The Corkscrew | A Hong Kong sommelier on the wine lovers she helped and her pride at their achievements

Becoming a sommelier takes years of tasting and studying, and I was lucky to have mentors who taught me a great deal. I try to do the same in turn, by helping younger wine lovers.

The first student I took under my wing was Adam, who worked at the same Hong Kong restaurant as I did while he was taking a break from chilly Britain. One day, I was holding a tasting for staff, pairing wines with Thai and Spanish cuisine. For Adam it was a moment of revelation: wine, he realised, was not simply for washing down food, but could add to the enjoyment of dishes.

Thirsty to learn more, Adam began arriv­ing to work early, helping me to organise bottles for the night’s service while we chatted about wine. He even volunteered to help me with the monthly stocktake (no small task – we had five restaurants to cover, and counting would extend into the wee hours).

As a reward – and to make the job more pleasurable – I would find something interesting and quirky for us to drink and discuss. We would talk about what made a wine expensive. Was it the name? The winemaker? The history? The region?

And where is Adam today? Well, I’m delighted to report he’s wine manager at one of our city’s private clubs. His wine list is a joy to peruse, with many offered by the glass, good coverage of regions and grapes, and – most importantly – labels that are interesting and drinkable while also being affordable.

When working in wine retail, I helped out a group of young women. It’s common these days to be offered a sip to taste at wine shops but, when I started doing just that, in the early noughties, it was rare.