The dish was a seasonal creation by Auberge du Soleil’s Chef Robert Curry: Dungeness crab on a bed of fermented basil seeds, with heirloom baby tomatoes and a touch of lemon verbena, topped with a watermelon foam.

The question of the day, however,  was not how Curry had done it — in truth, it’s one of those dishes that makes much more sense to let a master chef prepare than to recreate it at home — but what wine would make a perfect match.

The man seeking the answer was Kris Margerum, the long-time sommelier at Auberge, recently promoted to director to  wine for all six Auberge resorts, including the locations in Calistoga, Los Cabos, Mexico, South Carolina, Santa Fe and, opening next year, St. Kitts in the West Indies.

“A lot of people say, ‘Oh, I wish I had your job,’” Margerum said, “but they don’t really know what I do. It’s kind of a mysterious job.”

At the moment, it entailed tasting the wines he’d requested to see which one he’d recommend for Curry’s crab salad: two sauvignon blanc a French Sancerre and a Californian; an Austrian gerwurtzraminer,  and a California viognier and rosé.  “With a composed salad,” he said, “there are a lot of different flavors to play with.”

And while anyone of his four choices might work, he was looking for “the most bestest” for the recommendations he provides for the Auberge servers. His choice: the Sancerre, “because the crab is really the dominating element.”

Before this working lunch Margerum had been seeing winery sales reps, tasting seven or eight wines, in meetings scheduled every half hour. Margerum dedicates two days a week to meeting with winery reps and tasting their wines, and their appointments are scheduled every half hour.

 “Everyone knows to be on time,” he said with a grin. “I have a reputation to uphold.”

In any given week, he said, he generally tastes around 200 wines as he constantly revises and updates the wine selections.

Out of these 200 wines, he said, “I’ll really like about 60 but I only have room for three or four.”

 His method is to keep a notebook of what he tastes, and another for what he likes, he said. He never makes snap judgments. Even if a wine knocks him off his chair, he just writes it in his notebook, and mulls it over. “I’m meticulous and slow to pick things out,” he said. “I taste them again over three days.

“One part that people don’t get is I’m a big brick wall for people who want their wines (on the Auberge list),” he said affably.

 “But I’m democratic,” he added. Margerum tastes wines in what he calls “his committee.” His basic question to them is “would I have another glass? I put the score out and they can lobby (for favorite picks).”  

A wine that makes it through Margerum’s “brick wall” gets a one-year placement on the wine list. “I come from the angle of most wines are good, some are better and some are the best.”

But he also acknowledges there are a lot of “the best” out there. Since Margerum began working at Auberge du Soleil in 1983, the wine list has grown from around 400 wines to around 1,700 wines, all presented to guests in a hefty volume.

But Margerum is often on hand to help diners navigate their way through this wonderland of wine. “Floor work is a big part of the job,” he said. “People come here looking to expand their experience, they want to find wines they can’t usually find. They want an adventure.”

His advice to someone looking for adventure? ‘Start with the small circle of wines you really like. Then say, ‘I really like the Silver Oak cabernet. What else can you recommend?”

Meetings with chefs and restaurant staff, updating the wines lists, trade tastings and sales meetings, interacting with guests — it adds up to “60 -70 hours a week, all about wine.”

Margerum got his start by working as a server. At Le Chardonnay in Yountville, Margerum recalled, one of his early customers was the late Robert Mondavi.

“What an ambassador,” Margerum said. “He would come in and order three wines, always measuring himself against the best. Always asking, ‘how do we go toe-to-toe’ against the best?

After Mondavi’s death last May, Margerum said, “I realized I’d built my whole work” — and that hefty wine list — “on his example.”  

Over 25 years, Margerum has built up his wine knowledge to where, he said, his next step will be to take the test for the elite Master Sommelier diploma, considered by many to be the ultimate wine professional credential; only about 167 people world-wide have achieved this.

How does one get there? “Practice, practice, practice,” Margerum said. “My palate is standard professional palate, but I have a strong palate memory.

“Wine knowledge is gettable,” Margerum said. The talent for guiding through the wine world is a whole different skill. “The interaction with guests at the dinner table is important. A sommelier needs to be able to be a part of the restaurant — to be able to clear a table, serve food, and discuss the dishes.

“The part I really like is putting together the food and wine,” he said,  “I still take pleasure in wine. I think it’s because of the food. If a wine makes me think of a dish, I’m excited.”

He also noted he regularly observes other sommeliers in action.

“I’m a mean customer,” he concluded cheerfully.