How to Run a Proper Wine Service?
It is not necessary to possess a wine bar in order to deliver great wines. A wine's capacity to improve the visitor experience, enrich your food, and increase alcohol sales is unrivalled in the tourism industry. Because wine has its own set of service and decorum requirements, it might be scary for those who are unfamiliar with these expectations. It is our goal to guide you through the basics of delivering great wine service, assisting you in the selection, presentation, and pouring of wines to guarantee that your customers have a good wine experience.
What Exactly Is Wine Service, and How Does It Work?
It is the practise of serving a whole bottle of wine to a group of people at a table of eight or more. It is not necessary to go through the whole serving procedure when a visitor requests a single glass of wine. The great bulk of the wines available by the glass are stored behind the bar, where the bartender fills a single glass for each server.. Guests are served wine by the bottle from the waiter at their table.
Service Methods for Serving Wine
We've put up a straightforward guide to assist you with your wine service. In order to give your visitors their favourite bottle of wine, follow the five wine serving guidelines outlined in the following section.
1. Pass out red wine glasses from the Wine List to each and every guest. 2.
When it comes to selling wine successfully, a restaurant does not need to store hundreds of bottles or employ a full-time sommelier. A well-balanced wine selection that includes wines at various price ranges will allow you to pull it off successfully. If you manage a casual café with a bustling midday audience, a smaller wine selection is ideal for your establishment. If you provide a full dinner service, your visitors may anticipate a more varied wine selection from your establishment. Check out our wine list guide if you want to learn more about putting together the ideal wine selection.
Following the seating of all guests, go to the wine list, which will look something like this:
Provide each tourist with a wine list - Starting on the right, hand out a wine list to each visitor. There should never be a wine list on the table while dining with friends. Instead, when each visitor has been appropriately seated, offer them with a list of the people who have been there.
Respond to guest inquiries - Be prepared to answer any questions about meal pairings, wine quality, and wine vintages that may come up during your shift.
Take the order - Once everyone at the table has decided on a wine, repeat the order to make sure everyone understands it.
The bartender will bring you a glass of wine when you request it. Bring the single glass of wine and any additional drinks to the table as soon as the bartender has finished pouring them. If you just want one glass of wine, you don't need the whole wine service.
The management team may need to open the wine cabinet to get complete bottles of liquor, depending on how your restaurant keeps its liquor.
2. Arrange the Wine Glasses in a pleasing manner.
Once the table has placed an order for a bottle of wine, you must choose the appropriate glasses. When it comes to wine glasses, they are created to complement the kind of wine you are drinking. Please refer to our wine glass shopping guide for additional information on the many different varieties of wine glasses that are available. You may take the glasses and put them up for service while the guests are looking over their dinner menus.
Select wine glasses that are appropriate for the kind of wine being served, whether it is red, white, or sparkling.
Examine the glassware - Look for chipped, stains, or other faults in each wine glass before serving.
Polish the glassware - Using a clean cloth, give the wine glasses a last polish before serving. Make a visual inspection of the bowl of the glass to look for fingerprints. If you find yourself in this situation, gloves may be useful.
After washing and polishing the glassware, set it on a tray by holding it by the stem.
The wine glasses should be brought out - Place a wine glass to each guest's right, with just a little amount of stem touching the glass. Each visitor's wine cups should be in the same position as the others.. If a visitor refuses to accept the glass, quietly take it from the table.
3. The temperature at which wine is served
Each kind of wine should be served at the proper temperature for that particular variety. With the help of wine coolers, you can precisely regulate the temperature of your wines. It is possible that you may need to make some adjustments if you are not utilising temperature control to ensure that your wines are at the proper serving temperature when a bottle is desired. You may also discover that your visitors have a variety of tastes when it comes to wine temperature. Be prepared to change your wine temperatures as needed, but keep the following basic temperature guidelines in mind when planning your wine tasting:
Temperature of Red Wine - Serve red wine at temperatures ranging from 62 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit, which is somewhat cooler than room temperature. If the red wines you're serving don't have a temperature control, try cooling them slightly before serving to bring the temperature down a couple of degrees.
