Sommelier Service, Tasting and Beverage Business
Sommelier Service
Preparation and presentation
Service questions test sequence and technique. Prepare the mise en place, check glassware, and confirm the order. Present the bottle to the host, open it cleanly, pour a small taste, then serve clockwise, women and guests before host in traditional settings, and keep the label visible.
Glassware and temperature
Use tulip-shaped glasses for sparkling wine rather than wide coupes. Serving temperatures: sparkling roughly 6–8 °C, whites 10–12 °C, reds 16–18 °C. Too cold masks aroma; too warm exaggerates alcohol.
Decanting and faults
Decant mature wines for sediment and young wines for aeration, but do not over-aerate fragile old bottles. Recognise faults: TCA gives musty cardboard, oxidation gives browned sherry-like notes, reduction gives struck match, Brett gives barnyard, volatile acidity gives vinegar, and refermentation gives haze and spritz.
Storage and cellar work
Store at about 13–15 °C, dark, humid, and vibration-free. Manage inventory, by-the-glass programmes, and stock rotation.
Food pairing logic
Match intensity, balance sweetness with sweetness, pair acid with acid and fat, and use tannin with protein. Serve lighter wines before heavier, dry before sweet, and still before sparkling only when the menu supports it.
Traps
Do not twist the cork out of a sparkling bottle; twist the bottle. Sweet wines come after dry wines in a flight. High-acid food can make a low-acid wine taste flabby. A wine that is “corked” is not necessarily crumbling.
Worked example
A 20 g/L sparkling wine served with a 60 g/L dessert will taste sour and thin. Choose a sweeter wine or a less sweet dessert.
Tasting and Beverage Business
Systematic tasting
Use a consistent grid: appearance (clarity, intensity, colour), nose (condition, intensity, aroma, development), palate (sweetness, acidity, tannin, alcohol, body, flavour intensity, length, complexity), then a conclusion on quality and ageing. Deductive tasting works from structure back to grape, region, and vintage. Assess balance, length, complexity, intensity, and typicity rather than personal preference.
Quality versus price
Price reflects scarcity, branding, and appellation as well as quality. A high price is not evidence of quality, and a low price does not imply fault. In blind tasting, describe structure first and only then guess identity.
Business fundamentals
Know pour cost, cost of goods sold, pricing multiplier, inventory turnover, menu engineering (stars, plowhorses, puzzles, dogs), and by-the-glass margins. A 750 mL bottle yields five 150 mL pours or four 187 mL pours. Over-pouring and spillage destroy margins more than list price does.
Menu and list design
Balance the list by style, price, and region; include enough by-the-glass options; train staff; negotiate with suppliers; track dead stock; and comply with licensing and responsible-service rules.
Traps
Higher price does not mean higher quality. Higher turnover is generally better for perishable stock, but not for collectible inventory. A low pour cost percentage can still mean low cash margin. “Best seller” is not the same as “most profitable.”
Worked example
A bottle costs $15 and yields five pours. Cost per pour is $3. At a 25% target pour cost, price each glass at $12. Always check both percentage and cash margin.