Sommelier Ken Pettus Weighs In On Netflix's Uncorked and How He's Making His Mark in the Wine Industry
Sommelier Ken Pettus Weighs In On Netflix's Uncorked, How He's Making His Mark in the Wine Industry, and More
Picture this. It’s date night. You and your partner decide to dine in a classy restaurant, for a change. After studying the drink menu for a good five minutes, your waiter comes over and asks “Would you like to start off with any drinks?” The pressure settles in! You’re stumped, so you ask what he would recommend.
“We have a bottle of ’97 Pride Mountain Vineyards Merlot, it has a nose of smoke, black fruits, cappuccino, and toasty wood followed by an expansive, terrifically concentrated wine with sumptuous texture, no hard edges…”
Come again?
While it may be true that this has happened to you more times than you’d like to admit, today you are in for a treat. I had the opportunity to speak with Ken Pettus, a professional sommelier based in NYC. Chopping it up with Ken, he shared his journey to becoming a sommelier, his opinion on the movie Uncorked and gems on the perfect wines for the big moments in life.
1. Can you tell us about your path to becoming a professional sommelier?
My path was not typical. I lived in Europe for about four months and got introduced to the wine culture. I moved back to New York and started working in one of the biggest wine stores in Queens. The manager of the store respected my infatuation with wanting to learn more about wine and wanting more responsibility as far as management potential in the store. I started our Internet wines selling e-commerce business. Our first week we shipped five cases. My last week in the store we were shipping 100 cases a day accounting for over $1 million in revenue a year. In my time spent in the store, I would notice sales and winery people that would come in wearing nice suits and driving nice cars and none of them looked like me which piqued my interest and infatuation into the business of wine even more. I began to seek out positions with suppliers and distributors within the industry. Fast forward five years I am now working at the biggest distributor in the New York metro market area working with the biggest supplier in the world. The benefit of working with big suppliers is they pay for your wine education. While optional, to me it was a no brainer to take advantage of the opportunity of having thousands of dollars of education covered by my company in WSET world certification.
2. For those who don’t know, what is the role of a sommelier?
Well, I would say it would depend on what their role is within their industry. Some are just educators on viticulture, winery management, and the differences between styles of wine from different regions around the world. In a restaurant, the role of one would be to taste, select, and place wines on a menu to pair with specific meals provided by that restaurant. There are some that just taste wines to rate and score them on a scale depending on their tannins, acidity, complexity, and alcohol levels in addition to specifically identifying their flavors and aromas.
3. Most individuals in this field have the opportunity to go into a vast number of careers, from working in high-end restaurants alongside chefs recommending menu pairings, providing in-house experiences at wineries, etc. Where do you see yourself?
See that’s the funny part. I initially ended up taking these education courses to leave open as many opportunities as possible. Years ago, I remember talking to some of my friends that are chefs in New York City and hearing about making close to six figures in a New York City restaurant tasting in pairing wines with certifications. Who wouldn’t want that opportunity?! As the years have going on I’ve taken to giving back the information that I’ve received over the past 10 years to people who seem to be on the other side of that firewall of access to the information. Information regarding wine that, to me is on the basic level of information, is completely foreign to the majority of people. I feel like I’ve been looking more towards providing access and insight into wine and the industry to open the doors to more people that look like myself, as well to those that don’t.
4. I’m sure by now you’ve seen Netflix’s Uncorked. There was one scene at the beginning where Elijah breaks down the classifications of wine. He first calls Chardonnay the “granddaddy” of wines – the “Jay-Z of wine:” a versatile and smooth type that could go with anything. Next, he describes Pinot Grigio as the “Kanye West of wines:” white wine with a little bit of spice, and as Elijah puts it, "You thought I was just a white wine. I'm about to get stupid!" Finally, he calls Rieslings the “Drake of wines:” crisp, clean and usually kind of sweet. If you had to break it down for someone like myself, would this be an accurate description?
