OPEN AND SERVE WINE

LO: 4
 Procedure in opening a bottle of still wine
(white, red and rose wine)
 Open the bottle of wine using the waiters corkscrew. Don’t
place a bottle of wine at the table during the process of
opening the wine. Use a side table if needed, particularly if it
is a matured wine that needs to be decanted before serving.
But don’t place it at the guest table if possible. Move back a
little bit to have some space while you open the wine and also
to avoid accidentally hitting the guest wile opening the wine.
Make sure that you open the wine correctly because if you
make some mistake like having some cork bits in the wine,
the guest might reject the wine and ask you to replace it. In
this case rejected wine at your fault will be charged to you,
depending also on the policy of the establishment on how
much is the charge either at cost or at price.
 Procedure in opening a bottle of still wine
(white, red and rose wine)
 Steps:
1. Cutand remove the metal cap or the covering of
the wine using the knife of the corkscrew.
2. Wipe the lip and the cork to remove molds or
cork bits using the side towel.
3. Insertthe screw. Tip at the center of the cork
and twist the screw to spiral down to the cork.
Avoid letting the screw reach the other point of
the cork for it may create cork bits that will fall
into the wine.
 Procedure in opening a bottle of still wine
(white, red and rose wine)

4. Pull the screw to remove the cork from the bottle of

the wine.
5. Wipe the lip of the bottle to remove cork dusts.
6. Remove the cork from the screw and present it the
host or place it on the under liner. If the host doesn’t
have an idea why you are presenting to him/her the
cork, then explain that in the cork he/she can
already smell the aroma or bouquet of the wine. If the
host will not get the cork, place it on the underliner
for cork.
 Opening a bottle of sparkling wine
 Steps:
1. Cut and remove the metal cap or covering.
2. Unscrew the wire cage and don’t remove.
3. Hold the bottle in 45 degrees angle.
4. Holdthe cork firmly and twist the bottle
counter with cork slowly to remove the
cork. Avoid the popping out of the cork.
 Opening a bottle of sparkling wine
 5. After removing the cork let the bottle stay in
a 45 degrees angle for a while to avoid the
wine gushing out of the bottle.
 6. Present the cork to the host or place it in an
under liner.
 Pouring and serving the wine
 Steps:
1. Afteropening the wine, pour the wine in the glass of the host for
tasting first, ¼ full. The host must/should taste the wine to
check if the wine is in its proper serving temperature and the
taste of course.
2. Letthe host taste the wine, if he/she agree with the wine, then
ask to start serving the wine. “Sir/maam may I now serve the
wine?”
 If the host/guest is not satisfied with the wine due to
faulty serving temperature or quality. Ask for an apology “
Sir sorry for the inconvenience about the quality of
the wine, sir we will replace the wine, you may choose
another wine for your……………… Replace the wine and
inform your supervisor about the problem.
 Pouring and serving the wine
 3. Ask if there is a VIP guest. “Sir/maam do you have a
VIP guest?”
 4. Serve VIP first, then ladies and gentlemen and last the
host.
 5. Tell what wine you are serving. In serving the ladies,
it’s according to age. Older guest first, but if you cannot
identify which one is older serve the nearest guest base
on the clockwise movement.
 6. Serve at the right side of the guest with clockwise
movement. When approach each guest say excuse me
and tell what wine you are serving. “ Sir/maam excuse
me your appetizer wine”
 Pouring and serving the wine
 7. Hold bottle in the mid-section during pouring to have the
proper balance and handling.
 8. Pour 2/3 full for small glasses and ½ full for large glasses. Lip
of bottle must have 2 to 3 inches distance from the rim of the
glass. Twist the bottle before lifting to avoid drippings. If it drips
accidentally, immediately wipe the drip and ask for an apology.
 9. Refill glass of guest if there is still wine remaining in a bottle or
place it in a wine bucket for white, rose and sparkling and at the
table near the host if red wine.
 10. Offer another bottle of wine to the host if the wine totally
emptied after serving all the guests and the host. “Mam/sir excuse
would you care to have another bottle of wine for your main
course?”
 Clearing the glasses
 In clearing the glasses make sure that the guest
is already done with his/her wine. As much as
possible clear all the used glasses before
setting up a new one. Ask the guest first before
picking up the glass. “Sir/mam are you done
with your wine?” Use tray in clearing the wine
glasses and pick or hold glasses by the stem.
Avoid bumping glasses when placing it on the
tray to avoid breakages.