Here's what it takes to be a master sommelier

Sommeliers, says Leslie Williams, have become the catering world’s equivalent of rock stars. He meets Ireland’s top wine experts and asks them for their best budget buys – plus, he checks out the most expensive bottles stored in their wine cellars. 

Up until recently, many people would have described a typical sommelier as a French man dressed in black who looks down his nose as he advises you that you simply must order the 1961 Bordeaux to match your lamb dish.

These days however sommeliers are everywhere in the US media and it is hard to escape them if you have Netflix or watch TV. There are documentaries and films and gushing interviews in lifestyle magazines – they have become the catering world’s equivalent of rockstars.