Wine: Coping with customers

For those who enjoy eating out, seeing a familiar maître d' or sommelier can be a great incentive to return to a restaurant. Feeling welcome and receiving friendly service are as important as the quality of the food, and can certainly help to build a regular clientele.

People eat in restaurants for different reasons - some for business, others for pleasure - and some want to be quick over their meal, others slow. Some may want to talk with the staff; others may want more discreet service.

Many customers feel comfortable in a restaurant situation, but others may not. They may find the whole process quite intimidating - especially when it comes to the wine list. Having to choose a good wine from a list of perhaps hundreds - one that suits everyone's taste, matches the menu and fits into the intended budget - can be quite daunting.

The test of a good sommelier is to make customers feel confident and at ease with their choices. This is done by quickly assessing their needs, their tastes and their budget. Customer confidence is often gained by the sommelier showing strong menu knowledge, wine list knowledge and an enthusiasm for the guests to enjoy themselves, regardless of what they wish to spend.

Remember that not all customers care as much about wine as sommeliers think they should, so simple wines should be served with as much passion and care as the more expensive wines.

The very best sommeliers can provide all this and, by gaining the customers' trust, can return for extra sales of wines by the glass for cheese or dessert and for digestifs - the guests may spend more than they intended but will be happy to do so, as they have been given good advice and service.

It's true that sommeliers have, in the past, been accused of being overbearing, dismissive or too pompous with some clients. Luckily, we see less and less of this style of service now, and as customers become more familiar with the sommelier's role, and general wine knowledge increases, they are less intimidated.

Common sense

Although all establishments have their own rules and policies regarding guests, here is a guide to handling some situations that relate to wine service - all based on common sense, diplomacy and, of course, impeccable manners. The rule is that the customer must not be made to look foolish - in fact, the ability to achieve this end result can often be the ultimate test of good front-of-house staff.

Some of these situations may occur at the beginning of the service, so it is very important to deal with them quickly. The more time a customer has to wait, or to argue, the less comfortable they will feel for the rest of the lunch or dinner. With a bad beginning, negative comments will start to arise about all aspects of the restaurant - quality of the bread, staff uniforms, the wait between starter and main course, etc - and disgruntled guests talk between themselves. To avoid this, prompt action is essential.

Tales of the unexpected

Corked wine

A corked wine is tainted by a chemical known as trichloroanisole (TCA), which occurs naturally in cork bark. In extreme cases, the wine smells of dusty walnut shells and is quite obviously not correct. In lesser cases, the wine can simply taste flat - less acidity, less fruit, less complexity than usual.

• Ideally, all wines served to customers should be tasted, or at least nosed, by a sommelier before serving. In theory, a corked wine should never reach the table. However, some wine may not begin to release "off" aromas until several minutes after being poured into a glass or carafe, so do not dismiss customers' comments until retesting the wine. If it is corked, obviously you should replace the wine immediately.
• In a situation where the wine appears not to be corked and is, in fact, simply not to the customer's taste, it is always better to just replace the wine with another choice.

Sommeliers can gain a bad reputation for arguing with customers over this matter, with the result being that the customer does not enjoy his dinner and will probably not return to the restaurant again. A smart sommelier will be able to sell returned wine by the glass, anyway. I have seen some ridiculous behaviour over this matter, with sommeliers taking it very personally if a customer sends wine back.

Other wine faults

Listed below are some other common wine faults. If they are not discovered until after the wine is served to the customer, the same course of action is always required: replace the bottle or glass.

• Oxidation of some wines can produce a deep amber- or copper-coloured wine, making it look older than its age because it has slightly maderised and its flavour has become fat and flabby. This may be caused by poor storage prior to bottling, or corks that do not provide an adequate seal.
• Volatile acidity can develop in wines that have been fermented with certain yeast strains or in wines that have been in contact with acetobacter mould, giving the wine an unusually sharp, vinegary flavour. This can be a sign of poor, unclean winemaking or wine that has been left open for too long.
• Hydrogen sulphide can aid the formation of mercaptans, giving rotten egg or burnt match aromas, again in the fermentation process. Strong sulphur aromas can be removed by leaving a copper coin in the wine for a few minutes - obviously, not in front of customers.
• The wrong type of cork was used. Due to the huge volume of corks now being used by the wine industry, cork manufacturers have been known to use cork that is found too close to the centre of the tree and has not yet fully developed, or cork that comes from too close to the ground. In both cases, they can pass on bad flavours to the wine.

Screwcapped wine will reduce the chances of encountering these problems. Wine under screwcap will also make any winemaking faults more pronounced than cork, so it is more likely that greater attention to winemaking practice has been applied to screwcap wines.

These closures are becoming more and more widely accepted and should be the sensible choice for at least 80% of the wine produced in the world - which would allow a better quality of cork to be used for premium wines.

We always offer screwcap wine to customers to taste, just as we would do with cork closures. This is done more as a courtesy to the customer and to make sure they are happy with the wine, rather than as a quality check.

Foreign objects

Sometimes, things may be found floating in the wine, such as pieces of cork or even insects. The whole bottle should be replaced in some cases, while in others the wine glass should be taken from the table, the object removed and the wine poured into a fresh glass before returning it to the customer.

Spillage

This can be a very expensive mistake if it is the fault of the server. A manager must immediately be informed, and a damp, clean napkin must be provided if wine is spilled on customers' clothing. If on the table cloth, either the customer should be relocated to another table by a manager, or the area of the spill should be cleared and clean napkins placed over the spillage. The utmost in charm and manners are required if the customer is upset, while a fast and efficient solution will calm customers quickly.

Mixing wine with water or different wines

This should never happen, as care should always be taken when pouring wines that table numbers are clearly labelled. If mixing occurs, the wines must be replaced, with apologies. Staff may be expected to pay for the wines in such situations (at the discretion of the head sommelier or manager), and if it happens more than once, disciplinary action may be taken.