Restaurateurs are often true experts in cooking and gastronomy, but sometimes lack knowledge of oenology. However, combining a great wine list with a quality menu can make all the difference. But nothing beats a nice wine list if the service doesn't follow suit. Find out how to properly serve wine in a restaurant .
Pay attention to the serving temperature of the wine
The serving temperature of a wine is undoubtedly the most important criterion for the aromas to be released intensely. But wines are not all kept at the same temperature, so you have to anticipate before each service, and take the bottles of wine out of the cellar at the right time .
If the wine cellar is not cool enough, certain wines should be chilled before serving. This is the case for champagne and sweet wine, which must be served at 8°C on average.
If your wine bottle storage space is at the ideal temperature of 10-12°C, then you can pull out the white and rosé wine bottles at the last minute, which will then be at their ideal serving temperature .
Red wines, for their part, must be taken out in advance, to allow a gradual rise in temperature, until reaching a serving temperature of between 12 and 18°C depending on the wine.
Take the time to present the wine to the customer
If you wish to serve wine according to the rules of the art , the sommeliers will then recommend that you present the bottle of wine at the table before serving. The bottle of white wine or rosé wine will be placed in an ice bucket, itself placed on a plate or tray, while the bottle of red wine will be presented directly upright on a metal coaster.
The sommelier or waiter, arriving at the table, must then clearly announce the information on the bottle (appellation, vintage, estate, name of the wine, etc.) by presenting the label to customers. If it is a bottle of white wine or rosé wine, the professional must be careful to remove the bottle from the ice bucket without making a drop. He uses a cloth napkin for this.
Choosing suitable wine glasses
In restaurants, wine must be served in a colorless and transparent stemmed glass . This allows customers to observe the color of the wine. Then, the choice of volume and size of the glass depends on the type of wine. If there are tasting glasses, or glasses typical of wine-growing regions, stick to traditional serving models:
- The glass for a Bordeaux wine, whose tulip shape promotes the oxygenation of the wine;
- The Burgundy wine glass, whose wide lower part and narrow upper part also facilitate the aeration of red and white wine;
- The Alsace wine glass, whose tulip shape allows the aromas of white wines to be channeled;
- The Champagne glass, which takes the shape of an elongated tulip similar to a flute, but which is rounded in the middle, allowing the sparkling of the wine to be controlled while retaining the aromas.
After opening: service and storage
All bottles of wine ordered must be opened at the start of service, and the wine must be served before the dish it will accompany.
Thus, from the opening, while waiting for the dishes to arrive, the sommelier must have the customer taste the wine , in order to eliminate the possibility of cork taint. The professional will also have to wait for his agreement before serving the rest of the guests. He will then be kind enough to start by serving the ladies, without forgetting to serve the taster again. The server will stand to the right of the customer for this purpose. The glass should be a third full for a white wine, and half full for a red wine.
After serving, the bottle of red is placed back on its serving plate, and the bottle of rosé or white returns to the ice bucket.
Good to know: in gourmet restaurants, a wine glass must never be empty, this is considered a service fault . We must therefore not forget to observe the table, and to re-serve everyone before clearing the dishes.
Provence food and wine pairings from the Michelin-starred restaurant Jardin de Berne
The restaurateurs at the Jardin de Berne master wine service to perfection, and work in close collaboration with the estate's winegrowers to always ensure the most subtle food and wine pairing .
You can then trust our sommeliers to select the best Provence wines according to the dishes ordered.
You can then taste a delicious Inspiration rosé wine to accompany poultry or seafood, choose a red AOP Côtes de Provence Terres de Berne to highlight Provençal cuisine, or even a Grande Récolte de Berne white wine to enjoy a noble fish.
The chefs of the Jardin de Berne and the winegrowers of the Château de Berne guarantee you unique pairings and new associations, where the product and the Provençal terroir are highlighted in their greatest simplicity.
The quality of wine service in a restaurant is the guarantee of a successful meal, where each dish will be enhanced by a selection of ideally served wines. Come to the Jardin de Berne to discover how to serve wine according to the rules of the art .
