For Geranium's Andrea Roug Sala, knowledge is power
Andrea Roug Sala is the Italian Head Sommelier of three-Michelin-starred Geranium in Copenhagen. Last year, he was named Best Sommelier in Denmark (“so cool!”) and has just picked up two Gold Stars at the Star Wine List International Final. We caught up with him in Stockholm to find out the secrets to his success. Spoiler: studying and super somms.
Sommelier competitions are some people’s idea of hell, but Andrea Roug Sala positively thrives under the pressure.
“I find competitions useful because they keep you on your feet,” he says. “I always try to find new knowledge, and through new knowledge you can discover a new grape or a new producer, or area. The reward is actually to try wines that I haven’t thought about before, that probably haven’t even been presented by the importers.”
Knowledge is clearly power for Andrea, who grew up near Milan and was inspired into hospitality by his grandfather, who sold wine and by his father, a pastry chef. After finding himself more comfortable front of house than in the kitchen, he discovered a passion for wine (“I did a lot of wine study – I like to read”) and competitions were a natural progression, motivating him to study yet harder and fall “even more deeply in love with wine.” This keenness to learn is now helping Sala through his Master Sommelier certification, with the service exam under his belt and the remaining modules approaching again this August.
In 2018 Andrea moved to Denmark, a country he’d only previous picked berries in, to join the sommelier team at Geranium. The restaurant’s commitment to stimulating all the senses from its panoramic position above Fælledparken in central Copenhagen has earned it a global reputation, three Michelin stars and the title of World’s Best Restaurant in 2022.
Somms do waitering too – they’re not attached only to wine
“I came in as a regular sommelier,” says Andrea, “working on the floor and then, through the years, I developed in the team, now taking the head sommelier position and taking full charge of all the buying, building the wine list and wine pairing.” He is also responsible for Geranium’s sommelier team of eight.
“The cool thing, a feature of Scandinavian front of house styles and particularly at Geranium, is that everyone does a bit of everything,” he explains. “So somms do waitering too – they’re not attached only to wine. And I really feel like we give a complete experience with everyone having a ground knowledge of wine. It’s incredible – the journey of the meal is top notch.”
Despite this requiring Andrea effectively to retrain following his more traditional experience, he sees the holistic approach to service as Geranium’s “winning formula” for presenting its food, enigmatic wine pairings and wine list spanning over 200 pages. That list won Gold Stars for Best Californian Wine List and Best Long List at this week’s International Final, so we asked him about it.
What’s your philosophy in building the wine list at Geranium?
The wine list was started a really long time ago by the co-owner, Søren [Editor’s note: Ledet]. Nowadays, we keep buying the different classic bottles of the world – from the European and also the American countries – but we’re trying to bring more focus on the lesser-known regions, where they’re still making incredible wine with good body, with a good story behind, from local grape varieties as well.
What does it mean to the team to win awards like these?
Well, it definitely brings a lot of excitement to the team. It’s nice because when you explain to the guests, they have an idea of what you are doing so they get a benchmark of the standard it’ll be at.
And a lot of people actually have been travelling through the Star Wine List and using that to look for restaurants. So Geranium is a well-known brand, but for smaller restaurants too it’s really useful because lots of places have a great wine list and, most likely, you’ll then get to find great food as well. Also myself: I use it for that a lot.
You’ve been in Copenhagen for seven years now. What do you enjoy about it?
It’s a small city, it’s cosy, there’s hygge (that is like being ‘cosy’ in the Danish), you can get around super easy the city with a bike, it’s really relaxed. All the food scene is incredible, from the more casual restaurants to the more high-end, top-notch restaurants in the world. But it’s always in a relaxed and casual way – no one judges you for the way you dress or the way you are, and that’s a really beautiful thing.
What wine region will you be visiting next?
I think it will be California. I’ve never been.
Wait, despite winning Best Californian List?
Yeah, I’d like to visit across, north to south – the whole thing! I met a lot of cool producers in Copenhagen when they came to visit us, and it was super cool hearing their stories and sharing the wines, but it’s always nice to see the wines at the place truly where they’re coming from.
And any tips for people trying to become a sommelier?
Be a little bit open minded. Try not to get stuck in set ideas, just follow your own path and your own discoveries. And do a lot of study because a background of knowledge is always good to help you through fine wines and a variety of quality wines as well. But always keep it easy – don’t pressure yourself too much because then it can get not exciting anymore.
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