WINE SERVICE - Professional Skills in Hospitality

Tasting wine is simply the activity of drinking wine to examine its flavors.  You don't need the costly and rigorous certification of a Sommelier to learn how to appreciate the subtle nuances in flavor and aroma of a wine. Here we will discuss how to taste wine, using the deductive method.

Wine is a beverage with a storied history, dating back to Ancient Egypt and longer and will no doubt carry on until the end of time. If you're a fan or just starting to learn about wine, you'll soon find out not all wine tastes the same or tastes how the maker wanted it to. Inevitably there's going to be times when wine goes bad for various reasons in various ways. Unlike hard alcohol, wine can go bad much easier.

To that end, we'll discuss some common wine imperfections and how to detect them.

Specifically we will look at:

• Cork Taint

• Oxidation

• Sulphur

• High Acidity

• Brettan o my ceees

• Sediments and Deposits

• Heat

Deciphering wine labels can often be confusing. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of information contained in a small area, and no universal standard for labeling wine. (The country of origin typically sets the rules for how bottles should be labeled).

Sometimes a grape varietal is listed and other times just a region is mentioned; which can make determining what kind of wine is contained in the bottle unclear. Here we will review how to decode wine labels enabling you to know what type of wine, region or vineyard and other pertinent information from the New World, (wines  produced outside Europe and North Africa, specifically those from Australia, Canada, Argentina, South Africa, New Zealand, Chile, and the United States. And the harder to understand European labels of the Old World, (France, Italy, Germany, Spain and all of Europe etc…)

If you're new to the restaurant or bar hospitality business or in it for awhile and don't open bottles of wine for guests too often or ever, and you want some instruction, here you go! Here we'll teach you step by step how to open wine for guests in a restaurant setting.

What's a decanter? What's it used for? Maybe you know what it is, but are scared or confused to why to use a decanter. Not anymore! In this section we'll teach you why to decant wines and how to do it step by step.

So many glasses, so little time. Does anyone really care about glasses? Well, it does make a difference on which type of glass you use for what type of beverage. Here we review and recommend different types of glassware for Beer, Wine and alcoholic beverages and cocktails.

Sabrage: The act of opening a bottle, usually champagne, with a sabre.

-Oxford English Dictionary

Not that common but spectacular when executed properly; the art of Sabrage can be a great way to start a formal dinner or end a ceremony. The dramatic nature of a sabre (short sword) in someone’s hand alone is something most would take note of. Add a bottle of Champagne and all will be paying attention to what’s going to happen next. While not often called for, we will learn how to execute this timeless and thrilling way to open Sparkling Wine/Champagne.

**Disclaimer: Opening a bottle of wine with a sabre is dangerous; please be extremely careful when attempting.