Sake sommelier Miriam Gibson. Q&A with Miriam Gibson, group sommelier, Sake Restaurant & Bar (based in Brisbane). Perhaps not overrated but overstated. Great pairings really are a joy to experience and great fun to discover, but getting too caught up and being overly cerebral about something that is ultimately subjective is a waste of time. It's far more important to have something that you enjoy and is appropriate for the occasion. Of course, it can go the other way, with people who are so out of practice with their senses that they are critical of those who seek and appreciate subtlety and nuance. The happy balance is to listen to your senses and let your instinct guide you: often you'll get it right and other times not, but it should always be an enjoyable process. What's your preferred drink at home? That totally depends on my mood and how much I am willing to compromise my mortgage repayments. I tend to reach most often for riesling, but if I had my way I would be drinking barolo as my everyday tipple. Or perhaps champagne. Or both. What's the most expensive bottle of wine you've sold (and how much was it)? Chateau Cheval Blanc 1961 (yes, the one from the film Sideways) and it was £1972. I was working at Zuma in London at the time. What do you do when a customer tells you a bottle is corked? Check it. Even if it's not, we'll bring the list back and help them choose another wine. How do you keep your restaurant's opened wines fresh? Date the bottles and remove as much air as possible with a Vacu Vin or Verre de Vin. What's the biggest selling variety on your wine list right now? Whites definitely take the lion's share, with sauvignon blanc still reigning supreme, although pinot gris is catching up. For reds, pinot noir. What's the best question a customer has asked you about wine? Can I drink it out of my shoe? Not recommended. What's the stupidest question a customer has asked you about wine? What are you pouring right now that you're excited about? Either the Grace Gris de Koshu from Japan, made from their local grape, or our Kozaemon Jikagumi sake - it's exclusive to us and made using a very rare technique. The only other place you can find it is in a handful of restaurants in Japan. What corkscrew do you use? The double-hinge waiter's friend and, for crumbly corks, a double-pronged butler's friend. What wine glass do you use at home? I have a lovely set of Riedels that gets brought out for special wines, but nearly every Christmas I am given a new set of stemware - so whatever came under the tree that year is generally what gets used. How do you justify your restaurant's markups? The price of a product in any business should be viewed in context of the whole: service staff, location, product, atmosphere; all the elements should be appropriate value to that experience. If the cost is not relative to the value, customers won't come back.