Young Blood Sommelier: Olivia Siu
This is an interview excerpt of Crazy Wine Asian editor Olivia Siu on Canadian food and wine news site Good Food Revolution.
Young Blood Sommelier Olivia Siu throwing some corks around.
Author: Jamie Drummond
In the second of a twenty-first series, we interview some of the most talented up-and-coming Sommeliers in Ontario and beyond.
A few years back I was flicking through the pages of a locally published periodical and noticed that when it came to Sommeliers it was the same names that seemed to pop up over and over again. I was also becoming gradually cognisant of the fact that we more established wine folks were well and truly “losing our edge” to these young blood sommeliers. Being well aware of the depth of new talent that was out there I finally decided to get together with a couple of fellow Toronto sommelier “Old Guard” (Anton Potvin and Peter Boyd) to assemble a line of questioning that would give us an entertaining insight into the minds of these rising and often underexposed stars.
This week sees the turn of Olivia Siu, an extremely talented woman who works with Nicholas Pearce Wines.
You can find her excellent blog, CrazyWineAsian, right here.
Good Food Revolution: So Olivia, what is it that you are doing these days?
Olivia Siu: I spend most of my week working at Nicholas Pearce Wines, where I run marketing programs and organize events. It’s a good time! In the evenings and weekends, I split my time between Vinequity projects, WSET Diploma studies, and a handful of mysterious side projects.
GFR: Please describe your role there? What does a normal day entail?
OS: Each day is a little different, but they all involve helping Ontario sommeliers and wine lovers engage with the NPW universe throughout their wine journey – from discovery to consumption, and beyond. This could mean getting to know our audience, and coming up with email offers, social media, events, and advertisements that they love. This could also mean diving deep into producers and regions, and turning them into bite-sized, consumer-friendly content… See, it is like being a wine cupid, constantly creating the serendipitous moments for people to find the wines they love. Oh, also, every week I get to meet new and interesting people in the Ontario trade scene (like yourself, Jamie!) The community is very tight knit, and being able to engage with this vibrant group of people has been a great source of joy.
GFR: Ah, the flattery!
The fact that anyone with a licence can now open a bottle shop has changed the booze retail landscape forever, and it’s maybe one of the few good things to come out of the pandemic.
How have you witnessed this new found freedom evolving over the past 18 months? How do you feel about mark-ups and the like? And who is doing it well?
OS: I am so jazzed that bottle shops are finally a thing in Ontario. A few years ago, I went to a restaurant named La CaVe in Montreuil just outside of downtown Paris. It is located behind a bottle shop, where you pick your wine and open it in the restaurant by paying just a little extra. I am a big fan! And I am so happy to see more and more of this concept popping up in Toronto.
The silver-lining is with COVID, this new-found freedom (of licensees being able to sell their special wines by the bottle) has translated into new business opportunities. I am particularly excited for new wine clubs and subscription boxes popping up all around the city!
GFR: Please tell us a little about your Sommelier history? What kind of experience and training wine-wise did you have before doing what you are doing today? And looking back, if you could, would you have made different decisions?
OS: It looks something like this:
Advanced wine knowledge X (Marketing background + writing and design skills) = what I am doing today.
It all started with a burning desire to get a job in wine – any job – and I didn’t care what it was. But to get in, all hiring ads required experience that I didn’t have: experience on the floor, experience in FMCG, or experience with alcoholic beverages… So I decided the only thing I had control over was to invest in my education. I put my head down and completed my WSET 2 and 3 with ITHQ within six months to fast track my foundational learning. I also made a few friends at wine fairs, who ended up becoming my mentors. Isn’t it so gratifying when the universe listens and rewards you for your hardwork?
My successful WSET training and the industry experience my mentor provided had landed me a sommelier job at Mission Hill Winery in the Okanagan Valley. After a summer “somming” out west, I had the opportunity to market global luxury wine brands with Mark Anthony, and completed my French Wine Scholar along the way. What a fabulous course! Then during the pandemic, I gave social media and wine writing a try, and to my surprise, I wasn’t awful at it either. All signs point towards leveraging my B.Com marketing degree, creativity, and wine knowledge to pursue wine marketing in an import and distribution capacity, at an agency that carries a portfolio that I admire. I am lucky to have found Nicholas Pearce!
It has become incredibly clear that the business and academia approach to wine that the WSET offers is the path I should take. I am now working on my Diploma, which I hope I have taken sooner. Hopefully by the time I pursue my MW, my career will start to blossom. This is only the beginning!
GFR: When did you first decide that you would like a career in wine?… and was it with a view to being a Sommelier? You come from a different sector, right?
OS: Before I made the switch into wine, I was a global tech marketer based in Montreal for seven years, working with products that are very cool and cutting-edge, but I have little passion for. The thing is as a marketer, I think it is pointless to work with products I have limited knowledge in, and have little heart for. Well, you can imagine my excitement when I was introduced to a career in wine for the first time!
Initially, my goal was to become a Sommelier. Unfortunately, my French is rather merde, and let’s be real, without French and any floor experience, it is impossible to land any wine job in Montreal, let alone a Sommelier. I quickly accepted that it is more practical to explore a career in wine outside of Quebec, and in the area of sales and marketing.
GFR: So who or what gave you your first insight into the world of wine?
OS: This is the most embarrassing story ever. It all started with – um – a documentary. Many years ago, I found myself incredibly jet lagged at my mom’s house in Taipei after travelling for 36 hours. It was 2am, and it didn’t seem like sleep was going to happen, so I went on a Netflix binge and landed on… well, Somm 2: Into the Bottle. I was totally sucked into it. Jamie… I hate to say it, and I don’t care what other people think: Somm 2 changed my life! The next day, I started reading and studying Wine Folly article by article (the website was still in its relative infancy at the time), and the rest is history.
GFR: How aware of wine were you whilst growing up? Were you around wine from an early age?
OS: My family aren’t wine drinkers. They are barely alcohol drinkers. As far as Asians go, everyone in my immediate family is allergic to alcohol, meaning they get super red after only two sips of beer, and would start spilling their darkest secrets after four sips… with the exception of my grandmother, where I probably got my drinking genes from :)
GFR: Can you remember your first taste of wine?
OS: My first taste of any wine? Absolutely not. My first taste of something special? It was a 2000 Sarget de Gruaud-Larose.
GFR: When do you feel children should be introduced to the wonderful world of wine?
OS: At birth! Or at least, as early as possible. Wine is culture! I hear French grandparents like to dip their finger into champagne and stick it into a newborn’s mouth. I like to call it the French baptism. “Et, voila! You are French now!” That’s probably what they do. Is it true? Well at least I choose to believe it is.
To read the full interview, visit goodfoodrevolution.com
