Wine Class

Today at work my boss had a wine guy come in to teach the waiters the proper way to serve wine, how to recommend it, and the general procedure of drinking it in a restaurant. It was pretty interesting and lasted for a solid 45 minutes to an hour.
    It's pretty crazy, and is really like a science. He was explaining the reactions of different regions of the "palette" (taste bud groups on your tongue), how the rocks and minerals in the dirt affect the taste of the grapes, how the different barrel's affect the wine and release tannins that carry bitterness, how different bottles and different glasses "open up the wine" by releasing oxygen, all sorts of crazy stuff you wouldn't even consider. He also explained the various "bodies" of wine, which is the density and feel of it in your mouth, along with dryness and sweetness.
    Obviously because it was in a restaurant he taught us exactly which wines were meant for what foods, so we could give an educated recommendation to anyone who asked, and it goes a lot deeper than "red for beef white for fish/chicken", but that did tend to remain true as a general rule. He also gave us a break down on the proper etiquette to open and serve bottles (which is pretty hard to open the aluminum wrapper and **pull**, not pop the cork, while standing up without anything to place it on. But oddly enough, your never supposed to fill the glass more than about 1/3 full. You start with the person who bought the bottle, give them about a shot (1.5 oz) and wait for their response before filling it to about where the bulge in the middle begins, then go around and fill everyone else to the same spot.
    Besides the pretty cool information, we got to try about 8 bottles of $60-$100 wine. This was also sort of in time for the other wine post.

TL;DR: I got to go to a free class to taste expensive wine, learn the differences in each, and the proper way to serve it.

Everyone seemed pretty interested, so here's some scanned pages of an info packet he gave us:
http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/6929/001ll0.jpg
http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/6051/002gl4.jpg
http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/9915/003uj6.jpg



Edited by Dye Playa - 04 March 2008 at 11:19pm

I went to a restaurant called Boston's Yesterday.

Each entree had a little colored glass next to it.

There was a key on the side of the menu telling which color meant which wine.

Thought this almost was on topic.

Dye Playa wrote: choopie911 wrote: Damn dude that's sweet. Valuable life lessons. If that was sarcastic, whatever. It was really interesting, it's cool information to know, and I got paid to do it.

I wasn't sure if it would come off as sarcastic, but it wasn't supposed to. Wine-smarts is a handy thing to have. I'm totally lacking in that department, I need to step it up.

choopie911 wrote: Dye Playa wrote: choopie911 wrote: Damn dude that's sweet. Valuable life lessons. If that was sarcastic, whatever. It was really interesting, it's cool information to know, and I got paid to do it. I wasn't sure if it would come off as sarcastic, but it wasn't supposed to. Wine-smarts is a handy thing to have. I'm totally lacking in that department, I need to step it up.

Sorry then, I thought is was sarcastic at first. And Carl, your kind of wrong on that one since I am a waiter, so I will be applying most of it. And Choop, your right; wine smarts definitely is handy. You can look real classy giving advice or tying a meal together with the right wine- Not so much with girls my age, but older girls .

Remember when I took that wine tasting course and forgot how to drive?

A lot of the theroy behind wine drinking will probably not be used is what I meant.

tallen702 wrote: Did he teach you to roll the bottle while finishing a pour to keep the wine from dropping onto the guest/table? Also, if you serve champagne or sparkling wine, it is beneficial to "prime" the glasses with a small (1oz) bit of champagne before filling all the way to keep the carbonation from escaping as rapidly. And of course, always present the cork to the person who ordered the wine. While 90% of the people out there don't really know what to do with it, the other 10% will inspect it to ensure that the cork is still soft and supple, not dry and crumbly, which would be an indication of whether the wine had oxidized in the bottle during storage. Glad to see that they're teaching you and your fellow staff how to properly serve a bottle of wine. I constantly have to re-educate our service staff on the proper steps. Also, remember that a "standard" pour for wine is approximately 5oz. A 750ml bottle of wine has approximately 24.5oz in it meaning that you should get 5 standard pours from a bottle. For larger parties, you should always suggest a second bottle or a magnum (should you stock magnums) to ensure each guest is given a full share.

