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If you’ve ever spent your morning commute daydreaming about starting afresh with your career, this feature is for you. Each Monday, we speak to someone from a different profession to discover what it’s really like. This week we chat Jo Radford, the sommelier at Michelin-starred restaurant Timberyard in Edinburgh.
Salary will vary… Depending on the level of the wine professional, maybe somewhere around £30,000-£50,000. I know that in London this can easily rise up to £66,000 before share of tronc [tips and service charge] and bonuses, etc.
There is definitely an issue in the industry that lots of people face with substance abuse or looking to drink to numb pain… and avoid dealing with other parts of life. That was the case for me at least. I’ve been working in wine for 15 years now but I’ve been sober for over six years. I talk very liberally about it with people who have asked. It’s important to break the stigma around alcohol in the drinks business.
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Hospitality is finally catching up with other industries in terms of work-life balance… Previously, people working in restaurants and bars were working more hours, longer days and more days of the week. In the last five years there has been a shift back to work-life balance. The vast majority of sommeliers are wine professionals in the 40-45 hour bracket, which is fairly standard.
I now work as a sober sommelier… and am still able to build out wine lists without drinking the wines themselves. There are other sober sommeliers in this country and around the world, but not many people know about them, and there is still a misconception that you can’t do this job unless you drink. Lots of people are also struggling with alcohol abuse and don’t feel like they’re in a position to talk about it, so hopefully sharing my story can help change that. So now, I taste and spit, and I’m fairly certain my palate has never been sharper.
Feeling the way the slopes align……
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