{"id":3574,"date":"2026-02-05T16:52:34","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T15:52:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/almasus.sk\/?p=3574"},"modified":"2026-03-20T10:23:31","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T09:23:31","slug":"an-iranian-womans-journey-into-sommellerie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.asi.info\/?p=3574","title":{"rendered":"An Iranian Woman\u2019s Journey into Sommellerie"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rediscovering Persian wine culture with Samira Kakh<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Samira Kakh was born and raised in Iran, a country where the culture of wine is ancient, complex, and largely unspoken in modern life. Today, she is building a future in wine in New Zealand, having passed her certified sommelier course with the Court of Master Sommeliers, working through WSET, and most recently completing ASI Certification 1. In theory, it is unimaginable. On paper, it seems improbable. In conversation, it feels inevitable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her story is not one of rebellion, but of continuity. Of curiosity carried quietly across borders. Of recognising something familiar the moment it appears, even if it wasn\u2019t poured at the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While wine was forbidden during her upbringing, hospitality was anything but absent. \u201cEven though alcohol is prohibited, the Persian table has always been about generosity, beautiful flavours, and connection,\u201d she explains. \u201cMy earliest memories are of my mother and grandmother cooking dishes layered with herbs, spices, and textures. Nothing came out of a package. Everything was from the farm and the hillsides.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Food was formative, not ornamental. Her grandparents and great-grandparents were farmers. Pistachios, almonds, pomegranates, sheep, preserved meats, foraging trips into the mountains. \u201cFood was always part of my DNA,\u201d she says. \u201cI was really curious about flavours\u2026 I grew up next to my grandparents butchering, preparing meat, harvesting from the farm. My grandfather used to forage for herbs and spices from the mountains. I would play around him but also smell and watch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That attentiveness, the habit of observing before speaking, remains central to how she tastes today. \u201cIt comes naturally to me,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen people smell wines, it brings a lot of memories back to life when I\u2019m doing blind tastings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wine itself, however, lived first in the imagination. \u201cEven if modern Iran doesn\u2019t openly speak about wine, its history is unavoidable,\u201d she says. \u201cThe poetry of Hafez, Rumi, and Omar Khayyam is full of wine metaphors. I grew up reciting verses about wine long before I ever saw a bottle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She pauses before correcting the idea of metaphor. \u201cWhen I was talking to my father, he would smile and say, \u2018Well, they\u2019re not exactly metaphors.\u2019\u201d Wine, she notes, was never alien. \u201cIt was always something romantic\u2026 in production, in consumption, in understanding it, in serving it. All of these layers were part of Persian poetry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her family carried that memory quietly. Vineyards were referenced not as nostalgia relics of generations past, but as an important part of their agrarian history. \u201cMy father and grandparents grew up in a region with vineyards,\u201d she explains. \u201cThey talked about grape quality, weather, vintage variation. After the revolution, they adapted. Wine wasn\u2019t discussed openly, but the refinement around flavour and craftsmanship stayed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If anything, it re-emerged later, unexpectedly. \u201cMy brother and my father now make wine,\u201d she says simply. \u201cIt\u2019s illegal, but they do it. The last time I went to Iran, I tried their wine. It was really good. Super fruity, fresh, high acidity, unoaked, and deep in colour.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her sense of assessment is never romanticised. It is precise. \u201cFrom my point of view now, people in Iran know how to make wine, and do it really well. It\u2019s just done out of sight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea of wine as a profession arrived much further along. \u201cIt happened in New Zealand,\u201d she says. \u201cI remember seeing someone do a formal tasting for the first time and thinking, \u2018Wait\u2026 this is a profession?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It took a global pandemic for the question to sharpen. During lockdowns, having spent years in academia, she felt the urge to reset. Cooking school came first, then wine appeared through guest lectures by the likes of ASI Diploma Gold recipient Andrea Martinisi (semi-finalist, ASI Best Sommelier of the World Paris 2023) and finally clarity arrived in Master Sommelier Cameron Douglas\u2019s wine laboratory at AUT. The moment itself was quiet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere was a white wine in the glass,\u201d she recalls. \u201cCameron said, \u2018Tell me what you smell.\u2019 I said, \u2018Apple.\u2019 He said, \u2018What kind of apple?\u2019 I said, \u2018Granny Smith.\u2019 And he said, \u2018That\u2019s exactly what I was looking for.