Natalie Lumpp: Her way to the top sommelier
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: Ms. Lumpp, you are a "wine expert" - how do you do that?
Natalie Lumpp: I left school when I was 16, learned hotel management and then specialized in wine, because that was always my passion.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: Always on?
Natalie Lumpp: Yes, I've always really loved wine! All the other girls in my class were interested in clothes and jewelry ... Of course I went to ballet lessons and had piano lessons, after all my father was an opera singer. But I always knew: wine is my thing.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: How did your parents think so?
Natalie Lumpp: They were not enthusiastic ...
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: But you quickly made a career!
Natalie Lumpp: First of all, I went with my self-earned money over to nearby Alsace and bought wine. In Strasbourg there was a nice shop, "La Sommelière" was also called, and whenever I had money left, I'm down ... I was active in the grape Tonbach at Germany's star chef Harald Wohlfarth, and then chief sommelier in the Bareiss in Baiersbronn and in the Schlosshotel Bühlerhöhe - all first addresses for gourmets.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: And then you have won the "Trophée Ruinart", the Oscar for Best Sommelier in Germany.
Natalie Lumpp: Yes, that was in 1997.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: Did you have any problems at the top restaurants? After all, you were very young ...
Natalie Lumpp: It was not easy, as a wine boss at the Bareiss, I was only in my early 20s, and some of the spoiled guests asked: "What, you're the sommelier, is not there a man here?"
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: What can one do to win the Ruinart Trophy?
Natalie Lumpp: This competition really demands everything: In the theoretical part, the most extensive wine knowledge is queried. During the practical exam, wines and digestives are blind tasted and must be recognized, it is required to serve a champagne and a red wine perfectly and incidentally you may have to explain in English or French what is special about a berry selection. You can start skidding, because it is not so easy to distinguish a quince brandy from a apricot if you do not see the label.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: Often you know exactly, "you've already smelled, tasted ...", but you just can not get on it.
Natalie Lumpp: You have to train blind tasting. At some point one remembers then: Paprikaduft with a red wine always points to a Cabernet Sauvignon, a Shiraz smells like pepper ... The molecular structure is the same, no matter from which region the wine comes.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: So you mean to know and taste wine you can learn?
Natalie Lumpp: Of course, that is easier for some people. But having fun with food, having fun with wine, that's the most important thing. It is completely wrong to think that a wine has to taste every day. One day I can feel like a fat Shiraz, the next on a slender Baden Pinot Noir, one day on a fresh white wine, the next on a tasty rosé ...
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: What's your favorite wine?
Natalie Lumpp: I'm a Riesling fan. But everyone needs an aha experience with wine, then he is lost. For me it was a Gevrey Chambertin. You can be sure that when I go to the cellar for Christmas and look for a special wine, I always come back with a burgundy.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: Can you tell roughly how many wines you've tasted?
Natalie Lumpp: No, that can not be counted anymore! There are many days when I have to taste the hundred wines ...
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: In the evening after such a day, you will probably stop drinking wine voluntarily ...
Natalie Lumpp: No, of course I'm looking forward to a green tea at home. But I love wine! For me tasting is pleasure, not load!
