair 02 02 4926 4926 1991