We all know how big and fascinating is the world that revolves around wine, which for millennia has gained acclaim all over the world, however, over the last few centuries more and more people have stopped considering tasting as a simple drink, demanding respect for wine. essential form that has accompanied it for hundreds of years.
Monsignor Della Casa with his “Etiquette” for almost five centuries has shown us the correct behavior that each of us should have during a refined banquet, obviously including the service of drinking and we can say that many of these rules are still strictly in use for the simple fact that, in addition to showing elegance, they also greatly facilitate the gustatory analysis.
Of course, nowadays, many of the rules established by the “protocol” are considered obsolete and out of fashion, especially in convivial meetings with friends and shared only in official state events and in events of a certain public importance that obviously do not represent the daily life of many of us.
The host, even if he invites his guests to the restaurant, is responsible for the success or failure of the event and therefore it is he who decides the level of formality to be adopted, establishing the rules, even if he decides to rely on the advice of a professional. external.
The wines will be selected and served following a different procedure depending on the program to be followed during the banquet and the food that will be served for the occasion, deciding on the sequence, type, color, vintage, alcohol content and organoleptic characteristics.
If the guests were to make requests other than what was planned, everything will be done to satisfy them, but if this does not happen, the custom would include starting with bubbles or light still whites, and then moving on to the rosés and reds, respecting the precedence. of the most recent vintages and with the same color, from the lightest to the most alcoholic.
At the end of the meal, when dessert is usually provided, a sweet, still or sparkling wine will be offered, unless otherwise served, at the request of the guest.
Every self-respecting “formal mise en place” will include a glass, goblet, flute or goblet, for each drink served, from a minimum of three to a maximum of four based on the established wines, one next to the other, placing the first at the tip of the knife, preferably in a straight and oblique line.
The water can be served in the classic glass with a more or less cylindrical shape, or in a medium-sized “tulip” glass with a shorter stem than that used for white wine.
This will be followed by a third glass of larger size, the “Rhine”, suitable for rosé and red wines which will be placed in the middle of the previous ones, to include particular glasses such as the “flûte” for dry sparkling wines, the “cups” for sparkling wines desserts and “small tulips” for still sweet wines, which can be easily brought to the end of the meal, but only after having cleared the other glasses.
Naturally, in an informal event, the “mise en place” will be much less elaborate but no less sober and elegant.
The wines must be served at the same time or immediately following the arrival of the first course and here it is important to respect two fundamental criteria:
- the first concerns the pairing: it is essential to ensure that the characteristics of the wine enhance those of the food and vice versa; in this regard, since during the meal it is inevitable that an individual adaptation to flavors is created, it will be necessary that with the succession of courses and wines, perceptions increase in intensity, succulence and aromaticity. If this does not happen or, worse, the opposite occurs, the dishes and wines served later would give the sensation of having lost flavor and intensity, resulting in little appreciable if not disappointing.
- the second, on the other hand, is necessary to serve the wine in the best possible way: uncorking, ritual checks, oxygenation, serving temperature with possible use of the ice bucket, decanting or simply pouring into a carafe.
While opening a bottle, the cork must be removed carefully, delicately, to avoid the risk of “cork residues” as well as the “vibrations” that in some wines could shake long dormant deposits.
For this reason, as well as to avoid an inelegant procedure, the “BOP” or worse the BOTTO of sparkling wine bottles are absolutely to be avoided.
The bottle must always be shown to the left of the guest, while it will always be served to his right, with the label facing the customer in order to facilitate its visibility, care will also be taken so that the neck of the bottle does not touch the glass and once the serving is finished. , we will try to avoid any dripping by making a slight rotation of the bottle, going towards it with the supplied napkin.
The glasses should be filled just over a third while with the flutes and cups you can get to exceed two thirds but always filling them in two stages, waiting for the foam to lower and avoiding dripping.
If the diner should for any reason no longer like wine, he can communicate it with a gesture, a nod with his eyes, a whispered and discreet word, but without ever touching the glass.
As soon as the goblets have all been served, the bottles still containing some wine can be left on the table or in the ice bucket, but when they run out, guests are encouraged to leave them on the table and ask for more, but certainly never overturn them in the basket.
When everything has been planned to ensure maximum appreciation by the diners, then all that remains is to follow an order of precedence in full respect of those present.
Without taking into consideration the presence of illustrious guests such as some high offices of the State or the Church, who, due to their institutional prestige, must always be served first, let’s try to imagine how we should behave at a private event, if we want to respect form and “etiquette” “.
Averted the risk of the presence of high offices of the state, who in any case are always surrounded by a crowd of professionals and master of ceremonies who know how to behave, if someone is celebrating, the person celebrated will be dutifully served first, otherwise the honor will pass to the prelate , if present.
Apart from special cases, priority is obviously reserved for ladies, as it should be, including the hostess who, however, out of mere courtesy to her guests, will be served last and only then will the gentlemen be served, trying to respect a decreasing order of age.
Having said that, the convivial started without the guests having to worry about anything yet, since everything was done by the hosts or the restaurant service brigade, but from this moment the first duties for the guests will begin, which after all, they are simply in front of a glass of wine …
The glass has that shape precisely so that it can be taken from the stem or from the base, with the fingers and in the greatest possible simplicity, avoiding grabbing it from the cup as if it were a cognac, thus avoiding the risk of speeding up the heating process.
During pouring, the glass should be left on the table and once filled, it should never be swirled as if it were a “centrifuge”, because it will not be used to verify the consistency of the wine or to reach the desired level of oxygenation, except perhaps to generate hilarity. When the amount of wine poured is suitable for us, as already mentioned, a compound signal, even a simple and increasingly rare thank you, will be sufficient to interrupt the operation, without the need to move the glass from the table.
The wine should be brought to the mouth and not vice versa for a measured tasting, but only after making sure that there is no residual food in the mouth and wiping the lips with a napkin, before and after the sip, avoiding leaving traces of any kind on the glass.
With the mouth you can only converse, between one swallow and the next bite, but always in a moderate tone, avoiding – needless to say – any noise coming from food.
The toast is only foreseen in some special events such as anniversaries, ceremonies or extraordinary events and always at the invitation of the host or guest of honor: in these cases you stand up raising the glasses in honor of the celebrated person (s) and of those present, but without ever making the glasses ring.
With the arrival of the dessert and always with the consent of the host, the wine glasses used up to that moment can be removed and the sweet wine glasses which can be cups for bubbles or small tulips for stills will be brought.
Of course, there is a big difference between a convivial organized in the name of formality, where you will probably not be familiar with the majority of those present and one organized among friends in the name of lightness. In both cases it is important to use common sense and if we have any doubts, think locally about the teachings of our parents on how we should be at the table that were certainly appropriate, but remember the most important rule and that is: “no one will be in mistake of the one who will point it out to you “