Banfi Vintners

Five Card Draw

Your enthusiasm will take you far—but only so far as you make your pitch. You must read the table as you speak.

Ever play poker?

Everyone has a “tell,” a body movement that denotes pleasure. For some, the eyes open wide, or the head tips left, the chin comes up, or the lips purse. Pay attention to the body language. It lets you know if (and with whom) you are “connecting.” 

This is never more important than at the end of the meal when you are hoping for the dessert order. Some tables opt for sweets; some tables opt out. Key to making this sale is selling the alpha buyer.

Hopefully, by now, you’ve located the power source at the table. If you can convince this individual to order dessert, even if it is only an after-dinner drink or cup of coffee, the other guests will more than likely follow suit.

Table Service the Art of Opening the Bottle

Wine likes to be treated with respect. It’s not something that you bring to the table clutched round the neck like a dead chicken. It’s not plunked on the table like a sack of potatoes.

Customers watch how you handle the bottle. (Half of them are hoping to pick up some pointers from you!) Bring the bottle to the table and present it to the host, resting against your forearm, label up.

Wait for the nod of acceptance. Make sure that the host acknowledges and accepts the bottle in your hand before proceeding to pop the cork.

Then,

 

  1. Using the knife on your corkscrew or foil cutter, cut around the foil capsule along the raised lip near the mouth of the bottle.
  2. Insert the tip of the worm (the spiral) of your corkscrew into the center of the cork and give a twist.
  3. While holding the bottle with one hand, turn the corkscrew until the entire spiral has entered the cork.
  4. Place the lever on the lip of the bottle and hold it in place with one hand while the other slowly pulls the handle of the corkscrew upward in order to extract the cork.

 

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Server One: Would you like a cup of coffee?

Server Two: How about a steaming mug of java…laced with your favorite liqueur?

Which server sells you?

The indentation on the bottom of a wine bottle is called the “punt.” It is a carry-over from the days when bottles where blown by hand. The glassblower kept the molten bottle horizontal as he worked through the use of a wooden stick called the pontil. The glass, being soft, took on an indentation from the pressure of the wood.

Although machine-made glass bottles need not maintain the “punt”, many do. The increased surface area of the glass makes the bottle stronger.

Ever wonder why the wine bottle is the size that it is? Bottle size dates back to the hand-blown glass blowing days. Bottle size represents one full breath…the total capacity of two lungs full of air.

Never put the cut capsule from the wine bottle in the wine bucket or on the table. It goes into your pocket or apron.

Ideally, removing a cork is a two-step process. Pull the cork most of the way out of the bottle using the corkscrew and lever action—then grasp the cork and ease it from the bottle by hand.

A “corked” bottle of wine refers to a wine that has pronounced wet-basement, wet-wool, wet-dog, wet-newspaper aromas. Although the taint is caused by a mold, it is not the mold that you may see underneath the capsule.

Screw caps are becoming more and more popular as bottle seals and are employed at every price point. Screw caps eliminate the threat of cork taint and premature oxidation. They allow the wine in each bottle to mature and develop its true character, uniformly and naturally, as intended by the winemaker.  They also eliminate the need for a wine opener. Very handy.