If there is one thing a restaurateur understands, it would be that patrons expect to get what they pay for. From service to the quality and presentation of foods and fine wines, everything must be kept to the highest of standards for the discerning palate. Unfortunately, many restaurateurs don’t fully appreciate what it takes to serve a fine wine. The secret to serving an award-winning wine goes far beyond that annual wine tasting trip to the best wine regions of France like the Loir Valley, Burgundy, Champagne or Bordeaux.
A Look at How Fine Wines Are Stored
If you are contemplating buying fine wine like Bodega Aleanna El Enemigo Chardonna to serve at your 5-star restaurant, there is much you should understand about how to store each and every type of wine and their varietals. Temperature control is a huge concern as are several other conditions under which fine wines should be stored, such as storage with an integrated wine cooler. Going on a trip to the wine regions of France to bring home pallet after pallet of fine wine isn’t where serving those award-winning wines ends. It is all too easy to ruin a fine wine with improper storage conditions.
This year, before you go on that wine-tasting trip across the Channel, why not tour Octavian in Wiltshire where fine wines are stored under strict conditions 100 feet below sea level? Here you will see not only shipments of this year’s vintage set out to mature under optimal conditions, but you will also get a first-hand look at the care in which private collectors store their precious finds.
Hire an Experienced Sommelier
Another aspect of serving fine wines at your restaurant is in presentation. You have undoubtedly heard that presentation is the name of the game in the food industry, and so too it is with fine wines. Never expect a food server to open and present a bottle of fine wine because there is an artistry to the presentation. Each type of wine necessitates a unique form of presentation and each wine needs to be tasted at a specific temperature.
From the uncorking of a rare classic wine to the swirling and aeration before presenting it to the customer, there is a precise method to be followed. Many patrons are as impressed with a sommelier’s artistic presentation as they are with the way in which the chosen wine delights the senses when it is presented.
Serving Fine Wines Is an Ongoing Pursuit
It isn’t enough to visit the most notable wine regions around the world just once in your career as a restaurateur. Being able to keep a well-stocked wine cellar is an ongoing pursuit because each vintage is different than the last. If you can’t make annual trips abroad, at least plan on bringing representatives to your restaurant on alternate years. Learn all that you can about each type with its many varietals and then learn to distinguish the various notes each wine exhibits. It can’t be said enough that serving fine wine is something which takes an appreciation for how each wine is produced, stored and served. The secret to serving fine wine is in becoming an expert and that’s a lifelong journey you won’t regret.
1 comment
You can open a bottle of champagne (or any sparkling wine) carefully and quietly, with a pop or with a fountain of foam, or you can use a method called “sabrage” https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-hundred-ways-to-decapitate-a-champagne-bottle-1459345156 . Sabrage is a way of famously, in a Hussar way, to open champagne with a blow of the blade. It happens quickly, but it looks very impressive! This is a great option for uncorking bottles at lavish ceremonies and on especially solemn occasions.