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DO
Show the bottle
Present the bottle to the person who ordered it (label up) and say the name of the wine and the year. This prevents opening a wine that the guest didn't order.
Share the opening
Some restaurants place the bottle on the table to open, others have a side table. No matter which method you use, the guest should be able to see the bottle being opened.
Hand over the cork
Let the guest do what they will with the cork, but if they show no interest, remove it from the table.
Give the guest a taste
Always start the service with giving a tasting portion to the person who ordered the wine.
Refill the glass
Servers are responsible for pouring wines throughout the meal.  |
DON'T
Leave debris on the table
Guests may want to keep the cork but they don’t want those plastic or metal bits scattered on the table.
Pop the corks
Popping corks is usually frowned upon. Whether it is a still wine or a sparkling wine, let the servers know that the goal is a smooth slide out of the bottle.
Assume all years are the same
Servers should never assume the guest would accept the substitution of one vintage for another.
Overfill a glass
The rule of thumb is to pour to the third or half level, though champagne glasses are usually filled to the three-fourths level.
Pour new wine in a used glass
When wines change so should the glass.
Consider the ice bucket an afterthought
With white or sparkling wines, an ice bucket or tabletop chiller should be in place and filled with ice and water (or chilled) when the wine is brought out. | |
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Broken Corks
You're twisting the cork off of a bottle in front of your patrons and all of a sudden your cork breaks! What should you do? If your cork breaks, do not panic! The worst that can happen is that a little cork will get into your wine. First, try to save the day by stickinng the remaining cork from odd angles with your corkscrew to get it out. If that doesn't work, simply push what's left of the cork into the full bottle of wine, then strain the wine into a decanter.
Oxygen
If you're serving an expensive, top-level red wine that is meant to age, and if you're serving it young, giving it some air will accelerate the aging process by oxidizing it. This will bring it a bit closer to what it might be ten years down the road. This is one of the main reasons why people decant red wine, spilling the wine out of its bottle and into a glass pitcher. Pouring exposes the wine to maximum oxygen. Some servers even pour it back and forth between two decanters, increasing the oxygen exposure. You may want to try this if you have a very young, very tannic red wine.
The Dripless Pour
One little trick can prevent a lot of stained tablecloths:
As you're about to stop pouring into a glass, give the bottle a sharp little twist (only about 20 degrees). Immediately return the bottle to a vertical position. This helps you make a dripless pour!
Sediment
As red wine ages, it creates a sediment--a murky, muddy substance that's not pretty to see and not pleasant to taste. The solution: Decant the wine. If your red wine has been lying on its side in storage(as it should) and if you decide to serve it at the last minute, you can't remove the sediment by decanting; the sediment is mixed in with the wine. You can use a filter, but many traditionalists object to that. If you're on top of things, stand the wine up for a few days before serving so the sediment falls to the bottom of the bottle. At serving time, stand a candle or flashlight next to the decanter. Pour the wine into the decanter so that the light is below the neck of the bottle as you pour. You will be able to see the wine flowing into the decanter and observe the exact moment when a little sediment begins to mix with the wine. At that moment, cease pouring. It is important to pour the wine into the decanter in a steady stream--stopping would wash the wine back into the bottle and mix it with the sediment. When you're done, you should have about a half-inch of muddy wine in the bottom of the bottle.
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