Why is it hard to get a decent glass of wine?

[John W.]

Perhaps in a pre service meeting servers could be instructed as to a few good choices for each course? At least they would be ready with a fairly well versed answer about the wine and it's origins. This would be better than "I would have a nice red sir. It costs plenty and I am sure that you will enjoy it".

A majority of our shift meetings involve wine of some sort, usually in a blind format. I feel this accomplishes many things. One, when a server is singled out to do a portion of the tastings (ie sight, smell or taste), that builds confidence to speak about a wine, any wine in front of a guest. Two, that enables the servers to actually know the difference between regions, ie the difference between a California chard and a white Burgundy (and as good little waiters they all prefer Burgundy), which even if they haven't tasted the wines they can look at the region and make an educated guess. I prefer this to what you get when sales reps come to do staff tastings (they tend to give the party line tasting notes right off the tech sheets, which to memorize that for 100 or so wines that change frequently is not likely). This process takes time and obviously costs a lot of money, but in the end, our wine sales YTD are up 12% on budget (we've been only open 15 months). That's pretty substantial I would say.

We don't have the luxury of a sommelier, so to keep driving wine sales we have invested in our wait staff. As for by-the-glass wines, we don't have the luxury of turning the stuff over as quickly as say Mark would, so we keep that in mind when making choices. I hate when you go to a place and get a $15 glass of pinot that has been obviously opened for weeks, and the look you get when you bitch about it...We have about 15 half bottles on the list, I guess given our size and logistics is a good number. Also, in agreeance with docsconz, we've made a concious choice to increase the quality on them as people seem to pay for it.

[beans]

I'm surprised to hear that wine sales have been on the decline in the U.S. for some time, assuming that goes back to the Clinton boom years. What have people been doing with the money they haven't been spending on wine? Have beer sales skyrocketed?

I've recently read an article, somewhere about the increased pie percentage of distilled spirit sales (in comparison to beer and wine), of course now I cannot locate...

Perhaps in a pre service meeting servers could be instructed as to a few good choices for each course? At least they would be ready with a fairly well versed answer about the wine and it's origins. This would be better than "I would have a nice red sir. It costs plenty and I am sure that you will enjoy it".

Every restaurant I've worked at this is a required meeting prior to each shift, for all FOH staff. And of course, yes there are those savvy servers that write this down and actually apply this knowledge to boost their sales, and then there are those that do not. Good help is often hard to find.

Wonder why wine distributors aren't offering free courses to servers and others in restaurants on the wines they distribute, or even on wines generally? Or are they?

As Mark stated, they do. I've recently assisted in the upcoming new menus (cocktail and Wine List) and phoned our distributors to set up a meeting for potential wines-by-the-glass tasting. They eagerly advised me they would be down in the offices in five minutes if that were my preference. We tasted no less than 20 bottles of reds and 17 bottles of whites over the course of a week. It is still yet to be determined by the owner,general manager and our executive chef, however we will have this distributor return with the selections and have the FOH staff in attendance for a tasting and much wine knowledge discussions.

We do these tasting seminars often and will implement a socratic method of questioning of the information covered during shift meeting(s).

I'll have to look at overall wine sales and see how they've fared....

[KatieLoeb]

Perhaps in a pre service meeting servers could be instructed as to a few good choices for each course? At least they would be ready with a fairly well versed answer about the wine and it's origins. This would be better than "I would have a nice red sir. It costs plenty and I am sure that you will enjoy it".

Before the wheels came off the cart at Striped Bass, The Exec. Chef, Sous Chef, Sommeliere and myself would meet weekly, and the kitchen would prepare us a sample dish of each new menu item that was being introduced that week. (Note: The Exec Chef had recently been promoted into his position and was slowly making the menu his own - about three new dishes at a time) We'd all go over it together, the chefs would tell us what they were trying to emphasize in the dish, and Melissa and I would make wine suggestions, sometime more than one that complimented each dish. The chefs would taste with us and we'd all decide which parings we liked the best. These suggested pairings were written into the margins of the detailed menu descriptions that were handed out to the staff. This was in addition to tasting notes for all the by-the-glass wines that were posted on a bulletin board for all the servers to read and desriptions and tastings of new products with the staff.

I don't know that I'll ever have such a great feeling of teamwork, comradery and mutual respect again.

[Jason Perlow]

I guess this extends all the way up the ladder. Wine sales, as I understand it, have actually been in decline in the US for some time. Wonder why wine distributors aren't offering free courses to servers and others in restaurants on the wines they distribute, or even on wines generally? Or are they?

They are.

To fine restaurants and hotels which move a lot of product, yes. To midrange and smaller restaurants, no.

I witnessed (and was able to participate in) one of these training sessions by the Don Perignon people at a hotel in New Orleans, for example. But I can't imagine some mom and pop restaurant getting the same kind of personal treatment.

