Let’s say you asked for a bottle of Napa Valley Chateau Montelena and it comes to your table already opened. If they don’t show you the uncorked bottle, you’ve got a problem… Send the bottle back.
Don’t let the waiter or sommelier pull the cork in some distant part of the bar or kitchen and arrive at your table ready to pour. Tradition holds that they must show you the bottle so you know you’re getting the wine you just ordered and not a substitute – or that it was not opened earlier in the day and refilled with something else.
Look carefully at the wine label. Take the time to check the name and the vintage. It’s not uncommon for someone to make an innocent mistake, especially at dinner rush, and bring the wrong wine. Make sure you get what you asked for. There’s no shame in asking to see the bottle.
With the bottle in front of you:
— Check for a leaky capsule. Seepage around the neck means it may have seen poor handling or storage and it could affect the taste.
— Visually check the level of the wine in the bottle. If the level is much below the neck, it could also mean trouble.
— Feel the bottle. This is very important, especially in a restaurant. For red wine, the bottle should be cool, not warm to the touch. Temperature drastically affects the taste of the wine and can mean the difference between great taste and spoiled wine. The ideal room temperature for storage should be at about 50-55 degrees. White wine should feel cool, not like an ice cold bottle of soda.
— Check the cork, which adds fun to the detective work of making sure you’ve got the wine you want. Do look at it but, of course, don’t sniff it… Does the information on the cork correspond to what’s on the label? Inexpensive wine may not have matching information on the cork, but there’s usually a distinctive branding mark with some part of the name to prevent fraud.
— Are pieces of cork floating in the wine? Don’t worry about it. If there are cork fragments in the glass, fish them out. A little piece of cork never hurt any glass of wine or anyone drinking it. People get agitated when they see floating cork bits and think they should throw the glass of wine away. Only do so if the cork is totally crumbled, and covers the surface of your glass. This would mean the cork is really old and the wine may or may not be in top condition.
Restaurants tend to train their staff to keep on pouring. The more you drink, they conclude, the more you’ll reorder. The truth is that one of the biggest, if not the biggest revenue producer in restaurants is wine, because of the huge markup. So, while you’re chatting away and having a good time, they keep filling your glass….
…Take charge and don’t despair. You’re there to enjoy yourself. Don’t be a restaurant wine victim. Don’t be bullied!
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Great post – the whole “wine ritual” can be intimidating so this information is definitely valuable. There seems to be an urge by many people to always put whites and sparkling wine in ice buckets, which is rarely necessary.
Here’s my question – have you ever sent a wine back? If so, how did it go?
I’ve sent a wine back on a couple of occasions when I thought it was corked. If I suspect a wine may be corked, I’ll usually let it sit for a while to see if it’s something else that blows off. If it doesn’t blow off, I make sure at least someone else at the table reached the same conclusion. In both instances the waiter understood, made no fuss, and quickly replaced the bottle. No problems.
I’ve also had a couple times where the waiter has brought the wrong bottle–usually because he or she didn’t hear, or I mumbled. We chuckle, the right bottle comes out, problem solved.
I’ve never sent a wine back because I didn’t like it. I figure I picked it, if I don’t like it, I’m the one who should take the hit. It’s not like where the kitchen staff prepares something poorly. Their error, they can correct it. But the restaurant staff has no responsibility for my selection of a disappointing wine.