The Sommelier is projecting itself as the city’s first family wine restaurant and endeavours to drop the ‘elite’ tag from the spirit

A sommelier or wine steward, is a trained and knowledgeable wine professional, usually found working in fine restaurants, who specialises in all aspects of wine service. The role is more specialised and informed than that of someone who merely serves. This is exactly what The Sommelier, a multi-brand domestic wine restaurant, located on Baner Road aspires to be for the people of Pune. Owned by Jagdish Patli and Vinod Deokar, the restaurant aims to turn wine drinking into a part of our regular dining experience.

Wine has been coming of age in India and with consumption increasing in leaps and bounds India is headed for a wine revolution." Wine consumption is mainly concentrated in Mumbai and Delhi, places like Pune and Bangalore too have the right kind of crowd to appreciate fine wines, subject to awareness and availibility," says Jagdish Patil.

Although the restaurant will stock a few International wines, it believes in promoting Indian wines and offers a wide selction from Chateau Indage, Renaissance, Sula and much more. With the issuing of the E-2 licence, it has become possible for the retailers to buy directly from the manufacturers, thus cutting costs by 24 per cent. “This benefit gets completely passed onto our customers.” Hence a 90 ml glass of white wine costs Rs 50 while Champagne costs Rs150.The wines are paired appropriately in the menu, which offers Indian and Chinese food. Also available are wine-based cocktails such as Cool Café, (red wine, lime juice,orange juice and choco) and Whispering Palm, (Litchi, white wine, strawberry crush and Limca).

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