[rshorens]

I like the wines by the glass menu at Absynthe restaurant on Hayes Street in San Francisco. They offer a nice selection of wines by the glass(and even by the taste, which is half the size and half the price)in a variety of price ranges. The choices vary periodically. Since I am not a big drinker, the taste or glass option provides me with the opportunity to try different wines, and Absynthe also has a wine store a few doors down which offers a 10% discount on wines by the bottle to take home if you are a restaurant customer.

Roz

[wesza]

The expense of sustaining a more then curisory Wine by the Glass program in the great majority of Restaurants is almost impossable if you take into consideration the realitys sustaning the quality of products.

Consideration in my experience [opened Wine Bar with by the glass, 1/2 bottle and 750 mil in 1974 in Honolulu.] this is very difficult.

Since there was no products available at that time to prevent oxidation this could easily become expensive. Our saving point was during that period the 15 varietals that we offered were all in the same price range, and after 2 days were returned to the kitchen for restaurant applications in cooking.

The major benefit was that it allowed us to eliminate 1/2 bottles from inventory, as well as carafe or bulk wines.

Since we were operating a ethinic restaurant serving seafoods, as well as spicy dishes we were able to merchandise interesting ethinic wines, not available in most instances thru retail outlets. Our biggest sellers,that we purchased in 100 case lots were Portugese Wines. Red Dow of Grao Versco, White Dow of Grao Vesco, Castalinho Rose and Vino Verde that we were able to sell at excellent mark ups.

Eventually the majority of our customers preferred these wines as the weren't expensive and complimented the dining experience. For House Wines we offered superior but reasonably priced 2 liter bottles of Italian Red and White for generic by the glass sales or bulk.

Open only for dinner we averaged 85 to 140 covers nightly. Our check average was on of the highest per person for the United States due to the high price of fresh Hawaii Seafood.

If we weren't able to absorb and utilize the by the Glass Wines into our heavily wine consuption for kitchen use the Wine Bar wouldn't have been operating at a profit.

Our biggest check booster and reputation builder was our Liquor/Brandy Cart serving in excess of 150 selections tableside, backed up by a additional 250 selections available from the bar inventory.

It excited customers who would normally order a Grand Mariner to have the option of indulging in a Grand Mariner Centeraire not available anywhere else, or if they wanted Chartruse to be offered it in Yellow, Green or the Essence. We also did Prouse Cafe or combinations such as Frangelico topped off with Chambord, or Coffe Drinks with Italian Expresso Liquor. We even were selling Louie IV and other super Brandies that we'd serve after providing a pallette preparer while it was warming in the snifter of a VSOP that complimented the Premium Brandy.

This was more fun and exciting then anything we were able to offer in Wines, even though we sold lots of Champagne.

We made sure to provide interesting, but not high priced Glassware, even using Giant 128 oz Brandy Glasses for table sharing Braby or Liquor sevice that excited our customers on special occassions and often could be the reason that special surprise parties were so popular.

Irwin

Edited December 28, 2003 by wesza (log)

[Craig Camp]

It could not be easier to make a great wine-by-the-glass list in the United States and the UK:

- All of the wines from all of the world's important fine wine regions are available. Compared to where I live in Italy the breadth of the wine selection available in the USA/UK is staggering.

- The market is incredibly competitive and there is a long line of distributors and supplier representative willing to train the hell out of your staff for free. They will even provide the samples and training materials free of charge. Even a small restaurant could have a free training session every day of the week because sales representatives are under such pressure to sell product.

- Wholesalers are overloaded with product and always have a long list of good wines available at severely reduced prices. This is an absolute gold mine for the smart restaurant. They can offer excellent wines at great prices and still make a fortune.

- This competitive environment combined with the incredible breadth of selection available in the USA (and the UK) means that you really have to be brain dead to not put together a wine by the glass list that is both interesting and profitable.

The only reasons to have a poor wine-by-the-glass selection are that the owners don't care or the customers can't tell the difference.

While it is not reasonable to expect chain restaurants like Friday's to have anything other than a selection of mass produced wines (after all they are the perfect match to their mass produced food) independents really have no excuse and are missing an opportunity to differentiate themselves from chain restaurants by not having a good wine program.

[fresco]

What you say makes a lot of sense. If a smallish restaurant was worried about wastage because of selling wine by the glass, one answer might be to offer a rotating selection of two or three, and make some attempt to explain to customers why these particular wines are being featured--in other words, do some extremely basic marketing.

[Craig Camp]

What you say makes a lot of sense. If a smallish restaurant was worried about wastage because of selling wine by the glass, one answer might be to offer a rotating selection of two or three, and make some attempt to explain to customers why these particular wines are being featured--in other words, do some extremely basic marketing.

Right. What makes a good wine-by-the-glass program is not the total number of wines offered - you just need good wines that are well-matched with your cuisine and the price range of your restaurant.

Some of these chain glass programs are hilarious: 4 chardonnays that all taste the same; 3 merlots and 3 cabernet sauvignons that all taste the same. They could just offer 1 chardonnay and 1 red and the list would be just as good.

