A little insight from Charlotte Patterson – Assistant Restaurant Manager & Sommelier at NORD.

After a year and a half of buying, serving and chatting all things wine in NORD, I recently achieved my Level 3 Award in Wines.

I began working in wine in 2023, at a natural wine bar that served coffee during the day. I knew absolutely nothing about wine at the time, other than the fact that I liked to drink it. I’d also never been a barista before. I was hired based on the fact that I was chatty, and in a twenty cover, intimate venue – this was key. I quickly started teaching myself as much as I could about wine – picking different bottles off of the shelves and stuffing notebooks full of notes on grapes, soil types & vinification. (a habit I still carry with me. Most of the front of house team at NORD have laughed at how ridiculously full my notebook is: full of menus, covered in tape, and unreadable to anyone but me). I quickly found a few bottles I liked to talk about. If I served you during that time, you almost definitely drank an Austrian Zweigelt or the iconic Moravian Gruner Veltliner blend ‘Bel’ from Milan Nestarec. I used to call it ‘picnic wine’. I found myself wanting to learn more and more, to really understand the vinification processes and to be able to understand what impact these choices would have on the wine. I very quickly began getting involved in hosting tastings, and delivered lots of small wine flights during those shifts. I left that bar with actually, quite an impressive understanding of the theory for somebody completely self taught. I can also still draw a pumpkin on the top of your coffee – that skill will never leave me.

I jumped at the opportunity to join NORD as the Sommelier, a role not previously held by anyone in the restaurant, and therefore a role that I was really able to shape. There was definitely a steep learning curve. I went from delivering one or two three-glass wine flights a week, to multiple six-glass pairings to accompany our seasonal tasting menu every single day. The role only expanded over time: I rewrote the wine list, set up systems to deliver better wines more consistently, and began offering two different pairing options concurrently. NORD quickly sent me on my WSET Level 2 Award. I was incredibly surprised when I started the course and realised “oh – I actually know this!”, it felt incredibly satisfying to know I had taught myself correctly.

In October 2025, I began my Level 3. I definitely had an image in my head of what this time in my life would look like: incredibly studious, professional, being able to spend hours pouring into niche details about maceration or yeast. In reality, I had only recently taken the ARM role at NORD and November meant we were very much underway with Christmas. Before I knew it I was waking up at 5am to make it to Cheadle, chinning coffees alongside the wines we were tasting to stay awake (a grave sin – I am aware) and rushing back to Liverpool to make it in time for evening service. As much as it was difficult, from the very first week I noticed the impact. I opened my notebook less and less – it’s been demoted to the back corridor behind the kitchen now, if it even makes it into work with me. I just felt I had the basis of knowledge I needed to support all the theory I’d taught myself – and this offered me so much more flexibility during service.

After five weeks of this routine, came the exam. Split into two parts: a blind tasting of two wines and a theory exam. If I’m honest, I felt very unsure going into it. Not only was I under the weather, but I had definitely not done as much revision as I would have liked. I resigned myself to the idea that I probably wouldn’t pass, but it would be a good opportunity to see what the exam was like & that it would help me next time. Quite radical for me – as a chronically stressed individual. The tasting portion, I scraped through. Incorrectly identifying a Marlborough Sauvignon as a German Riesling (blame the illness) but doing better on the red, Cab Sauv, if I remember correctly. As I worked through the theory portion, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I was able to answer. Particularly the long form, theory heavy questions at the back of the paper: Pouilly-fume, the climatical factors in South Africa, Valipolicella vs Amarone, and to finish – the vinification choices of vintage Grand Cru Blanc de Blanc champagne. As all of team NORD celebrated with me when I shared this news – I could not have had a better question that day. Not only am I a known ‘fizz fiend’, but it’s my favourite thing to talk about vinification-wise and I’m probably most proud of the sparkling section on NORD’s wine list. I left the exam more hopeful for a pass than I had entered.

I received the news in February that I had passed, and with a merit in the theory. A big achievement for me given how long I’ve been wanting to do this and how much of an investment it felt to complete. It’s been so lovely to share this news with the team, but also with guests. We have so many lovely regulars who’ve been asking me how I’ve been getting on and when I get my results back. Now if you join us at NORD and go for a wine pairing with me: I can’t promise you it won’t be theory heavy, it is what I love afterall. There’s a good chance I might still serve you Zweigelt, but i’m now doing so with a new qualification in my back pocket.

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