Should sommeliers sip wine before serving it? A debate is rekindled
Once upon a time, sommeliers would graciously pre-taste the wine of kings and queens in order to foil potential poisoning attempts. That tradition has stuck around over the centuries, morphing into something less dramatic: in some restaurants, the sommelier will take a small sip from a bottle before serving it to a customer—usually without the customer knowing—in order to ensure the wine isn’t flawed. It’s a practice that Eric Asimov of the New York Times is seeing more and more often—and it’s coming with more and more controversy.
Some customers are appalled at the prospect of sharing their expensive wine with the house. But a small taste from the sommelier can often prevent feelings of uncertainty or embarrassment, which makes it worth the sacrifice, as far as Asimov is concerned. After all, nobody wants to serve a bad bottle of wine, and customers are often reluctant to speak up if they suspect their bottle is not up to par. Others say it’s condescending to assume that a customer can’t decide for themselves.
“A sommelier worth his salt will let the customer decide on whether the wine is drinkable or not,” Toronto wine expert Tony Aspler tells us. “A quick sniff of the cork will alert the server if there is a potential problem with the bottle. At that point, the server can warn the customer that there may be a fault.”
For sommelier Zoltan Szabo, allowing customers to make their own decisions is a win-win scenario. “Once they have declared that the wine is fine, they will enjoy it,” he says. “They have to. After all, they just finished saying it was excellent, and they are also proud of their choice, showing off in front of their dinner companions.”
One thing is certain, though: a zero-tasting policy is decidedly less interesting for the sommelier. Jamie Drummond, a Toronto sommelier and director of programs at Good Food Media, admits he’s learned “a hell of a lot” about wine through years of working at establishments where the practice was commonplace. Still, he thinks it’s outdated. “I think that the practice is now viewed as being rather démodé and archaic,” says Drummond. “Although, I can still see it working in certain establishments—namely démodé and archaic ones.”
A proper sommelier like myself knows exactly when to taste a customer’s pre-ordered bottle of wine, or, when not to do so. It is a matter of order, as well as matters of trust, for the customer is not always right.
For example, if a client is drinking a lovely glass of Champagne, or, another white wine for that matter, and would like to have a heavier red wine to follow (say a lovely aged Bordeaux), a particular bottle of wine that needs decanting of at least a half-hour in advance, it is the sommelier’s duty to make sure that particular bottle of red wine is fit to drink in future, without disrupting the taste buds to the client. Lobster and Champagne = nice combo. Lobster and Champagne plus a tasting sip of Chateau Margaux on the side = not nice at all.
Further, if a decanted bottle of wine is found to be “off” by a client (because the sommelier did not taste it first), that sommelier and diner cannot afford to wait another half-hour or more to procure another bottle of wine, without a total waste of time and lacklustre dining experience to follow. Order must prevail, and the show must go on.
Any gastronome knows this is proper conduct for a sommelier, and fully trusts him/her to do so when particular bottles of wine are on order. A sommelier of note is one whom thinks for clients when they dine, in advance of them needing to ask for things. If the sommelier needs to open your bottle and sip to make sure it is ready in time for you, well, that is totally what he/she needs to do to keep your dinner experience the best possible.
Further, a proper sommelier will often taste a newly ordered bottle if a client has just sent another back (which is in fact not corked nor flawed in any way), and the client appears to be making a game out of ordering other bottles. It is the sommelier’s duty to put a stop to this potentially wasteful and reckless ordering behaviour, before all the Domaine Dujac is opened, and the restaurant is out hundreds of dollars.
What is not proper conduct is a sommelier whom treats clients as if he/she knows best, ALL THE TIME. For instance, when my partner took me to ‘Parigee’ for my birthday dinner. Well, when it came time to order an additional glass of red wine, above and beyond what we had already ordered by the bottle, the sommelier working there that night decided the glass of Chinon I ORDERED, was not appropriate to match with my cheese plate, IN HIS opinion, and I was served something else… Well, this sent me through the roof, and I let the maitre d’ hotel know about this ridiculous behaviour before I left the premises. (My guess is this sommelier’s behaviour probably was a major reason why this particular restaurant is no more…)
Cheers,
R.M.
“A proper sommelier like myself”? Anyone who describes himself this way is exactly the the kind of person I don’t want giving me wine advice.
Is this you Richard? Good grief!
if the dining experience was even a fraction as impressive as the propietor(s)’s opinion of themselves (and, their opinion of their establishment seems boundless), then it would be well-worth the price tag. unfortunately, the only aspect of the experience that approximates what you can find for the same price elsewhere is the attitude.
below is a duplicate, identifying information taken out, of an email recently received from them (a reservation was made and then cancelled 2 days in advance):
From: “Dine at Rundles”
Date: June 18, 2010 11:28:12 PM EDT
Subject: RE: cancel saturday reservation please
Thanks for wasting my time.
Richard
astoundingly horrible customer service and basic manners. i had recommended this dining option to my father as part of a Stratford birthday outing. i can’t believe how he was treated. i will never set foot in this place again!
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amermaid Jun 22, 2010 11:56AM
hahahahahahahahahaha
Oh sommeliers, I love how the stereotype of them still lives on.