Making an event or a celebration successful with your choice of wine without sophistication and an elegant wine service is a near impossible task. Of course, you can’t just serve them wine and finish with it, and you should be careful in handling the wine only as how you treat your guests. It’s necessary to educate your servers or even yourself the proper knowledge to feel wine with details as that particular knowledge shows details in how you take care of your guests. Your guests, whether they may be wine experts or casual wine drinkers, will be impressed on how you handle wine, increasing their happiness on the overall experience and would likely praise you on the successful event or in a restaurant setting, would make them come back.
Wine experts and enthusiasts always look at the array of wines on the menu, so providing them guidance and advice in choosing a particular wine is very important. Your servers, and -so do you, need to understand the list that you are providing the customers. Understanding each wine on the menu would greatly help you in making their choice as to what wine would they try and enjoy.
Wine List
A perfect wine list should be diverse and well-balanced since not all wine drinkers have the same taste. Having a significant event means that plenty of people would be coming and certainly mere guessing of their preferences would not cut it or would not do the trick at all. A well-thought-out wine list is necessary for planning. As much as possible, you need to include every kind of wine possible, the more diverse your wine list is, the more tastes it will cover.
Categorizing your wine using the region, the taste, color, geography, grape variety, and food pairing are necessary. Make your list presentable, easy to read, and aesthetically pleasing. Always highlight your most expensive and high-quality wines. Pitch in some of the high-quality wines with affordable prices too if you like. But in a restaurant setting, you should never categorize by price, as some customers might avoid looking at your list thoroughly. If you’re serving it at home, you can source your wines from a reputed vineyard, like Wiens Cellar winery (or something similar). This way, you can ensure that all your wines are of the best quality and can be enjoyed by all the enthusiasts.
Evaluating
Of course, you can’t just give advice and guidance in choosing wine s if you don’t know the guest’s preference. You should what brought them in here in the first place. As an example, in a restaurant setting, the customers want to try a Fontodi Flaccianello, you should guide them in choosing from an array of its vintages, not in another category of wine. One should also know the background of the guest. If you think that the guest is an expert wine drinker, you should speak more conversely with him/her as you don’t have to explain every intricate detail to the customer. If the guest knows little to nothing about wines, then you should disclose every nuance therein to convey everything there is to know about choosing the right wine.
Opening
Opening a bottle of wine smoothly and quietly is one of the most basic but also the most important skill there is, especially in a restaurant. Not being able to do this will put on a negative effect on your restaurant or a celebration. A server should make sure to bring all the tools needed in opening a bottle of wine. Tools include Corkscrew (twist, lever, electric, or waiter style), foil cutter (when the server is not using a waiter-style key), Glass polisher or a napkin, and a coaster. Once you or the server is ready, you can now open a bottle of wine correctly.
Decanting
Decanting is the process wherein the wine poured in a decanter to properly remove the sediment formed in the bottle. It could also give the wine its boost in flavor in the aroma as the process lets the air flow freely. Decanting is usually used in red wines that were stored in more than five years. Some guests, though might especially ask to decant their wines.
Serving
Following even the most basic protocol in serving wine is necessary on every level. In a formal event, professionally serving the wine makes you or the servers look more sophisticated, increasing the overall atmosphere of the party. In a restaurant setting, when the staff knows what they’re doing and is perfect at it, more customers will be impressed and will likely make them come back to your restaurant.
Takeaway
There are many guides in serving the wine in any setting, but you should not treat them as mere guides, you should look at them as rules and regulations. You have to have the knowledge and training required to serve wine correctly and efficiently. You should know each and everything there is to know about wines as much as how you make your customers satisfied. Love Wine? Check out our visit to Nearwood Winery in Knoxville, Iowa!
katie says
Wine selection scares me so much. I haven’t found a wine I like but I always am taking recommendations to see if there’s one that fits to my liking.