HOW TO SELL BOTTLED WINE
Just like selling from other parts of the menu, the first thing you must arm yourself with to sell bottled wines is product knowledge. You need an education on wine in general. Then you will need to know something about each wine on your wine list so you can paint work pictures for your guests.
How many of you are confused about wine? It needs years to learn about wines. For every rule, there are a hundred exceptions. Wine in France is named by the region. Wine from Italy is named by the grape, the region, a town, or some name they just pul out of a hat. In America, wines are name by the grape.
The Five Factors
Guests don’t care about residual sugar and malactic acid. And if they do, they usually know more about it than we do. So we just shut up and listen. But all most guests care about is what wine taste like. They want to hear an interesting story about it. They want to know what it goes with. I’ve come up with five factors which describe wines effectively.
1. Sweetness or dryness. I’ve found that most American talk “dry and dink “sweet.”
2. Body. This has to do with the weight in your mouth. If it’s light-bodied, the wine will have a thin sensation. If it’s heavy-bodied, it will seem thicker. The experts call this “chewy.”
3. Specific flavor. Servers often describe a wine as fruity. This confuses guests; they think that fruity mean sweet. A wine can be extremely dry and still have lots of fruit flavor.
4. Texture. Texture has to do with the sensation in your mouth. Is it crisp? Is it soft? A crisp, dry wine will have a short finish. A soft wine will have a longer-lasting sensation on the tongue.
5. Interesting information. A story. How the wine is made or where it’s made. Who made it. Anything that you find interesting will probably interest your guests. For example, Venacia, a dry Italian wine, is reputed to have been Michaelangelo’s
favorite.
Popular Wines to Know
Now, let me share some guest-friendly phrases that incorporate one of more of the Five Factors above to describe nine of the most popular wines. We’ll list whites first, then blushes, then reds, from dry to sweet.
1. Sauvignon blanc: citrussy, crisp, herbaceous, and dry.
2. Chardonnay: fresh, dry, medium-bodied, oaky, and rich, with flavors of vanilla and Granny Smith apples.
3. Chenin blanc. Soft and semi-dry, with flavors of melon and pear.
4. White zinfandel: delicate, fruit, and pleasing with flavors of raspberry and strawberry.
5. Cabernet sauvignon. Full-bodied, rich, and dry, with flavors of black currant and cedar.
6. Zinfandel: full-bodied, spicy, and rich, with flavors of cherry and blackberry.
7. Merlot: luscious, supple, soft, and dry, with flavors of plum and cherry.
8. Pinot noir: light, fresh, silky and dry, with flavors of cherry and raspberry.
9. Gamay: light, resh, and fruity.
Be careful to use simple terminology in your descriptions. Words such as fresh, soft, luscious, light, and dry are effective. Words such as flintly, leather, and tobacco are best left to wine books. These are just a few guidelines. Study your list and confirm the particulars with your resident wine expert.
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