Wine Conversations: Wine in Restaurants… And Beyond! (I)

How can wine service meet the demands of modern wine drinkers?

It’s time for another round of Wine Conversations, and I’m very proud to be kicking off this topic for the participating writers in this round!

Looking forward to hearing a lot of thoughts on…

"What are the demands of modern wine drinkers, and how should service professionals meet them?"

Quick bit of prologue: In the very first round of Wine Conversations, the group talked about what wine drinkers actually want to see (versus what wine professionals are throwing at them). This question truly focuses on the service element of things, and while wine service is typically handled by a sommelier in a restaurant, only a small percentage of restaurants actually have a somm on the floor, putting this element of service in the hands of servers, floor managers, and other front-of-house roles.

So What Do People Actually Want?

TLDR: They want a good glass of wine (most of the time at a reasonable price), and they want it right now.

Sounds simple. Can be more complicated.

In my experience, the people that come to the places where I serve want one of two things: a wine they’ve had before, or a wine from a category they haven’t tried yet. But even within that binary, things can get murky and fast when someone tells me “I only drink Rombauer Chardonnay” and I don’t have an oaked Chardonnay by the glass, or when someone describes the taste profile of a Left Bank Bordeaux only to follow it up with “but I hate French wine”.

Nowadays, people are also a lot more sensitive to cost. The wallet watching has always been a theme in restaurant wine service, but it’s hit a critical point in the last year or so. If people splurge on a great glass of wine that’s more than $20 (like the Condrieu I just served someone this weekend that made the guest’s eyes roll in ecstasy upon first sip), I am almost guaranteed to receive $2 or less in tip. Why? People pay for the value of the wine, not the hand that gives it to them.

Here’s where I want to express: The hand that provides the wine, and spends just a little bit of time figuring out what wine that person is actually going to enjoy drinking, is worth a lot more than $2.

I Am The Very Model of a Modern Major Sommelier

The best service-oriented wine professionals are the best listeners. From observing the flow of a restaurant floor at a birds-eye view, to reading a guest’s hesitation when a bottle is just a little too expensive, sommeliers are trained to search for clues in everything. I like telling people that my filmmaker husband helped me find meaning in observation, but my wine mentors helped me put that observation into action.

Sometimes all people want is to be recognized, other times people want to be left to their own devices. My priority as the floor somm is to make sure that everyone’s enjoying themselves, but that I maintain control over the flow of service. If three people all came into a wine bar at the same time that the glassware ran out, you best believe that I’m going to greet each person with a quick hello, start the dishwasher and observe who’s taking their time with the wine list and who’s looking around ready to order, get the impatient person’s drink in their hand within 30 seconds, then chat up the more relaxed guests about a few options they would enjoy as I’m polishing the newly washed glassware. And all of that happens within the span of five minutes. Within that time, I’ve had multiple interactions with guests, read their expressions enough to intuit what they need in that given moment, and controlled the tempo of the night because I kept my cool as I handled multiple things at once.

Did the guests get a good glass of wine? Yes. And if they’re not happy with something, I know it before they even have to say it.

Did the guests pay a good price for it? If there’s anything I’ve learned on the floor, money’s value is in the eye of the holder. I have poured $8 glasses and $1,000+ bottles on the same night, and both tables were incredibly satisfied with their drinks. While I’m starting to dabble in the art and science of pricing a wine list, I’ve always been keen on finding a good value for each individual guest that leaves them satisfied.

Did they get it right now? You betcha. 30 seconds to pour a glass of wine, 90 seconds to open a bottle. Nobody waits for wine so long as I’m behind the bar.

There’s no “waiting” for a glass of wine when I’m behind a bar.

One Last Thought

From my own working experience, I’ve found that the people who are best at wine service are “multilingual”, in the sense that they speak the technical language of wine AND they are able to find linguistic connections to guests without shoving a vocabulary recital down their throats.

Henry Jeffreys

just wrote a fascinating article weighing whether or not wine writers need certifications in order to be deemed professional. While I don’t think formal certifications are a requirement for all wine professionals, I do believe that a strong base knowledge of technical wine terms can help a lot, even if the wine writer’s style is anything but formal.

The ideal wine professional is someone who can understand the role that tannins play in the structure of wine, but have the emotional intelligence to omit that word from conversations with a guest who would have big question marks over their head if they heard the word “tannins”. (I’m very reluctant to talk about tannins in Wine and Movie Pairings, where a lot of people with wildly varying wine experience read my descriptions for specific wines, but for more technically oriented wine articles like this? It becomes a vital part of the conversation.) This person will also demonstrate patience when a know-it-all tries to teach them something they learned in a textbook years ago, and excitement when someone finds a wine they absolutely adore. Kinda like that old saying, “Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, but wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad”.

Time and again, wine service professionals have proven to be wise beyond public recognition. Tip your sommeliers!

Let The Conversations Begin!

How do you think wine service can attune to the needs of guests more? Fellow sommeliers, what are some of your tips and tricks for helping guests on the floor? Let’s start the chat in the comments section, and stay tuned for

Stacey Midge

’s take on this topic!