1954 Practical Bar Management by Eddie Clarke

PRACTICAL BAR MANAGEMENT

4. Gently move the glass in a circular manner, then inhale the fragrance,aroma and bouquet of the wine. 5. Taste in small sips, then roll it around the palate to appreciate its quality, delicacy, and dryness or sweetness, as the case may be. The Art of Storing 1. The cellar or storage cupboard should be dry, cool and well ventilated but not draughty. It should be as far away from the kitchen as possible with no hot pipes running through it. It should be dark, away from the light of day, and free from vibration. 2. The cellar or cupboard should be fitted with honeycomb bins, not only for checking purposes, but to enable a bottle to be removed without disturbing the others. The red wines should be stored in the upper bins, the white wines and Champagnes in the lower ones(heat rises, therefore it is cooler nearer the floor). 3. The temperature of the cellar should vary as little as possible, for the reason that varying temperatures cause the wines to deteriorate in quality. An ideal temperature for all red wines is about 55° Fahrenheit, and white wines not more than 50°. 4. All wines,no matter what type,should be stored lying down, so that the wine is always in contact with the cork. If wines are stored standing up,the corks will become dry and shrink,thereby allowing air to get through to the wine, which is harmful. In the case of Champagne and other sparkling wines, this shrinkage of the cork will cause the natural gasses to gradually escape and over the course of time the wine will become flat. 5. Spirits, including liqueurs, must be stored standing up. If they are stored lying down the spirit is liable to impregnate the corks, whereas by standing the bottles up, the evaporation of the spirit in the bottles will be sufficient to keep the corks moist. 6. The labels on all bottles should always be uppermost in the bin or wherever they are stored, so that should the wine have to be moved, it can be put down again in the same position with the least possible disturbance to the sediment where this exists. This particularly applies to Vintage Ports, lest the crust be broken, and it is for this reason that Vintage Port bottles are

90

Made with FlippingBook Annual report