A Junior Sommelier Course for the Maltese Catering Industry Personnel John Zahra ITS Malta Master’s Degree D.P. Programme in Culinary Management and Innovation 2020 Abstract Date 01.10.2020 Author John Zahra Degree Programme Master’s in Culinary Management and Innovation Report/thesis title Number of pages and appendix pages A Junior Sommelier Course for the Maltese Catering 180 + 47 Industry Personnel The objective of this Master thesis is to verify if a Junior Sommelier course designed on the basis of previous research is adequate to be used in providing catering industry personnel with a professional wine service course to help improve the quality of wine service in Maltese catering outlets. The study seeks an answer to the question: does this Junior Sommelier course meet the present training need to deliver better wine service levels in Maltese cater- ing outlets? As a result, a full outline of the said course for subsequent implementation and use will be stated. The theoretical framework contains topics such as the Maltese Tourism industry develop- ment, the hotel and restaurants in Malta, the Maltese national qualifications network, what other wine courses are being provided internationally, and how adults learn. These topics help to understand the background for the need for such a course, which content should be in it and how prospective trainees can be taught said course. These topics open up on the concepts of service development, service quality, customer value and satisfaction. For the empirical research the author has undertaken to carry out two methods: three online surveys being sent out using SurveyMonkey, plus a Focus Group made of industry profes- sionals who gave feedback on the proposed course. The online surveys included 20 ques- tions regarding the wine course content and sought to get feedback on how appropriate the content is for the proposed course. The surveys were sent to 1041 contacts. The sample base was a data base of restaurant clients, students, restaurant/hotel employees and other stake holders collated over the years by the author. As a result, 293 respondents answered the surveys more could have been achieved but for the COVID-19 emergency which restrict the author’s access to contacts. In addition, the Focus Group members (5) were required to fill in a questionnaire in order to dig deeper and receive more in-depth feedback. Summarizing the online data collection results and Focus Group feedback as findings, the study revealed that with minor changes the proposed course was more than adequate to be used as the training tool it is meant to be to help solve the problem of inadequate wine service levels in Maltese catering outlets. Keywords Wine, Wine training, Adult learning, Wine and Food, Quality Service, Wine knowledge, Wine service, Wine consumption trends Table of contents 1 Introduction ............................................................................................ 4 2 Theoretical framework ........................................................................... 7 2.1 Tourism in Malta ....................................................................................... 7 2.1 A historic perspective ................................................................................ 7 2.1.2 Tourism in recent years ......................................................................... 8 2.2 Tourism arrivals ...................................................................................... 10 2.2.1 Hotels and restaurants in Malta ........................................................... 14 2.2.2 How restaurants are being assessed for quality ................................... 14 2.2.2 Who are the people who eat out? ........................................................ 16 2.3 Restaurants and customers’ meal experiences ....................................... 17 2.4 Who drinks wine? ................................................................................... 18 2.4.1 Wine consumption trends .................................................................... 20 2.4.2 Why people drink wine ......................................................................... 21 2.4.3 Winespeak ........................................................................................... 23 2.4.4 Can we talk differently about wine?...................................................... 25 2.5 Wine and food ........................................................................................ 28 2.5.1 What is the sense of pairing wine and food? ........................................ 29 2.5.2 Wine and food pairing over the ages .................................................... 31 2.5.3 Modern dining and wine and food pairing............................................. 32 2.5.4 Compliment or contrast when pairing? ................................................. 33 2.5.5 Beyond wine and food pairing .............................................................. 34 2.5.6 Other ‘experimental’ pairings ............................................................... 36 2.5.7 Wine and food pairing – When all is said and done? ............................ 38 2.5.8 Wine and food pairing criteria .............................................................. 39 2.5.9 What can ensure a positive wine and food pairing experience? ........... 41 2.6 The Sommelier – Who is this person? .................................................... 43 2.6.1 Historical background .......................................................................... 43 2.6.2 The modern sommelier ........................................................................ 45 2.6.3 What does it take to make it as a sommelier? ...................................... 47 2.6.4 Qualifications and skills ........................................................................ 50 2.7 Wine service courses .............................................................................. 51 2.7.1 The Court of Master Sommeliers ......................................................... 51 2.7.1.4 Master Sommelier Diploma Examination .......................................... 55 2.7.2 The Wines and Spirits Education Trust (UK) ........................................ 55 2.7.3 AIS - Italian Sommelier Association ..................................................... 64 2.7.3.3 AIS / WSA – Level 3 Course ............................................................. 66 2.7.3.4 AIS / WSA – Sommelier Diploma ....................................................... 68 2.7.3.5 AIS / WSA – Professional Sommelier Diploma .................................. 68 2.7.3.6 ALMA / AIS – Master Sommelier Diploma (Since 2009) .................... 68 2.7.4 Union de la Sommellerie Française ..................................................... 68 2.7.5 National Wine School........................................................................... 69 2.7.6 North American Sommelier Association ............................................... 69 2.7.7 International Wine & Spirits Guild ........................................................ 69 2.7.8 International Sommelier Guild .............................................................. 70 2.7.9 Sommelier levels ................................................................................. 70 2.8 Classification of vocational courses in Malta ........................................... 71 2.8.1 The Maltese Story ................................................................................ 72 2.8.1.2 The Maltese TVET Strategy .............................................................. 72 2.8.1.3 The Maltese TVET legislation ........................................................... 73 2.8.2 The proposed Junior Sommelier course vis-à-vis the Maltese MQF Requirements ................................................................................................ 76 2.8.3 Parameters for Qualification and Award qualifications ......................... 78 2.9 How adults learn ..................................................................................... 80 2.9.1 The Differences in learning .................................................................. 82 2.9.2 How can one apply this knowledge in the learning routine? ................. 86 3 The Methods .............................................................................................. 87 3.1 Survey research ..................................................................................... 87 3.2 Online surveys ........................................................................................ 90 3.3 Focus group questionnaires .................................................................... 91 3.4 Reliability and validity ............................................................................. 95 3.5 Ethical considerations ............................................................................. 96 3.6 Description of implementation of working methods ................................. 97 4 Findings ..................................................................................................... 98 4.1 Online survey results .............................................................................. 98 4.1.1 Restaurant client survey ...................................................................... 98 4.1.2 Catering industry employee survey .................................................... 118 4.1.3 Industry stakeholder survey ..............................................................