Ordering wine in restaurants is an essential step in
enjoying your dining experience. You will find that there
are two types of restaurants serving wine: simply, those
that have a poor wine service and poor wine selections,
and those that provide a knowledgeable and helpful wine
staff, and stock favorable wines.
When faced with a restaurant with a poor selection of
wines or a server with no knowledge of wines, your best
bet will be to order something you recognize. Even bad
restaurants usually stock some familiar names that you can
rely on and that you know are worth the money.
A wine list doesn’t have to be lengthy in order to be
good. Restaurants that take pride in their wines hand pick
them to compliment their menus so you are likely to have a
good match with your meal. Another alternative is enjoying
wine by the glass instead of by the bottle. Better
restaurants will offer this choice as well as quality
house wines. Their staff should be well informed, helpful,
and respectful of your choices. They should also be
willing to replace any wines that are not up to par.
Decide on your price range before ordering, and consider
what type of food you will be eating If you let your wine
steward know what you will most likely be ordering, he or
she can help you make the best choice. You may want to
inform them that you are having, for example, a seafood
dish and that you enjoy something dryer. With this
information, they may be able to recommend a nice
Chardonnay in your price range Selecting your wine should
not be intimidating and a good wine steward should be able
to help you make a good decision if you ask.
There are certain formalities that are involved in serving
wine. Though they are mostly formalities, they are done
for a reason and you should be aware of each step in order
to recognize good wine service.
The first thing that will happen is that your wine will be
retrieved, brought to the table, and presented to the
person who ordered it with the label facing out. This
allows for verification that the wine is the correct
bottle and vintage.
Next, you will want to check the temperature of the bottle
with your hand. This will enable you to determine if your
wine is too warm or too cold. If you find that your wine
is not the correct temperature, you can request an ice
bucket to chill it for a few minutes, or you can leave it
to sit at room temperature to warm it up a bit Once you
are satisfied with the temperature, you can let the
steward know you are ready to be served. Most likely,
this will not be necessary in a better restaurant
Once the bottle has been opened, the cork will also be
presented. Though it is not necessary to smell the cork,
you may want to do so to check for a moldy smell, which
could indicate that the wine is tainted. Squeezing the
bottom end of the cork will allow the small amount of wine
there to be properly sensed.
Whether or not you have chosen to sniff the cork, the
waiter will pour a small amount into a glass to be tasted.
This is to determine whether or not the wine is acceptable.
That is not to say that you should use this opportunity to
decide if you like the wine, but only to make sure that
the wine is not flawed. Before you taste it, though, you
should also evaluate the wine using other senses.
How does the wine look? Is it bright or is it cloudy or
murky? If it is cloudy, notice if it is from sediment. Red
wines tend to develop a dark deposit over time, which can
be relieved with decanting. Reds that are not as old
should not have a brownish tinge and white wines should
look pale to yellow. Pieces of cork in the wine are not
great, but they do not make the wine faulty. White
crystals on the cork are caused by tantrates, which are
natural deposits in white wine and are also not signs of
bad wine.
How does this wine smell? There are a few tell-tale signs
that a wine is faulty. If it has a sherry-like smell, it
may be a sign of oxidation. If the wine smells like
vinegar, it will most likely taste like vinegar. Rotten
egg smell is a sign of fermentation and faulty
wine-making. A moldy or musty smell may indicate that the
cork is bad and the wine will have a dull taste. The smell
of sulphur (like a burning match) it is not necessarily a
bad sign. Wineries sometimes use sulphur-dioxide to ensure
freshness and it may be absorbed into the wine over time.
This smell should lessen after standing for a few minutes.
The purpose of swirling your wine is to release the aroma.
After smelling the wine, you can taste it.
Once you have used these methods to determine that you
have selected a good wine, you should signal to your wine
steward that you are ready to be served. They will then
serve your party in a clock-wise fashion, ladies first,
and ending with your glass.
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