Temperature of White Wine - White wines and roses should be served chilled, between 50 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the winemaker.
Temperature of Sparkling Wine - Store sparkling wine at 50 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit; however, serve it cooled at 40 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit when serving. If your visitors purchase a bottle of sparkling wine, be sure to cool it immediately to reduce the temperature.
4. The Proper Way to Open and Serve a Bottle of Wine
For those who are unfamiliar with the use of a wine key at the table, opening a bottle of wine at the table may be scary. Your visitors will have a negative perception of your ability to handle the foil or cork if you are unable to do it successfully. A wine key is one of the most efficient ways to increase the quality of your wine service. Make sure that all of your waiters are comfortable with a wine key.
What Exactly Is a Wine Key, and How Does It Work?
A wine key is a kind of corkscrew that is simple to operate and small enough to put in the pocket of a server's apron. Wine keys may also be created with the use of a built-in foil cutter. Place the lever on the bottle's lip to produce leverage when using a wine key to open a bottle effectively.
How to Open a Wine Bottle
Whenever possible, avoid placing a wine bottle on a table and always handle it in the air when doing so. Uncorking a wine bottle using a wine key is as simple as following these steps:
Show the bottle to the person who placed the order for the wine before using the wine key. Hold the bottle up to the label and identify the vineyard, grape variety, growing area, and vintage on the label. You may begin uncorking the wine when the visitor has established that the bottle is in fact the proper one.
A foil cutter or the little knife included with a waiter's style wine key may be used to remove around half an inch off the bottle's rim while cutting the foil. This stops the wine from coming into contact with the foil, which may aid in the prevention of leaks from occurring.
Open the wine key so that both the corkscrew and the lever are facing the cork while it is in the open position.
Insert the corkscrew, sometimes known as a worm, into the cork and twist it to tighten it.
Continue to twist the corkscrew until the first notch on the lever is flush with the lip of the bottle, then stop.
When you're finished, lift the corkscrew up and press the lever against the lip of the bottle. It is expected that the cork will be pulled about halfway out of the bottle as a result of the accompanying leverage.
Because of this, the second notch on the lever is now aligned with the lip of the bottle.
Pull the cork all the way out of the bottle using the leverage provided by the second notch. If there is a notch in the cork, the cork will simply pull away from the bottle.
Clean the cork and the top of the bottle with a damp cloth. This aids in the removal of cork debris and dust from the storage area.
When a visitor wants to double-check that the branding on the cork matches the logo on the bottle, they should show him or her the cork.
Before beginning to pour for the table, pour a little bit of wine for the visitor and ask for permission before continuing.
Pouring White Wine Into a Glass
After the wine bottle has been opened and the host has given his or her agreement, it is time to begin pouring for the table at the table. To produce a smooth wine pour, follow the steps outlined below:
Consider how many people will be drinking before you begin pouring the first glass of wine or champagne. A typical 750 mL bottle of wine will provide around five pours. According to the number of visitors, adjust the quantity of liquid poured into each glass, and never fill a glass more than halfway with liquid.
While holding the bottle, wrap it in a clean white napkin or put on a pair of white waiter's gloves. This aids in the regulation of the temperature of chilled wine.
Traditionally, the eldest lady at the table is the one who receives the first course. The waiter goes around the table in a clockwise direction until all of the ladies have been served, then loops back around for the males. Some individuals think that this is a practise that is no longer relevant nowadays. Today's popular practise is to start with the person on the host's left, regardless of gender, and make your way around the table in a clockwise direction. No matter what happens, the person who inquired about the wine is always the last one to be served.
Pour from the right side of the guest's body. Finish each pour with a twisting motion, then wipe the bottle's mouth to prevent leaks from occurring.
Obtain permission to remove the cork from the table and place the bottle to the right of the host, with the label facing outwards, before serving.
When serving chilled wines, ask your guests whether they want a bucket of ice on the table or if they like the bottle to be put in a wine cooler before pouring the wine.
Return to the table on a regular basis to replenish the wine glasses. When the bottle is completely depleted, inquire with the table about if they would want to order another bottle.
