Vatel Hotel and Tourism School conducts a session by the man who served the Titanic Lady
Ajit Balgi, an experienced veteran, an old hand in the world of wines, a renowned Indian sommelier says that given the fact that India is still a virgin country with regard to the understanding of wines and their consumption, the scope of sommeliers in this highly populous country, which is gradually coming to terms with the wonders of wine, can indeed be very rewarding. “Though having accomplished my dream of becoming a sommelier, I still feel I am still growing in my career as this pursuit is endless.” Says Balgi.
Sommeliers boast not only of their “highly paid job” status, but also enjoy the privilege of travelling the world over, especially in countries where wine is appreciated and relished by almost everybody.
To the students seeking a career in the world of wines, he advised “The first thing you need to have is to appreciate and to enjoy this artful profession, without which, it is difficult to succeed” Having started but as a freelance bartender, Ajit’s life hadn’t been a bed or roses. He worked at several places as a bartender, a night club manager, a bar manager, a sales representative and even with an IT company before being able to get a job in London.
“I have gone through two long stints of being jobless, during which I thought of studying further and I did my masters in marketing and completed my MBA. But eventually, my destiny did not want me to be sitting behind the computers – so I eventually ended up founding my own Happy High Bartending Academy. It is my passion and the love for my profession that kept me going through and through and here I am, just one of 30 certified sommeliers in the Indian subcontinent and, during my times in Europe, the only single Asian Sommelier.” Says he with a smirk on his face.
“I though used to be good at studies but the subjects I pursued did not give me the kind of returns that I was expecting out of my passion for wines. For me, experience was more important than anything else and the real moment of truth was when on one day in my restaurant I chose a special wine to serve Ms. Kate Winslet, the legendary Titanic Lady” “You cannot get famous without sacrifice and without taking risks” he adds…
Careers in Wine and Spirits being the subject matter around which revolved his discussion, he suggested the following avenues to the students:
- Work or even intern for free at a place which is active on wines since it is only the physical service that will teach you the best, get that opportunity at any cost.
- Try and pick up a study visa for Canada, where there are opportunities of pursuing a 3-Year course followed by a 2-year work permit. You will earn back what you spent, and, what will be counted as more valuable will be your international experience.
- If you can save and invest, the other places to learn are Maldives, Seychelles, Dubai, Singapore and of course, Italy and France. Try to get into a wine-friendly hotel, even for internship.
- To gain more knowledge, pick up the job of selling or promoting wines, either at a restaurant, or, even as a sales representative of a well-known wine producing company. Selling will give you an in-depth knowledge as you will have to highlight its features. You must but first improve upon your hold on English language.
- If you have the flair for writing, create blogs on wines regularly. Journalism though may not be the best career but it will promote a sense of confidence in you.
- India is a virgin country as far as wines are concerned – the wine culture is bound to grow and, given the size of the population, this country is poised to become one of the biggest consumer of wines – this is where the future lies and the students should try and make themselves future ready.
- Should you have started an enterprise and could not run it profitably, do make a proud mention if this on this on your CV. The recruiters appreciate your having tried – which is a great hands-on experience makin you learn the harder way.
- Be a multi-tasker – Hotels and service establishments abroad prefer hiring staff who can perform several roles. Therefore, do not forget, besides the service of wines, to learn to serve food, to take in-room dining orders, to work as in beverage stores or to help in making menus.
- Wines being of international usage, learning a foreign language, he said, would be extremely beneficial. French, Spanish, German and, of course, English would be very handy to pick up jobs anywhere in the world.
- Update your Résumé – Tailor-make it according to the position advertised – you must highlight what the recruiters re looking for and must tweak it as a fresh one for every new job advertised.
- Ladies as brand ambassadors can do very well as there but a handful of them in this world.
In India people attach a lot of SNOB value to wines as they are still ignorant of its virtues as wish to stay loyal to their whiskies and other regular spirits. Furthermore, they think wine is a beverage to be consumed only on special occasions. This appears to be a good bottle of wine. Let us keep it for now and open it next year when we celebrate our 10th Wedding Anniversary…
The over-pricing of wines in India unfortunately is a matter of big discouragement to the Indian consumers as a good bottle does not cost anything less than 1200 Rupees and then, once when it opened, it has to be finished the same day. Furthermore, out of sheer ignorance and the fear of not drinking correctly, Indians are scary about either making the wrong choice or not being able to consume it the proper way.
Being prominently a male-dominated industry, the ladies, due to customer behavior and owing to the long working hours, especially late in the evenings currently have reservations about making bartending as a career but this is changing now as India is awakening to the new concepts.
It was a very informative session and I am delighted to have learnt about a world of opportunities existing in this very exciting trade. Said one of the students after being exhilarated upon discovering, in the true sense of the word, the “Universe of Wines”…
