How does a restaurant source wine?

Want to know how a restaurant sources its wines for you to enjoy with your meal?

Alex Levi from Union Bank Orange shares the following tips:

1. The story: Restaurant owners want to engage with the story and the people behind the wine.
2. Most restaurants have particular qualities they are seeking in the wine. They will look at:
1. Structure: “Structure” is one of the most abstract of wine terms. It's not like describing a flavour, aroma or even the texture or body of a wine. The structure is about the relationship between all the different substantive components of a wine, including acidity, tannins, alcohol, body and glycerol.
2. Appearance: The appearance of a wine refers to the clarity of the wine, not its colour. This can give the consumer information to the quality of the wine. It is also a tell-tale sign of the wine's health. A wine is said to be healthy if light reflects off the surface easily.
3. Aroma: The aroma of a wine is the entirety of its aromatic profile (everything it smells like), while the bouquet is the specific part of a wine’s smell that it developed after it was bottled.
4. Palate: In the context of wine tasting, palate refers to the ability to identify and taste different characteristics of wine.
5. Finish: When people talk about a wine's “finish,” they're referring to the impression that a wine leaves after it's been tasted. Finish can refer to the aftertaste, to how long the flavours last until they fade, and also to the textural impact, like if a wine has drying tannins or a crisp finish.
3. A sommelier also wants to ensure that a wine is true to form - to find a wine that exemplifies the qualities of that specific variety. This is to provide a certain consistency when it comes to the customer's expectation.