Wine Service (part 3, the 5 S's of wine service)

 The 5 S's have wine service has little to do on the part of the waiter, but the waiter must understand what this ritual is as they will be standing table side while the ritual is performed. To a new waiter who is inexperienced at wine service this may appear to be some sort of witchcraft hocus pocus. But trust me the ritual serves a purpose when it comes to tasting the wine by the guest.

See - The guest will often tilt the glass slightly while over a light colored background or lift the glass to towards the light. What the guest is doing is looking at the color. The color of the wine will tell them the age of the wine. White wine gets darker as it ages and red wine loses color.

Swirl - Swirling opens up the wine and allows oxygen to introduce itself into the wine, enhancing, the aroma, flavors and softening a young red wines tannins.

Sniff - Guests will then lift the glass of wine to their nose for two purposes, first to enjoy the aromas and second to determine if the wine is flawed which foul odors will indicate.

Sip - At this point the guest will take a sip of the wine, often swishing it around inside their mouth to cover all the taste buds and to gather all the flavors. This is how they will determine if they like the wine.

Savor - Many will also savor the wine and think about what they are tasting before they let you know that the wine is satisfactory to serve.

These are the basics of the 5 S's and the ritual of tasting wine for the guest. For the professional server, sommelier or wine steward the steps are a little more involved when they are tasting wines and have much more purpose. Perhaps we will discuss these steps again in a future post and what they mean to you the waiter and your wine education.

Have an awesome day and make more money!

JD

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