When people are at a fancy restaurant and order a bottle of wine the waiter brings it out and pours out a sip to taste. What happens if the customer dosen’t like it? Can you actually send back the whole bottle? Does the customer pay for it? What does the restaurant do with the rest of the bottled?
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It’s just for show. Most waiters and customers don’t really understand what’s supposed to happen during this process.
You simply send it back. If it’s gone off you shouldn’t accept it. One wouldn’t eat a steak that’s fine to mould, why would one drink a corked bottle?
I’ve actually had to refuse a bottle. It was only around $100 so not super fancy, nor expensive, but it does happen on occasion.
Theres some great answers here. But what to do in practice if you are asked to test the wine?
The main thing you are looking for is a smell and/or taste of vinegar. This is what happens to wine if the cork leaks slightly. Secondary things might be a foul aftertaste, but really if you just look for vinegar you’ll be fine.
If youd like to try out what wine thats gone bad tastes like, leave a bottle opened for a couple of weeks uncapped, or leave out a glass for a few days. The vinegar should be very noticeable. If you are able to compare it to some fresh wine of the same kind then even better.
As for what you are supposed to do when tasting; first smell the wine. Is there vinegar, yes or no? If yes be sceptical of your sip. Then taste it. Some like to draw in a little extra air after taking a sip to allow the flavour to develop better. Is there vinegar? If no, give the waiter a confident nod. If there is vinegar or you are not sure, I like to ask the waiter for a second opinion: “Its a bit vinegary. What do you think, is this wine alright?”
Any extra flourishes people do such as swishing the wine around, checking the color, how it runs down the side of the glass etc is more about tasting notes than ascertaining if its corked. You can confidently leave those out.
A lot of people are correctly commenting that the reason for tasting is solely to check that the wine is not flawed.
There is an exception to this general rule though. On one or two occasions a sommelier has given a bad recommendation and misdescribed a wine. Those times I (or my group) refused the bottle were not charged. That only happens in pretty extreme circumstances though.
The one I remember best was where we were celebrating a court win in a nice wine bar. Asked the somm for a recommendation of a fresh white to go with our nibbles. He suggested a wine he said was perfect for us, and very popular. Came back with the most funk-stained, cloudy bretty natural wine I’ve ever had the misfortune to smell. The somm acted like all snobby when we said this was not what we wanted, and tried to say it is extremely popular and sought-after, but backed down in the end.
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