Tasting Wine At A Restaurant

Misunderstanding and uneasiness surrounds the simple task of tasting wine at a restaurant.

The waiter or sommelier will pour a taste of wine (usually to the man-but it seems increasingly common for the taste to go to the lady, when the waiter/sommelier senses a comfort factor with the process) and then a tense silence tends to occur as all eyes are on you as you prepare to taste.

Here's the deal...You are NOT tasting to determine if you like or approve the wine.  You ARE tasting to determine if the wine is a CORKED wine. 

A corked wine is one in which air has entered the bottle of wine and spoiled it.  A  "corky", stale, flat taste will result. This is a very rare occasion caused by a defective cork or most often in a very old bottle.

99.9% of the time, a simple smell of the nose of the wine, or a quick taste will be enough to assure the waiter/sommelier that the bottle is not defective.

On the rare occasion of a defect, you may have the waiter/sommelier smell or taste the wine and a quick replacement will take place.

I have personally experienced only one bottle defect in years of wine enjoyment. The refinement of bottling practices and the American habit of drinking recent vintages have rendered this tasting tradition to a near symbolic status.

So, relax and act like a true wine connoisseur and taste like a man--or, a woman.

Comments

[dan perkins]

Great point Randy.

Cork taint or what the big boys call TCA or what the even bigger boys call trichloroanisole is a bacteria that inhabits the wine through varied means; most of which occur through affected corks but can also come from the wineries themselves or the equipment used to bottle the wine. TCA is not harmful and at low levels can be mostly unnoticed. The key is what you pointed out; the "smell." Cork taint can be detected by a musty, "wet coat" kind of odor. Although the wine is drinkable the taste experience first goes through the nose before the tongue and a tainted wine will taste different.

Because cork taint seems to affect about 5% of all wine distributed this has proven to be a significant loss to wine makers over the years. Lately, new methods such as synthetic corks, Stevin screw caps and (my favorite) the new glass closures have been greatly embraced by the industry but with some reticence from the public.

Another thing for your readers to consider is bottle temperature. I have been to some restaurants where keeping their wines exposed in the dining room, to be used as a decoration, often spoils the taste of the wine. Especially, when they are kept near the kitchen.

For optimal flavors, wine should be served between 55 and 65 degrees (lower preferably) for reds and 42-55 for whites, depending on varietal. Bottles kept out and near a kitchen can reach temps over 80 degrees. If this happens the taste will be greatly affected and ruin the purpose of pairing that nice $85 bottle of Petite Sirah with a $42 cut of lamb... So, even if the wine isn't returnable due to winning the bad-wine lottery it is because the people storing the wine for your enjoyment simply weren't prepared for your impeccable standards!

Cheers.

[Ferd Berfel]

I purchased a wine tasting at vineyard in Sonoma last year. One of the reds I tasted was obviously corked. I told the attendant and he didn't know what I was talking about (true!) so he got the manager. The manager agreed the wine was corked. But the thing that disturbed me the most was the bottle was already 2/3 empty; all of the previous tasters were either clueless, or too embarrassed to say anything.