Start Your Wining
January 2008
Did you Know
Silently, the sommelier appears at the edge of your table.
With a polished display of élan, he presents the selected bottle, deftly pries out the cork, trickles a few ounces of wine into your glass and patiently awaits your response. As you bring the glass to your lips, you notice the table has gone quiet. All eyes are on you—are you prepared to show your stuff, or should you be passing the glass to someone else?This is a common scenario in the world of business, where an image of knowledge, sophistication and confidence can mean everything when trying to impress a client or the CEO. With wine enthusiasm at an all-time high, there is a certain level of expectation for both wine etiquette and general knowledge.
Thankfully, there is not a whole lot you need to know to put yourself miles ahead of most casual wine enthusiasts, and a neat little program called the “30-Minute Wine MBA” may be the perfect addition to your next meeting.
Roxanne Langer, owner of Wine Fundamentals, has been in the wine industry for more than 20 years and gives attendees a compact presentation on the five secrets to “Mastering (wine) Bottle Apprehension,” including choosing wine for various entreés, selecting good wine without bloating the expense account and knowing when it’s OK to send back wine that has turned.
Langer finds that her program is particularly of interest to businesswomen. “There is this unofficial mandate for women [in business] to learn about wine,” she says. “Before wine, it was golf.”
Langer has conducted the program for groups ranging from 25 to several hundred and has various add-on options for groups wanting to learn more. Many times a planner will simply include a casual wine reception afterward, so that attendees can socialize and talk about the wines they are tasting. More intensive programs may include sniffing out certain characteristics in different varietals or competitive team-building exercises.
But the real goal is getting people past the point of wine intimidation, where they can choose a good wine from the menu without having to blatantly ask the sommelier for recommendations in front of the whole table. Or ordering a chardonnay when the boss is having prime rib. Or accepting a wine that has gone bad, only to have someone else point it out. “You want to get the best value and not be embarrassed,” Langer says. wine-seminar.com
