At just 26 years old, Michaël Engelmann isn't your typical snobby sommelier. This oenophile, raised in the Eastern French region of Alsace, mans the cellars at the world-famous Restaurant Gary Danko in San Francisco. Before coming to the U.S., Engelmann attended the renowned Lycée Simon Lazard culinary school and worked at a number of Michelin-starred restaurants in France like L'Auberge du Cheval Blanc, L'Arnsbourg, Georges Blanc, followed by a stint at Chewton Glenn in England.

Relocating to America has made him so slouch: he was named the American Sommelier Association's Best Sommelier in America 2009. If that's not impressive enough, this accomplished "nose" is also just plain fun to talk to. We grilled him about what exactly it is a sommelier does, how to order wine like an expert, and his patriotic taste for French wines. Salut!



LA.com: When did you first get interested in wine, and how did you choose being a sommelier as a career?

 Michaël Engelmann: My first interest in wine came naturally during my youth and mostly through my dad. He collected wine, and we would visit Alsatian vineyards once a year to buy wine and see the vineyards. When I went to culinary school and then started to work, I always was very involved in wine. I always tried to taste with the sommeliers. I met a great sommelier in a restaurant where I worked near Lyon, France. He was very humble about his profession and shared much of his knowledge with me. He would sometimes start to cook at his apartment after work and open a bottle to share. That's really when everything started. From that point I began visiting vineyards more frequently and started to read more about wine. Then I went to work in England in a beautiful hotel-restaurant, and it was there that a couple of people gave me a chance to start my new career in wine.



LA.com: What does a sommelier do exactly?

 ME: A sommelier is in charge of tasting, choosing and buying wine for a restaurant. The wine list can be considerably different depending on the concept of the restaurant. In addition to the business side of things there is an important customer service component. The sommelier is in charge of explaining, recommending and selling wine to customers.

Tasting the chef's food and finding appropriate wine pairings is also very important. So is training the restaurant staff about proper wine service, and knowledge of the wine list in general. A capable sommelier has good communication skills, shows personality, possesses the ability to help a customer feel at ease without lecturing or over selling, and is able to balance managing a big cellar with being a savvy wine buyer.



LA.com: A lot of people are intimidated by ordering wine in a restaurant, especially one like Gary Danko where there are more than 1,800 selections, and nearly every wine-producing country in the world is represented. How is your average diner suppose to choose one for their meal?

 ME: It is a sommelier's responsibility not just to help the clientele navigate the wine list, but to feel comfortable and confident while doing so. I always ask the customer about their personal taste or preferences, I take their food order into consideration, and then make a few recommendations of appellations they may know and also maybe new wines to discover that will compliment their meal. I strive to make sure that they will enjoy the wine chosen, because in the end, they are the ones drinking the bottle, not me.



LA.com: We heard that, originally, you were not going to participate in the American Sommelier Association's "Best Sommelier in America 2009" competition, and that it was a last-minute decision that you didn't even tell your co-workers about. What changed your mind, and what was the competition like?

 ME: I heard of the competition but wasn't sure if I was ready for it. Then a couple of weeks before it started, Christie Duffault, a sommelier friend and former colleague asked me if I was interested in competing. It was already late but she said that I should do it anyway. The competition itself was a two-day event. On the first day, we had an intense 90-minute written examination with questions about grapes, viticulture, spirits, cigars and wine regions, including some in India and China. After that, we did blind tasting with wines and spirits, food and wine pairings, answered oral questions and performed in simulated service situations.

The next day, the other three finalists and I started with blind tasting four wines, where we had to recognize the grape, country, region, vintage and give a food pairing for it. Then we had to recognize four spirits poured into black glasses, where we could only nose them. For the second test, we were asked to create a seven-course food and wine pairing menu, choosing a different wine from a different country for each course.

Next, we had to open a bottle of Champagne and decant a red wine under a time limit while answering questions from the judges. We ended with cigar service, and then recognizing twenty unfamiliar grape names by telling the color and where they were from (romoranti, fer, bastardo, zierfandler...) Finally we had to pour a magnum of Champagne into twelve glasses without having anything left in the bottle at the end and without going back to any glass after it had already been poured, while assuring an even pour throughout all the flutes.



LA.com: What are wines are some of your personal favorites-any in particular, by region, by style? Have you come across any interesting new ones lately?

 ME: I don't have one favorite but many favorites-there are too many wines! To be honest I tend to prefer old world wines but as long as the wine is good, it doesn't really matter. I really pay attention to wines more naturally made, without added yeasts, lower alcohol level, less oak. I prefer food-friendly wines that complement a meal rather than overpower it, and I certainly like great Burgundies. I never say no to a glass of Champagne (from a small producer in general), wines from the Loire, Rhone, German Riesling, Austrian Gruner Veltliner, wines from Spain, Italy, Greece... the list is too long!