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The Proper Way to Serve Wine to Guests
Posted by
Amanda on 7/20/10
Whether you are working as a waiter, waitress, or serving wine at your own dinner party, it is always better if you know the correct and etiquette way in which to serve wine.
This is a step-by-step guide for properly serving wine.
Introducing the Wine
The number one thing to remember is to introduce the bottle of wine. Even if this is the only bottle of wine you will be serving tonight, you should still introduce the bottle to your guests. Hold the bottle in a way in which the winery name and vintage can be easily read. In a restaurant, the main reason to introduce the wine is to ensure that the patrons are receiving the wine they wish along with the correct vintage. In your home, the reason to introduce the wine is so your guests can remember the wine in case they wish to purchase it for their own home.
Open the Wine Bottle
Whatever type of wine closure you will be opening whether it is a screw cap or a cork, you should open the wine without brining a lot of attention to yourself. You do not want the cork to fly across the room and make a huge pop sound. You only want to remove the cork without letting any of the wine or bubbles escape and you do not want any of the cork to fall into the wine. Learn how to open a corked bottle of wine prior to opening as your job in a restaurant or your dinner party.
Pour a Taste
The reason that you always pour a taste is that no matter how great a winery is around nine percent of all wines become corked. This is nothing more than a contamination from mold that naturally grows in the cork trees, but can contaminate the taste and aroma of the wine. The wine may have a wet paper taste instead of the delightful taste your guest is expecting. The person you are serving will swirl the taste, take a sip, and then tell you if the wine is okay. This is protocol in restaurants as well as at home. The person that ordered the wine should be given the taste. In your home, it is customary to serve the male first when it comes to wine, unless the woman is attending alone. Some restaurants on the other hand, may serve the female first then the male.
Where to leave the bottle of wine
If you are the host of a dinner party, the wine should be left in a cooler. No wine should be served at room temperature. At a restaurant, the wine is left in container at the table.
The sad news is that if you are ordering older red wine at a restaurant, you will not be able to achieve the same delicious taste and aroma you would at home. Older red wines needs at least 30 minutes of decanting in order to let the wine breathe which will bring out the aroma and flavor. At home, you can easily prepare your older red wine for your guests by decanting. You should leave the wine bottle on display so your guests will be able to learn the winery and vintage.
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