Ordering wine is serious business. But did you know there’s a whole etiquette behind it? If you thought tasting the wine you’re ordering was just a small perk servers did for fun, you’d only be partly correct. As former server and TikToker @trashqueentm explained, there’s actually a method behind this madness.
“So I used to work at a restaurant. I just want you guys to know that like when you order a bottle of wine and they give you a little taste of it, it’s like not to see if the wine is to your liking or not,” the creator explained in a video that has now amassed 670,500 views.
“It’s for you to check if the wine is corked. So if it’s gone bad, you’ll taste it,” she explained. “You’ll know and you can just say, to the server ‘Sorry, this wine is corked ‘and they’ll give you a fresh bottle. But like they’re not asking, like, ‘Is it yummy? Do you like it?'”
Corked wine happens when the smell or taste of the wine has become contaminated with cork taint. It results in the chemical compound 2,4,6-Trichloroanisole (TCA) being released which, while not inherently harmful, can make the wine taste pretty yucky.
@trashqueentm 🍷🍷🍷 #WineTasting #CorkTaint #CorkedWine #sommelier ♬ original sound – MSW
While viewers appreciated the gesture, they were more than a little bit confused by its purpose.
“You guys are so cute thinking I would know if the wine is corked!” one commenter said.
“Are patrons expected to just know that?” another asked. “Like, when would we have learned this info?”
But other bartenders disagreed with this TikToker, saying that there’s a different process to determine whether the wine is corked.
“The wine, when it’s opened should be checked to see if it’s corked by the person who OPENED the bottle, the tasting or the guest should be to approve of the notes and flavors they were told,” a further commenter claimed. But @trashqueentm was unsure about this.
“A couple people have also said this, but I personally can’t imagine opening a bottle of wine for a guest tableside and then pouring myself a taste — I’ve just never heard that,” they replied.
So, with no clear answer, the mystery of the wine rumbles on. The TikToker didn’t immediately respond to the Daily Dot’s request for comment via TikTok comment.
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