Although that is sort of common knowledge to twist the bottle to finish the pour, he did reiterate that point.

Yup, drop the cork to the right side of the glass of whoever buys the bottle.

Yea, that was what everyone was sort of surprised about, how the glass isn't even half full, and our guy said 1/3, but a 1/5 is pretty much the same. He said this is to prevent them from thinking you are trying to gouge them, because since the average bottle has about 4 glasses in it, if you go around filling everyone to the brim, the bottle is going to be empty after you get around the table, and it's going to sound bad when your asking if they would like a second before anyone even took a sip yet.

The biggest thing he kept saying though was to keep the label facing the host, the guy who bought the bottle. The only time it can be away from him is when you are cutting the wrapper, but every time besides that it should be facing him.

tallen702 wrote: carl_the_sniper wrote: A lot of the theroy behind wine drinking will probably not be used is what I meant. I dunno. After my education, I've found it is far easier to appreciate a good glass of wine (what is 'good' depends on the situation) than before. Prior to understanding the effects of malo-lactic fermentation, the way oak or stainless affects a finish, and how the terroir (the soil, water, and other effect of the growing environment) lends so much to the finished product, it was all just wet, alcohol-y, and good with dinner.

I meant more towards his job than personal enjoyment.

I still don't believe that the shape of the wine glass has any effect on the taste.

carl_the_sniper wrote: tallen702 wrote: carl_the_sniper wrote: A lot of the theroy behind wine drinking will probably not be used is what I meant. I dunno. After my education, I've found it is far easier to appreciate a good glass of wine (what is 'good' depends on the situation) than before. Prior to understanding the effects of malo-lactic fermentation, the way oak or stainless affects a finish, and how the terroir (the soil, water, and other effect of the growing environment) lends so much to the finished product, it was all just wet, alcohol-y, and good with dinner. I meant more towards his job than personal enjoyment. I still don't believe that the shape of the wine glass has any effect on the taste.

Well, according to this guy you don't want to keep an old old wine in the bottle once it is ordered. The older wine takes more time to open up it's flavor, so it need oxygen. The tight neck of a bottle doesn't allow for that flow, so instead of keeping such a wine in the bottle while the people are waiting for food, you pour it into this thing (it starts with a d, i forgot the term though) that increases the oxygen flow so instead of taking 45 minutes for an old wine to open, it may take like 10-15. I don't think the bottle has an affect on the taste while in storage, but directly after opening, the container's shape (even glasses) do have an affect. And now that I think about it, it's true. Ever taken a sip out of a brand new never opened bottle right after you pop the cork? It's bitter, but it eases up after a little bit in your glass or in the bottle.


Edited by Dye Playa - 04 March 2008 at 11:01pm

carl_the_sniper wrote: choopie911 wrote: carl_the_sniper wrote: tallen702 wrote: carl_the_sniper wrote: A lot of the theroy behind wine drinking will probably not be used is what I meant. I dunno. After my education, I've found it is far easier to appreciate a good glass of wine (what is 'good' depends on the situation) than before. Prior to understanding the effects of malo-lactic fermentation, the way oak or stainless affects a finish, and how the terroir (the soil, water, and other effect of the growing environment) lends so much to the finished product, it was all just wet, alcohol-y, and good with dinner. I meant more towards his job than personal enjoyment. I still don't believe that the shape of the wine glass has any effect on the taste. Wine in a narrow, narrow glass will taste different than in a shallow but wide one. I know that is said but I just don't believe it.

Why? Letting wine breathe changes how it tastes. Narrower glass = less exposed to air. Wide glass = more exposed to air...it breathes more, and more quickly.