Very mulled wines, stingy hosts: You don’t have to put up with it at the restaurant

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Selling wine in hotels, bars or restaurants often generates higher margins for homeowners than food. As a guest, you usually pay for a glass or bottle of wine two to three times what you would have paid if you had purchased the wine from a specialist store. In principle, there is nothing wrong with this, because gastronomic establishments have to cover the rent and, above all, personnel costs.

Unfortunately, this encourages one or the other host to optimize the costs or profits of the wine at the expense of the guest. This might make sense from a business standpoint, but pretty naughty from a guest standpoint. Here you can find out what you don’t have to put up with as a paying guest.

wines by glass

Thin-bodied, dry white wines like Chasselas from Lake Geneva taste best when served at seven to ten degrees Celsius. Wines served too hot lose their freshness. If the wine is too hot, you should report this to the staff.

For wines by the glass, it’s best to ask beforehand if you can taste the wine. This is how you decide if you like the wine and if it’s at the right temperature. This is even more important for sparkling wines served by the glass, as bottles left open too long contain very little carbon dioxide and look clumsy.

If the wine tastes good, the waiter can fill the glass for you right in front of you and you can be sure of what’s in it. As a guest in a restaurant, I don’t feel comfortable at all when the staff members order a glass of wine by the glass and then leave the table and come back with a full glass.

Wrong wines or wrong glasses

Reputable vintners will usually repurchase cork-flavored wines and return a credit note if they are not expensive rare wines. As a guest, you don’t have to feel bad about refusing a smelly wine, such as cork.

If the wine has a strong nail polish remover smell or a strong wet cardboard smell, no one will force you to drink the wine. You pay for excellent quality wine, you don’t have to accept anything else.

If you order a fine bottle of red wine at a dignified dinner, you can without hesitation ask for a carafe or glasses of suitable red wine. Most restaurants have slightly larger glasses for red wines than for white wines. Replacing glasses on the table or removing a jug from the cabinet means more work for the staff, but no additional work.

Source : Blick