“My philosophy is that wine is for sharing,” says Studio City sommelier Mr. Joe Yang. “No matter how expensive the bottle, if you drink it by yourself, you won’t appreciate it.” Wine, he says, “must be enjoyed with friends”.
Wine is a topic that Mr. Yang understands. He is building a career as an internationally recognised sommelier. In September, he placed joint second in the final of the 2016 Wines of South Africa International Sommelier Cup competition.
The contest is held every 3 years with South African wines. Mr. Yang flew the flag for Asia, having won the Asian semi-final of the contest in Hong Kong. The other 7 finalists were from Europe, North America and Africa. “I really believe that sommeliers in Asia have the potential to be as good as those in Europe, or even better,” Mr. Yang says.
It was while studying at IFT that Mr. Yang discovered his passion for wine. He graduated from the Institute in 2009 with a Bachelor Degree in Hotel Management. He says scholars Mr. David Wong and Dr. Baudouin Neirynck were influential in stimulating his interest in wine. Mr. Yang joined the IFT Student Union Wine Appreciation Club, which gave him the chance to take part in wine-related events. “It was a very good platform for me to meet people and learn about wine,” he says.
Key to the cellar
Mr. Yang’s first job after graduation had nothing to do with wine: he worked in the front office at the Hotel Lisboa. In 2010, while still a front office employee, and lacking any working experience of the food and drink business, he entered a sommelier competition. “Surprisingly, I won,” he says.
His victory launched Mr. Yang’s career in the world of wine. In 2011 he began working at the Altira hotel as a sommelier. There, he says, he learned “a lot about management, especially how to run a wine programme”. At the same time he increased his knowledge of wine by taking a specialist course at IFT.
Two and a half years later, Mr. Yang accepted a new challenge: helping to start a wine trading company in Macao. “I did everything, from logistics to knowing how to source fine wines in Europe, how to choose which brands to promote and how to deal with new customers, mostly private,” he says. To know the whole supply-and-demand chain in this industry, he says, is valuable.
Mr. Yang joined the Studio City integrated resort last year, working under João Pires, the first Portuguese to gain the international qualification of Master Sommelier. “I was very excited to work with such high-level, highly accomplished professionals,” Mr. Yang says.
Mr. Yang now manages the provision of wine at Studio City, which has 20 venues to eat and drink, and a main wine cellar containing bottles bearing almost 500 different labels. His work includes training the staff to serve wine properly.
What, in Mr. Yang’s opinion, makes a good sommelier? “The most important thing is attitude,” he says. “Being a sommelier is like being an ambassador, connecting wine and the customer.” It helps, he adds, to have “a lot of knowledge about wine”.
A recent IFT graduate that wants to become a sommelier must have “the heart to learn”, Mr. Yang says, because wine is a subject “with no end”. And an aspiring sommelier must also be prepared to work long hours, he adds.
Most of all, Mr. Yang advises any new graduate of IFT to keep an open mind about opportunities that arise. “I believe Macao is a place where, if you work hard, if you have the heart to do things, you will get rewarded,” he says.