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was recognition, not revelation. \u201cThat\u2019s when I realised, I could analyse wine without knowing that I understood wine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When she asked Douglas how to proceed, his answer was disarmingly short. \u201cYou need to do CMS (Court of Master Sommeliers).\u201d That was it. \u201cIt was one conversation,\u201d she reflects, \u201cbut it changed my life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A mountain of beautiful saffron flowers and farmers while picking saffron<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The path was not effortless. Confidence came in fragments, reinforced by mentors who saw her seriousness before she did. \u201cMy greatest mentors are the people who took me seriously when I was doubting myself,\u201d she says, naming Jane Skilton MW, Cameron Douglas MS, Franc Moreau MS, and Dorian Guillon MS. \u201cThey showed me that humility, kindness, precision, and hospitality can coexist at the highest level.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Telling her parents, by contrast, was easier than expected. \u201cThey became incredibly supportive when they understood the professionalism and respect involved,\u201d she says. \u201cThey\u2019re proud that I\u2019m representing Iran in a field where our presence is almost nonexistent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her surname offers its own quiet symmetry. \u201cKakh translates to \u2018ch\u00e2teau,\u2019\u201d she explains. \u201cMy family name comes from an area where there was a historical ch\u00e2teau overlooking vineyards and almond orchards. Working with wine feels like reclaiming a heritage that was interrupted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked about Iran\u2019s future as a wine producer, she is realistic without being dismissive. \u201cNot under the current laws,\u201d she says. \u201cBut culturally, Iran is absolutely capable. Wine is older than politics. Telling that story matters.\u201d If it were possible, her vision is clear. \u201cElegant mountain-grown reds. Wines that show old vines and ancient soils.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For now, her home is New Zealand, whose wine culture resonates unexpectedly with her past. \u201cWinemakers here are artists,\u201d she says. \u201cThey care about the environment, about terroir, about the next generation. There is so much support. If you\u2019re curious, people want to help.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That sense of shared knowledge feels familiar to her. \u201cIt\u2019s like what I grew up with,\u201d she reflects. \u201cGenerations passing information down. Just in a different place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked what advice she would offer others who feel constrained by circumstance, her answer is concise. \u201cStart. Even if it feels impossible. Wine is about perspective, culture, and curiosity. You don\u2019t need to come from a wine country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Field of grapes trees<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Her longer horizon is intentionally open. \u201cI hope to contribute as a sommelier, educator, and writer,\u201d she says. \u201cTo help make the wine world more inclusive.\u201d And always, she returns to poetry. \u201cI keep a verse from Omar Khayyam with me which keeps me going. It reads \u2018Drink wine. This is life eternal. This is all that youth will give you. It is the season for wine, roses and drunken friends. Be happy for this moment.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In many ways, Samira Kakh is not entering a new wine world so much as arriving back to place that has been waiting for her, albeit under the shroud of modern Iranian culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rediscovering Persian wine culture with Samira Kakh Samira Kakh was born and raised in Iran, a country where the culture of wine is ancient, complex, and largely unspoken in modern life. Today, she is building a future in wine in New Zealand, having passed her certified sommelier course with the Court of Master Sommeliers, working […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3581,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"coauthors":[37],"class_list":["post-3574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry-voices"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.asi.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.asi.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.asi.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.asi.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.asi.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3574"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.asi.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3574\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3880,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.asi.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3574\/revisions\/3880"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.asi.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.asi.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.asi.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.asi.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3574"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.asi.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcoauthors&post=3574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}