[Mark Sommelier]

I would like to respond to the last two posts, Irwin and Craig's. Irwin, last year, the product representative from Frederick Wildman Importers came to thank me for being the top restaurant customer in Washington for Paul Jaboulet Parellel 45. I said thanks, too, but I didn't have the heart to tell him that Parellel 45 was our COOKING WINE.

Craig, you are deadly correct about the situation here. Distributors are desperate to get rid of product. Here in Washington, they close out crazily expensive bottles at a fraction of the normal cost. Many of the big distribution channels in this country are still dinosaurs at this. They lose!! (Think Diageo ). You are also right that it is extremely competitive. The only reason restaurants don't have interesting choices for by the glass wine is inexperience.

[Mayhaw Man]

Our biggest check booster and reputation builder was our Liquor/Brandy Cart serving in excess of 150 selections tableside, backed up by a additional 250 selections available from the bar inventory.

This is a great idea that is not seen often enough, but it does bring up an interesting picture in my mind.

-A Sommelier riding through the dining room on a mini engine followed by cars loaded down with cheese, dessert, fabulous drinks, and a caboose filled with coffee. He could wear a little engineers hat and have one of those wooden whistles that sounds like a train and the patrons would be able to flag him down at the ....................-

Well.-Maybe not

[Pan]

You don't seem to have given up a childlike imagination.

(Good for you!)

[Mark Sommelier]

Our biggest check booster and reputation builder was our Liquor/Brandy Cart serving in excess of 150 selections tableside, backed up by a additional 250 selections available from the bar inventory.

This is a great idea that is not seen often enough, but it does bring up an interesting picture in my mind.

-A Sommelier riding through the dining room on a mini engine followed by cars loaded down with cheese, dessert, fabulous drinks, and a caboose filled with coffee. He could wear a little engineers hat and have one of those wooden whistles that sounds like a train and the patrons would be able to flag him down at the ....................-

Well.-Maybe not

All Aboard!! <train whistle sound>

[Carema]

I guess this extends all the way up the ladder. Wine sales, as I understand it, have actually been in decline in the US for some time. Wonder why wine distributors aren't offering free courses to servers and others in restaurants on the wines they distribute, or even on wines generally? Or are they?

They are.

To fine restaurants and hotels which move a lot of product, yes. To midrange and smaller restaurants, no.

I witnessed (and was able to participate in) one of these training sessions by the Don Perignon people at a hotel in New Orleans, for example. But I can't imagine some mom and pop restaurant getting the same kind of personal treatment.

Do not be led into the myth that people who distribute wine actually know anything about it. Some are knowledgable- most are clowns. I was once doing a "Death of a Salesman" event in the store (have two different distributors go head to head in the shop) and heard once guy declaring 2000 ..."one of the best California vintages in a long while...". I was like, hold the phone dude 2000 sucks and was furious that such misinformation was being propegated on my turf. That is why I rarely have them in. Most of these people would sell you a bottle of dog piss because they get commission off of it. Training needs to be provided in house, not out of house. And therein lies a particularly american problem; one of the most profitable parts of a house is usually run by a GM who does not have the time to oversee it properly, may not be that savvy themselves and oftentimes are stuck in the toilet trying to fish out unmentionable foreign materials because there isn't time for a plumber before service. Usually at the same moment the toilet stops up a line cook will have lopped off most of his thumb and will need to be tourniquetted and then sent to emergency in a cab. Oh yeah, then someone will discover they have mispelled lamb (labm) on the menu so these will need to be reprinted. No wonder there is so much freaking Kendall Jackson on wine lists.

[wesza]

Our biggest check booster and reputation builder was our Liquor/Brandy Cart serving in excess of 150 selections tableside, backed up by a additional 250 selections available from the bar inventory.

This is a great idea that is not seen often enough, but it does bring up an interesting picture in my mind.

-A Sommelier riding through the dining room on a mini engine followed by cars loaded down with cheese, dessert, fabulous drinks, and a caboose filled with coffee. He could wear a little engineers hat and have one of those wooden whistles that sounds like a train and the patrons would be able to flag him down at the ....................-

Well.-Maybe not

All Aboard!! <train whistle sound>

Mark: Thought you'd be interested about the fact that the three accredited Sommeliers that were then working in Honolulu were reqular customers plus friends who would often request the opportunity to try serving our customers from the Liquor Cart, many of whom they new from their reqular jobs. Now thats what I call experienced volunteers.

Everyone of them was there for the Cognac/Brandy Tasting that we put together for the Original Charlies Angels under the supervision of Frank Schoonmaker who had provided many of the Botigue Cognacs but I was the only one every kissed by all the Angels in public.

At our Restaurant "Lisboa" in Honolulu our best and most repeat customers were all from the food service industry, plus they invariably sent many of their customers who asked where to go in Honolulu. That together with the 4th Estate and the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson could be attributed to our success. Nothing is better then word of mouth for generating business.

Irwin

Edited December 29, 2003 by wesza (log)