To taste or not to taste
By Gerard Basset
The two main reasons you taste a wine before serving it in a restaurant are to check that it's at the correct temperature and, more importantly, that it's not faulty. But the question is, should every bottle of wine be tasted by a member of staff prior to being served?
When dealing with large tables or functions, many bottles of wine are used to top up glasses. But knowing that a great number of bottles are tainted with a corky smell, it would seem foolish not to have each bottle of wine carefully tasted beforehand. Failing to carry out this elementary precaution could have costly and embarrassing consequences. Indeed, once a faulty glass of wine has been discovered among a party of people, many guests will demand that their glass be replaced, even if no faulty wine was poured into their glass.
In the more usual surroundings of smaller tables there is also more than one instance when tasting the wine before the host can be advantageous. An obvious example is when you need to decant a wine. During the course of a busy service, when every second counts, it is infuriating to discover that three or four precious minutes were spent decanting a faulty wine, when careful prior sampling would have avoided wasted time and effort.
And what about the times when you have strongly recommended a particular wine? Let's imagine that the wine is served and is slightly faulty - not enough for the customer to realise it because they are unfamiliar with the wine, but enough to give them a disappointing experience. They will wonder what all the fuss was about over this wine and they will think that your taste in wine is rather odd. Again, a quick check beforehand would prevent this.
The one drawback, though, is that it is not always possible to spit in a restaurant, so by the end of a busy service, the sommelier could be very close to or even above the drink-driving limit.
Equally, certain customers might be surprised to see you tasting their wine and interpret this as an act of arrogance. However, from my own experience, I can say that apart from a very tiny minority, most customers will react favourably if the following rules are applied: Do not hide when tasting the wine. Only take the smallest amount necessary. Do not make a show of it, be natural and confident. In fact, a simple way to break the ice between you and the customer is to give a short comment on the temperature or the style of the wine when you have finished tasting it. In this way, it will give a purpose to your action and not let them think that you are having a jolly good time at their expense. Finally, do not forget to let the host taste the wine as well.
Gerard Basset is the current European Sommelier of the Year and proprietor of Hotel du Vin & Bistro, Winchester.
