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Wine at the table, without the theatre
Who pours, who tastes, how much goes in the glass — and which of these conventions have a reason behind them.
Overview
Most wine etiquette is either practical or arbitrary, and it is worth knowing which is which — because the practical ones are worth following and the arbitrary ones are worth ignoring without embarrassment.
The host tasting first is practical. It exists so that a fault is caught by the person who chose the bottle rather than by a guest who would have to say something. It is a check for cork taint and oxidation, not an assessment of whether you like the wine — which is why you cannot send a bottle back for being drier than you expected.
Pouring a third of a glass is practical. It leaves room to swirl, concentrates aroma in the bowl, and keeps the rest of the bottle at a better temperature than the glass would.
Holding the glass by the stem is practical, marginally. It keeps a warm hand off the bowl, which matters more for a chilled white on a hot evening than for a red already too warm. Nobody should feel awkward about the bowl.
Filling a guest’s glass without asking, refusing to pour for yourself first, and the many rules about which hand to use are arbitrary. They are conventions of particular times and places, and they vary enough between countries to make clear they are not laws of hospitality.
The one convention worth defending on non-practical grounds is not making anyone explain why they are not drinking. That is a matter of manners rather than wine, and it is the rule most often broken at wine-focused tables.
Step by step
1 Open at the table where you can
It lets everyone see the bottle and catches a faulty one before it is poured out.
2 The host tastes
A check for fault, not for preference. A second or two is enough.
3 Pour about a third
Room to swirl, and the rest stays cooler in the bottle.
4 Serve guests before yourself
Arbitrary but harmless, and universally understood.
5 Ask before refilling
The single most useful rule at the table, and the one most often skipped.
The practical justifications here are mechanical and checkable — temperature, aroma concentration, fault detection. The social conventions are described as conventions, because that is what they are, and WineHQ does not present a local custom as a rule.
Sources
Sources consulted
- WSET educational materials and the Systematic Approach to Tasting — Wine & Spirit Education Trust
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