Interview With A Sommelier – Roksolana Kolodii

The World of Wine is beautifully showcased by an army of talented Sommeliers, who help the consumer discover their next favourite bottle, understand the different regions and pair a delicious meal with the right Glass of Bubbly.

In this feature, I speak with a lady from Ukraine working at The Dorchester in London, England, who is helping many wonderful people to discover the vast world of Wines and Sparkling Wines, her name is Roksolana Kolodii, let’s find out about her life as a Sommelier.

It’s Nice To Speak With You, Can You Tell Us About Yourself & What Inspired You To Become a Sommelier?

“While studying in the second year of my bachelor’s degree “Theory and history of culture”, I felt that I wanted to work and explore the world practically too, because I definitely understood that getting a job after receiving a diploma would require experience and personal skills. Once, while working at a fashion school as an assistant manager, I realized that there was a wonderful and very aesthetically decorated bar next door, and this place looked different to me – the color of the walls, the light from the windows, people who were always sitting on the terrace tasting and drinking something colorful.

This place was unlike any other that I had seen in my 18 years of life and only living for a year and a half in the capital – Kyiv. I saw this place at least twice a day, four times a week, and every time I had questions in my head about who these guests were, who was coming to this establishment, or what was on their table, or even why the service staff was wearing black oversize and black cargo pants – It looked very appropriate to the concept they were proposing. It so happened that while browsing job websites, I accidentally came across a vacancy for a waiter in this very place, then I decided that this was definitely a sign and I had to try it.

I successfully passed the interview and I started to work at Pure&Naive wine bar. My duty was to take orders, sell wine, know the entire wine list and be able to sell this particular wine to a very different range of guests, even those who have never tried the type of wines we offered. That’s when wine came into my life, that’s when I realized that I love talking about wine. Every label, every taste, has its own history, premise, peculiarity – and for me it was an indicator of deep values, a wine like phenomenon.

Due to the full-scale russian invasion of Ukraine I was forced to move and soon I started working at the 4 Seasons Hotel in the UK. The next step was getting a job at Dorchester and the opportunity to do the WSET.

It turned out that even subconsciously wine haunted me no matter how far I moved because in parallel with this I was doing my Masters degree in Field of Culture and Art/Consolidated Information Analyst. But when I heard about the opportunity to do the WSET I knew for sure that I had to squeeze it into my busy schedule.”

Do You Remember Your First Experience With Sparkling Wine? When It Was And What Kind Of Wine It Was?

“My first experience with sparkling wine was definitely at Pure&Naive in Kyiv. As a wine bar, we mainly sold only natural wines, organic and biodynamic products, and one of them was Cava and Pet Nat. Why such wines because first of all it is worth understanding the state of the Ukrainian wine market -10 years ago it was definitely not as popular a product as it is now, especially among young people especially in the capital or in more advanced cities. People are used to drinking something not too dry, a little sweeter than, for example, champagne. Now the hospitality industry has significantly expanded its boundaries in a more modernized direction, first of all this is due to the opening of such minimalist but very high-quality bars or places where you can come to drink a bottle of wine and get real consultation or some advice. Because wine should be drunk in context – wine is about the context where its comes from, the context of nature, the context of a valuable story in which it was created. Usually it is these features that give it value but the Ukrainian market still has to learn to understand this value. Such wines as Cava or PetNat in my opinion are first of all a more financially accessible and more approachable style for Junior Ukrainian wine drinkers.”

During Your Time As A Sommelier, What’s The Most Surprising & Interesting Thing You’ve Learnt?

“I wanted to say in general terms, not about any specific case. I can definitely say that this is the ability to tolerate when you work with wine because at first you may think that you don’t like it, and that again you don’t like it too, but I realized that by understanding its history, understanding the all conditions in which it was, you can understand that it is actually beautiful and unsurpassed, so being tolerant to the wine, accepting it as it is, I consider it a very necessary skill. And only after that you should turn on your personal preferences, but first try to understand it.”

What Sparkling Wine Producing Countries or Regions Hold A Special Place In Your Heart?

“Côte des Blancs

(Bollinger : La Grande Année 2012 Champagne absolutely beautiful, there are both delicate and exquisite ripe fruits and autolytic notes, there is a lot from the bottle. Or Cuvée du Clos Notre Dame Premier Cru Champagne 2013 – Aromas, lovely honey notes and exceptionally long on the palate.)

DO Cava (Celler Kripta Gran Reserva 2016 amazing too, creamy and mature cava)”

What Advice Would You Give Inspiring Sommeliers?

“Never say no to new opportunities that come your way. The importance of new contacts, meeting new people, and the importance of being open to communication is a good way to start. Definitely opportunities for collaborations that may come your way, even if they don’t sound promising at first, but 10 small collaborations with someone will definitely lead to a big achievement.”

Additional Question Asked on Behalf of Champagne Collectors – What’s The Oldest Vintage Champagne You’ve Tasted?

“The most oldest vintage champagne that I have tried- its Krug 1998 so far, which is 4 years older than me :)”

Thank you, Roksolana, for sharing your story and experiences with us and we at Glass of Bubbly wish you the very best for the future!

Photo Credit belongs to Roksolana Kolodii, Glass of Bubbly was granted permission by Roksolana Kolodii to use the image.