Since my business Vitis Vitae (Vine Life) is an infant that I am trying to grow into a viable,dynamic wine based company offering Wine Tasting Events, Consulting, and Education Provider, I am still working full time as well as running the business. I work in the only true Fine Dining Restaurant in the Guelph area - The Aberfoyle Mill. I have never believed in cutting off your nose to spite your face, and I happen to love working in a great restaurant. The dynamics of giving great service are fascinating to someone like me - I love making that first contact with customers, and reading their needs to judge what style of service will best make their experience the best I can. Some people want active participation, conversation, hints and ideas, or just plain help deciding, wheras others want silent, seamless service with no chit-chat. Both are completely correct, it just depends on the customer.
The one thing that should have no variation or room for interpretation is proper wine service. The customer may request help in choosing the bottle, or ask for advice, but the service part is critical. The bottle must be presented to the person who ordered it from their right hand side where possible, label up, and verbally repeat the name of the wine and the vintage to ensure this is the wine the customer ordered. Upon acceptance, remove the foil capsule below the ridge to ensure that the wine when poured will not contact the foil. The cork is to be extracted using a double lever corkscrew, ensuring the cork doesn't break (sometimes happens no matter what!). The bottle should be opened in the air beside the table in restaurants that do not have a gueridon or wine service cart. The top of the bottle should be wiped with a clean white cloth, around the rim and just inside the opening. Pour a small 1 - 2 oz. sample into the glass of the person who ordered the wine for approval. All beverage service is done from the right of the guest to avoid crossing your arm in front of them. The host will taste the wine and approve or reject the bottle. Not liking the taste of a wine is very rarely a reason to return a bottle - the purpose of the taste is to ensure the wine is in good condition before pouring for the guests at the table. The order of pouring is to start with the guest of honour, or the most senior female at the table, and move in a clockwise fashion aroun the table, ending with the host. Wine glasses are not to be overfilled, and judgement is needed when pouring to ensure equal pours, especially if one bottle has been ordered for 6 guests - nothing worse than overpouring, and not having enough to fill the host's glass.
Some wines require decanting, special glassware etc. and these services should automatically be given when the wine requires them.
Hints for ordering the best wine from a wine list - for a large group, pick something that will go with a lot of food choices, not too expensive will do, as conversation will be more important that the quiet enjoyment of a great bottle of wine. Look a the mid-priced selections to find interesting, good value wines. A good selection in the $40 - $60 range means the restaurant really cares about wine, not just offering high priced prestige selections. If wines are offered by the glass as well as the bottle, try something different! If you like it, order the bottle, because if you need a bit more to get through dinner, but not a full bottle, a single glass or 1/2 litre will be available.
The profit on wine is substantial, but not exorbitant. The general mark up is 2 to 2 1/2 times, unlike liquor which is about 6 times cost. This has to cover the costs of holding inventory, glassware (which does break), training service staff, and allows for the possibility of a corked or out of condition bottle.
Beware of restaurants with what looks like a good wine list, only to find out they are out of stock of many selections, ones that substitute vintages, or don't list them in the printed wine list, and ones that charge full mark up but don't offer proper service or glassware. This is cheating!
Restaurants offer wine to compliment the food they serve, not to rip you off. They will survive on food sales alone, but choose to keep wines to enhance your experience. Make your selction carefully, and enjoy yourself! Life is too short to drink bad wine.
If you have had a poor wine experience in a restaurant, let me know, and perhaps I'll contact them to offer training and consulting to improve your dining experience. My company is Vitis Vitae, and my website is www.vitisvitae.com . I can help them, they just need to admit they need help! (Sounds like treatment for an addiction!)
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