We all know that the right bottle of wine can make a good dining experience great. But getting that bottle to the table doesn’t happen by chance. Your waitstaff’s ability to recommend, sell, and serve wine has a huge impact on your customer’s overall experience, and, ultimately, your bottom line.
You don’t need a team of expert sommeliers at the ready; however, your servers do need adequate knowledge and training to guide guests through your wine list and provide a high-quality experience. Whether you’re a restaurant owner, manager, or staff member, this article will help focus your training efforts and ensure your servers are well-equipped to provide competent, confident wine service.
Wine Basics Every Server Should Know
First and foremost, every server needs to have a good grasp of wine fundamentals. This topic could be an article (or several) on its own, but as an overview, the essential information to cover includes:
The major categories (red, white, rose, sparkling, dessert, etc.)
Grape varietals and their characteristics
The major wine-producing regions
How to read a wine label and understand classifications
Identifying and describing wine characteristics (e.g., acidity, tannins, body, sweetness, etc.)
Pairing basics
The level of depth and detail your servers need to know will depend on the nature of your establishment. Servers at a casual sports bar with just a few wine options probably don’t need the same amount of knowledge as servers at a fine dining establishment with an extensive wine list. Consider your particular needs and tailor training accordingly.
Once your staff has the basics down, they need to become as familiar with your wine list as they are with the food on your menu. Be sure to dedicate plenty of time for them to get to know the wines you offer, including the brand/winery names, grape varieties, region of origin, and basic tasting notes. If your menu changes frequently, make sure you meet regularly to go over updates. Pronunciation guides can also be very helpful so that staff can feel confident saying each wine’s name in front of customers.
How to Recommend Wine
“Can you recommend a good wine to go with this dish?” is the most common question servers encounter. While answering it can get very complex very quickly, your servers don’t need an encyclopedic knowledge of pairing possibilities and intricacies. What they do need to understand are some pairing fundamentals to make a quality recommendation.
For less experienced servers, start by providing a few specific pairing options for the most popular dishes on your menu. From there, have them focus on a handful of crowd favorites across different wine styles, so that when a guest requests a juicy red or refreshing white, even if they're new to serving, they'll have a go-to suggestion in mind. Then, continue to add more refined pairing guidelines to their training, paying special attention to best/worst combinations. The ultimate goal is for your servers to have enough knowledge to help customers avoid pairing disasters without being completely tied to specific suggestions.
How to Sell Wine
A little basic sales training can go a long way to moving more wine. Now that your servers are equipped with enough knowledge to make good wine recommendations, help them put that training to work with these sales tips:
1. Get the customer thinking about wine right away.
When a server first approaches a table, encourage them to suggest wine soon after greeting the customers. Rather than leading with “What would you like to drink today?” have them phrase their ask “May I bring you a glass or a bottle of wine today/this evening?” Customers are more likely to say yes to this suggestion. Similarly, customers are more likely to order wine when they see other tables enjoying a bottle.
2. Make recommendations proactively.
Servers don’t have to wait until they are asked for wine recommendations. A simple “May I suggest a glass of ___. It would be the perfect complement to your entrée this evening,” is an excellent way to get a wine sale. If a server is asked for a recommendation, they should provide two options at two different price points. This gives the customer a choice and lowers the risk of a single suggestion being rejected.
3. Look for sales opportunities throughout the meal.
You don’t want servers to be pushy, but you can encourage them to look for opportunities to respectfully make wine recommendations before, during, and after a meal. For example, if a server notes that a party is ordering glasses of the same or similar wine, that is a great time to suggest a bottle. Inquiring whether customers are there for a special occasion is the perfect way to sell some celebratory bubbles. Offering dessert wines at the end of the meal is another sales opportunity that often gets overlooked.
Most importantly, the number one tip to help servers increase their wine sales is to project confidence and proficiency—all of which they’ll have thanks to the training you’ve provided!
How to Serve Wine
The last thing you want is for your waitstaff to get flustered or flounder when they go to serve the bottle they worked hard to sell. Make sure they’re well-practiced in providing proper wine service. Some particulars may vary according to your restaurant’s preferences/procedure, but the basic steps servers should follow can be modeled after the steps shown in this video:
Ensure that the table has the appropriate glassware. Each guest should have a wine glass placed to the right of their water glass.
Be prepared with a wine key/corkscrew, a clean wine cloth, and a wine bucket or cooler with ice, if appropriate.
Bring bottles to the table as quickly as possible. (After double checking for the proper serving temperature.)
Present the bottle to the person who ordered it—they are “the host”—so they can verify it is the wine they ordered. If the host approves, proceed to open the bottle.
Carefully remove the cork using the wine key and wipe the top lip of the bottle afterward to clear any debris.
Position themselves to the host’s right side, hold the bottle by the base, and pour a small amount of wine into the host’s glass to taste (while keeping the label facing them).
After the host’s approval, proceed to pour wine into each guest's glass. Work clockwise around the table, finishing with the host. Pour each glass about one-third full to allow room for swirling and aromatics.
Note, the bottle should never touch the wine glasses while it’s being poured, nor the table until everyone has been served. Servers should also remain attentive, refreshing guests’ glasses throughout the meal unless the host instructs otherwise.
Executing wine service properly can be intimidating for less experienced servers, so be sure to provide plenty of opportunities to practice.
Bringing it all together
When it comes to wine, there’s a lot of information to digest. Because your staff will need time to process it all, treat training as an ongoing process. Schedule small, regular tastings to help your staff really get to know your wine list and provide plenty of time for them to practice these skills and test their knowledge.
An excellent way to level up your training is to set up practice scenarios. Have a manager or other staff member (or yourself) pretend to be a guest and play out different situations your servers might encounter, such as what to do if a guest wants to order a wine that won’t work well with their meal, tries to send back a bottle after it’s already been opened and served, etc. The more practice your servers have responding to the wide variety of situations they may encounter, the more confident they will be.
Most importantly, do your best to create a training environment that’s supportive and encourages questions. You want your staff to feel comfortable seeking guidance on your wine list and feedback on their serving skills so that they can feel confident when selling wine to your patrons.
The role of well-trained waitstaff in recommending, selling, and serving wine cannot be underestimated. By investing in training and equipping your servers with the knowledge and skills to provide quality wine service, you can increase wine sales and leave a lasting impression on your customers—a win-win for everyone!
