As if the hospitality industry hasn’t enough to worry about with the disastrous effects of the Covid lockdown and the prospect of further disruption, there’s a hidden problem lurking in the cellar. The wine they bought for re-sale nearly two years ago is now almost certainly past its best. That popular Pinot Grigio vintage of 2018 put on the list for sale for a 2019 that never happened would be fresh, fruity and refreshing. By 2021 not so much.
You see, most wine has a shelf life of about two years and only the very best age longer in bottle. The fact that that most mid-priced and even premium restaurants store their wine in less than ideal environments like a store room or even back office is fine so long as the stock turns over quickly. For long periods however the warm conditions will accelerate the wine going bad. Unlike all other beverages and foodstuffs the uneducated consumer of wine has no sell by date to refer to and so it is very much buyer beware.
I became acutely aware of this problem during a recent road trip around Scotland. Virtually every restaurant we had booked didn’t publish the vintage on the wine list and served 2016 or 2017 wines that were clearly past their best. No fresh primary fruit, no acidic vibrancy just damp cardboard. Sadly the wait staff lacked the knowledge or training to be helpful and were totally unaware they were in fact serving bad wine.
It’s difficult to complain. This is an industry wide problem with millions of bottles of marginal wines now in the supply chain and no obvious way of compensating hard pressed restaurants for out of date wines. Regrettably many of these bottles will be drunk inadvertently with customers simply not enjoying them as much as they are entitled to. But as time goes on more will be rejected at the table for increasingly obvious faults. Either way it’s not going to enhance the reputation of wine as a beverage of choice.As restaurants and bars tentatively open up I advise caution.
⦁ Be vigilant about the vintage. Ask before committing.
⦁ Anything over 2 years old insist on tasting first. Many restaurants have forgone this basic steps due to lack of trained staff.
⦁ Do not be afraid to refuse a wine that smells and tastes even a little off. You’re not going to waste money on something that is not correct.
⦁ Remember that the £35 bottle on the list actually cost the restaurant less than £10 to buy, and their supplier will usually refund them for off wine anyway.
⦁ It’s also worth mentioning here that some restaurants will happily allow you to return a wine that you simply don’t like but is correct but they are not obligated to do so.