How to Open a Wine Bottle as a Waiter
Learning how to open a wine bottle as a waiter is part of the job. Just as with most anything else, the more you do it, the more comfortable you become with it. Keep the following tips in mind when opening a wine bottle for a table.
- Difficulty:
- Moderate
Instructions
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1
Have the proper tools. You will need a wine key or a waiter's corkscrew, a napkin to wipe the bottle after pouring and a table wine cooler when serving white wine to keep the wine chilled.
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2
Set the bottle of wine on the table. Once you have presented the wine to your guests, set it on the table in order to retrieve your wine key and open the knife.
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3
Hold the wine bottle by the neck and cut the foil. Cut the foil by pressing the knife against the top lip while turning the wine bottle. If you don't have much practice opening wine bottles, keep the bottle on the table while cutting the foil. Lift the foil off once you cut it all the way around and close your knife.
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4
Insert the corkscrew into the cork. After you close the knife, open the corkscrew portion and insert the pointed end into the cork as close to center as possible. Turn the wine key until the spirals (called the "worm") of the corkscrew are no longer visible.
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5
Place the lever on the lip of the bottle. This will cause the opposite end of the wine key to angle downward.
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6
Lift up on the opposite end of the wine key. Grasping the neck of the wine bottle with one hand, place your other hand around the wine key, lift straight up toward the ceiling and slowly pull the cork out.
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1
Tips & Warnings
Pull the cork out slowly. This will avoid any wine from spilling out onto the table or splashing onto your guests.
Always stop pulling when the corkscrew begins to bend. If you keep pulling the corkscrew straight out when it begins to bend, you risk breaking the cork. Instead, straighten out your wine key, grab the cork with your hand and wiggle it out.
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Comments
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Thanks!
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thehottestcarl
Sep 15, 2010
I get the feeling that the person who wrote this how-to has never actually served wine in a classy, fine dining establishment. These "tips" might be fine for a bottle of White Zin at TGI Friday's, but if you try to open a bottle of Opus One in the manner described above, you're gonna have a majorly pissed off table in front of you. Here are just a few of the errors I was able to find: No server should ever turn the bottle when cutting the foil at the beginning of the presentation; instead, cut the foil first with an overhand grip (cutting half of the foil), then flip the blade around and finish it off with a backhand grip. The bottle also should not be resting on the table at any point in the presentation. The cutting of the foil and the pulling of the cork should always be done off of the table, in the hands of the server. Also, when first attempting to center the corkscrew...
