When asking for wine advice at a bar or restaurant, it’s always reassuring to know that the sommelier is familiar with (and enjoys!) the wine they’re recommending — especially since ordering a bottle is an expensive risk these days. But at wine-focused establishments where beverage programs can boast hundreds or even thousands of bottles, can guests really expect sommeliers to sample every single bottle? VinePair tapped Rafa García Febles, general manager and wine director at Brooklyn’s Red Hook Tavern, for some insider info.
When it comes to tasting through a wine program, García Febles says staff sommeliers typically have at least two opportunities to experience specific bottles on the menu.
“Somms taste every bottle of wine that they open for service to check for soundness as well as for their own familiarity,” he explains. “And they taste every bottle of wine that the wine director decides is important for them to try to have a strong foundation in the program.” So while sommeliers will usually try the best-selling bottles that are essential to the restaurant, it’s generally unlikely that they’ll sample every bottle on offer.
“To an extent, size matters,” García Febles says. He explains that in a program with a very small wine list — about 40 SKUs or under — it’s likely that there’ll be good continuity, meaning the wines will be in ample stock for a long time. In that case, a sommelier might be expected to try almost everything on the list. On the other hand, in a program with 500 bottles or more and a large sommelier team, it would be impractical to taste every single option in the cellar.
“Particularly with larger programs, it is very rare that a given somm has tasted every single wine on offer,” García Febles notes. “Even the wine director or the person responsible for putting together the list often hasn’t tried exceptionally rare or valuable bottles, when in some cases they may only acquire one or two examples of each for the restaurant.”
That means if a guest inquires about a rare, back-vintage Burgundy, it’s unlikely that their table’s sommelier or server has snagged a taste unless another customer had recently ordered the same exact bottle. And even then, most wine — especially older bottles — is constantly evolving.
“Tableside, I can confidently say: ‘I opened a bottle of this last week; here’s how it showed.’ Or I can say: ‘These wines tend to show this way at this age, especially from a classic vintage like this one,’” García Febles explains. “But not even the most well-traveled and well-tasted wine professional can confidently say: ‘Here is exactly how this bottle will show when I open it for you in a few minutes.’”
Red Hook Tavern’s extensive list includes nearly 600 bottles to pair with its acclaimed burger, including rare finds and coveted labels that surpass $2,000. So, how does García Febles navigate such a sizable stash? His philosophy is that somms should taste wines that are most representative of the list and the guest’s interest. Beyond that, education is key.
“No two bottles will evolve the same and no bottle will show the same one day to the next, so knowledge of how wines change and how wines from certain regions or producers tend to show and age is foundational to a good somm,” he says. “It takes years and years to begin to understand a region, let alone attempt mastery over it; but this knowledge is more powerful and more useful to the guest than [memorizing] tasting notes for each wine in a program.”
To that end, don’t hesitate to ask if your next sommelier has tried a bottle. And if they haven’t, don’t let that dissuade you from choosing that bottle. García Febles also suggests asking other productive questions like, “What wines on this list are exciting you right now?” or “If you could be drinking any bottle from this program, what would it be?”
“It’s scary to order wine at a restaurant, particularly bottles on the higher end, and it’s understandable to want reassurance that the person shepherding your wine experience knows what they’re doing,” he says. “But wine, like life, is full of surprises; after all, that’s part of the adventure.”
*Image retrieved from LIGHTFIELD STUDIOS via stock.adobe.com
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