As sort of a follow up to this, Kottke links to another good list of 26 tips about ordering wine in a restaurant. Some good thoughts
waiterrant.net » HOW TO ORDER WINE WITHOUT LOOKING LIKE AN ASSHOLE
9. DO NOT SMELL THE CORK! - When I see someone do this I know I’m dealing with a complete amateur. Guess what you’re gonna smell? Cork! You want to feel the cork to make sure it’s intact. Is the bottom of the cork moistened with wine? Good. That means it was stored properly. Make sure the name on the cork matches the name on the bottle. Sometimes unscrupulous bastards put cheap wine in old wine bottles and re-cork them! Is there mold on the cork? That’s a bad sign. But smelling the cork, in the vast majority of cases, tells you nothing. (Full disclosure – I used to smell the cork before I was a waiter.)
10. DON’T SMELL THE PLASTIC CORK EITHER!- I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen people do this. Lots of wine makers are moving away from natural cork to synthetics. Sniffing a plastic cork tells the world you’re a moron. Don’t smell the bottle cap either. (I never smelled the plastic cork before I was a waiter, so there!)
and yes, my back is mostly better. :) The vicodin haze is subsiding, unfortunately, but I do have some wine to replace it.
Tags: Food & Drink, /wine
