Matthew Citriglia's blog
The Good, The Bad, The Pour: A wine Service Blog
One of the perks of being in this industry and being a Master Sommelier is the opportunity to eat at a wide variety of restaurants all over the country. This blog will consist of real life service experiences I have encountered. I will not review ordinary everyday dining experiences but rather the extraordinary events, both good and bad, that just happen. If the server or restaurant goes out of their way, I will post it so everyone can see what the pursuit of excellence requires. If the experience is dreadful it will be posted here, without names, so everyone can see how not to do it. My hope is that it will become a real life service training manual with actual experiences.
When It's Corked -- IT IS CORKED!
I was at an upscale Cleveland restaurant for a wine event. The reception started with a nice California sparkling wine. The server approaches me with a freshly open bottle and pours me a glass. It reeks of cork and I let her know as she pours a splash into my friend’s glass. The server apologizes and takes the two glasses away (my full glass and my friends glass with about an oz of wine in it). She returns with a new bottle, 2 glasses and tells me that this wine smells fine. Curiously, one of the glasses has about an oz of wine in it, and, at first, I thought she meant she opened and checked the new bottle for cork taint. But as she poured the wine, I realize no wine had been poured from the bottle, as well, the glass she gave me was my friend’s glass that she had removed. I was so shocked at what she did; I was speechless! So now I have my friends glass filled with 1oz of corked wine and 3oz good wine.
