Would you say the protocol to approve the wine at a restaurant is different than a wine tasting at a winery?
I mean, the primary objective at a restaurant is to ensure that the wine is not corked or spoiled in some way. So, you feel the cork, smell it, smell the wine, and if you are not repulsed so far, you take a sip. If the wine is ok you nod at the server and the wine is poured.
I have seen people do the above as well as swirl for a minute, check the colour, roll the wine back and forth in the mouth, etc. All ok if you are going to write a column about it, but an affectation at the restaurant IMHO.
You are correct. What you’re seeing is needless pretension. The person paying for the wine is merely ensuring it’s not spoiled. That’s it. It ain’t a wine-tasting where you get to say “no, I don’t like that one. Let me try another.” You ordered it and it’s not spoiled, you drink it.
You should also skip the whole cork ritual, as it tells you nothing. If the waiter offers you the cork, just put it in the ashtray and have him pour a splash for tasting. A quick check for corkage is all you need. The rest is showing off.
At a restaurant, skip the cork. Don’t smell it, you’ll get much more out of smelling the wine. (I do like to look at the cork after our server leaves, but it’s more because I’m a packaging geek and need to know what grade or type of cork it is.) I do swirl (and I do look at the color, but I don’t fully examine it, just glance basically) and then smell and then taste my wine, but it is all done fairly quickly. I’m not examing the wine for my notes, I’m just making sure it’s not corked or spoiled in any way. I can do my own personal observations after the waiter/sommelier leaves.
At a winery, I am assuming the staff has already assured the wine being poured is not faulty (although I did have a corked wine at a wine bar recently - it was recommended by a staff memeber, I swallowed half-heartedly, when I asked her if she’d tasted that particular bottle she said no, took a taste, and spit it out apologizing profusely) and I am able to do my more detailed observations/take notes, etc.
The cork isn’t going to tell you anything that you can’t find out quicker and more efficiently by tasting the wine. I’ve had great bottles that had dry corks. I’ve had crap bottles that had damp corks. Means nothing that you can’t tell by tasting. The ritual of the cork needs to die. Maybe screwtops will hasten the end.
<shrug> If I order a pricey bottle of wine in a restaurant, I don’t give a rat’s ass if I make the waiter stand for a minute or two while I really savor the first taste. It’s not an affectation; a wine can change quite a bit in the first few minutes it’s opened, and depending on the bottle I may want to really savor it.
Of course, if you’re ordering yet another bottle of Little Penguin Merlot or something like that, then it’s different. But if I’m really interested in a bottle, I’m going to approach it the same way I’d approach it at home. Heck, I probably take MORE time with it because I’m probably paying twice as much for the damn thing!
The business with the cork is more about fraud than anything else. Long ago, crooked innkeepers would take an empty bottle of an expensive wine and fill it with cheaper stuff. So, you’d look at the cork to see if the name of the vintner matched the label.