Where did all the good wine service go?

Alice Feiring has blogged about it, the Wall Street Journal has complained about it, the Wine Spectator put it on their front cover, and it happened to us on our last outing – bad wine service. I know that this sort of thing happens, but there appears to be an epidemic. To make matters worse this trend is appearing as wine prices in restaurants and bars are increasing faster than the dollar is dropping! What is going on?

Part of the problem seems to arise from the rapid expansion of a wine culture in various parts of the country. While I am very happy to see this trend, we appear to be suffering from wine culture growing pains. As restaurants and bars try to establish a wine list or a “wines by the glass” program, there are not always enough people available that are wine savvy.

Every waiter does not have to be a sommelier, but if you are going to charge top-dollar for wine, there needs to be someone with at least a little wine knowledge to help the rest of the staff. If every restaurant or bar had a least one employee that knew a little bit about wine and made that employee available, it would be a big improvement. I think trying to train all the waiters may sound like a good idea, but in practice, it leads to lots of waiters that don’t know much about the wines they’re serving.

Another common theme that creates problems is a wine list that is too large. Having lots of wine by the bottle or the glass may seem like a customer pleaser, but that is not necessarily the case. Wine Spectator’s survey of wine service found that a small, well-selected wine list was more desirable for many customers. Big wine lists make it difficult to select a wine and can lead to unsold bottles and higher inventory costs, pushing up the overall cost of wine – as well as the number of half-drunk, oxidized bottles. A compact wine list makes it easier to select a bottle or a glass, and the restaurant has a smaller inventory to support and preserve.

Big wine lists also lead to another problem: unavailable wine. Restaurants and bars seem to be reluctant to reprint their fancy, long wine list, which means that many of the wines you see listed are not really available. So after agonizing over the list and selecting a wine, the waiter says, perhaps with a sneer, that wine is sold out. I have selected as many as four wines in a row that weren’t available.

Fixing these problems doesn’t seem like rocket science. First, hire one person that knows about wine. Second, develop a compact and well-selected wine list (there are lots of wine purveyors that would be willing to help with this effort). Finally, go over the wine list once or twice a week to be sure the wine is on hand.

I love to eat out and share a wine with family and friends, and I don’t mind spending the money necessary to have a good time. So if restaurants and bars want more of my money, all they need to do is make it easier for me to order and enjoy wine.

Check out these related posts:

1. The high price of drinking wine in Austin, Texas restaurants
2. How to order wine in a restaurant — three simple rules
3. Wine Spectator’s Top 100 Wines of 2008
4. Masi wine sticker shock
5. Mixing wine bars and the Austin City Limits (ACL) 2008 Music Festival