I initially found this funny in the movie because the Drake reference is SPOT ON. The Kanye reference I probably would’ve gone Sauvignon Blanc because Pinot Grigio‘s are kind of bland and pretty simple. That probably would be the opposite of what I would describe Kanye is. The Jay Z comparison initially I didn’t like because I would consider him the Cabernet of wines. Top of the line, world-renowned. While everybody loves Jay Z, not everybody loves Chardonnay. There tends to be no gray area people love it or hate it. After taking a step outside my initial reaction I considered that it was just white wines he was speaking of and, Chardonnay is the most grown white wine in the world due to its ability to adapt and flourish in any climate. I think I can let it slide HAHA.
5. After watching the film in what ways were you able to connect with Elijah and his journey?
The part I connect most with of the story was being in those tasting rooms and being tested on the specific aromas on the nose of the wine, the specific flavors, and trying to identify its grape based on its acidity, alcohol, and tannin levels. If you’re trained properly it’s not as daunting as it looks. The best way to train? Taste as many wines as possible! I said taste, not consume. There are spit buckets for a reason HAHA.
6. Why do you think this is such a widely-untapped market amongst the African American community?
Well for one I have noticed from my interactions in the industry that it is a very family-oriented business. There are people whose mothers, fathers, grandfathers, uncles who worked in the business that brought them in, and I don’t feel that is the case for the African-American community. There are generations of family roots in the industry dating back to Prohibition meanwhile we are just trying to get our foot in the door over the past 20 years so that has something to do with it. It’s also not a cheap endeavor to own a winery or own land to grow vineyards on. That dates back to generational wealth and having the ability to start our own wineries. Then there’s the hurdle of us knowing what wines an individual might like. it’s a leap of faith investment of $15 or $20 for a beverage you know nothing about. For a while, we were not a marketed demographic and if we were it was to be considered as sweet wine consumers only (See: Moscato | Flavored Moscato) I feel like films like Uncorked and African Americans with huge social media platforms and younger demographic influence like LeBron James, E-40, Gabrielle Union, Carmelo Anthony, etc that bring awareness and pique the interest of minds that there is a whole other world of adult alcoholic beverage consumption outside of liquor and beer of that we can learn about and take part in as well.
7. Okay, we’re going to play a quick game. I’ll call it Wines as Milestones. So I’ll give you three different life events and you can only describe them as your preferred sections of wine, and why.
1. Promotion - Napa Sauvignon Blanc (White) or Chateauneuf Du Pape from France (Red) - Underrated Regions finally getting their credit and rising to the top
2. Wedding Day - Joseph Phelps Insignia Cabernet - It doesn’t get any better than that for me. Top of the line. My Queen can have the day. I just want the wine.
3. First Home - Best Brands I know under $20 - there are real bills coming in now, LOL.
8. How do you feel you’re making your mark in this industry?
Well for one I don’t think I look like a typical wine industry person. I think that helps change the perception of what a wine professional looks like. I want people to know that there are career opportunities that are available in this industry locally as well as nationally. I want people to walk away from my videos on my social media platforms learning one thing and passing that information along to other people. If it helps somebody engage in a dinner party conversation, they wouldn’t have been able to connect with or if it helps somebody on a date - as long as it’s helping in some aspect I feel like I’m doing my part. I feel like people can relate to my infatuation of knowledge and wanting to know more. I feel like it’s my personal duty to reach out as much as possible and be a resource to as many people as possible who fit in that same box.
9. Where can we connect with you? Are you available for private events? Do you have any events coming up?
I have a Patreon page for those that are interested in wine tips, knowledge, and education as well as wine list recommendations. I had some big plans going into the spring and summer of 2020 with private events and I still do but, COVID has kind of put the plans on pause. I will say that if you are in the New York City area STAY TUNED because when we are able to, I will be throwing out locations and I will be showing up with a case or more of wine and I’m gonna be cracking them open and we’re just gonna be celebrating life and good company.
Stay connected with Ken. You can follow him at @kenplush on IG, @ken_plush on Twitter. Want to learn more about wine? Support his Patreon and get exclusive content, www.patreon.com/kenplush