This guide from Cuistot outlines essential wine and spirits service techniques, emphasizing the importance of alcohol sales in restaurant revenue. It provides detailed instructions on wine service, including how to open, decant, and serve various wines and spirits, tailored specifically for Cuistot's offerings. Additionally, it addresses corkage policies and the subjective nature of wine tasting, while advocating for a well-informed service team to enhance customer experience.

1. Wine and Spirits Service
the basics

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Acknowledgments
This short guide to wine and spirits ser-
vice is specific to Cuistot. While the
guidelines here are correct generally,
there will be instances where this guide
is simply ‘our way’.
This guide is dedicated to the members
of the service team at Cuistot who have
accepted the incumbent sommelier’s
short-comings with good grace and
given him the time learn on the job.
He is better for all their input.
(c) Cuistot 2016

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Preface
The importance of alcohol sales to
any restaurant cannot be overstated.
Typically, sales across wines and spir-
its account for 30% - 35% of the total
revenue of the business. The gross prof-
it from these alcohol sales should not
be less than 65%, and should aim to be
more in line with 70% - 75%. As a con-
sequence, it is essential to have both
a well developed wine and spirits pro-
gram, and an educated team to max-
imize those sales.

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What is a ‘wine program’?
In everything we make choices. Choices about what to leave in and by extension
what to leave out. A wine program is all about choices. There are three main influ-
ences on how a wine list and wine program are built:

5. One: What the guests know and like.
This is very important; overridingly so, and it is worth pulling apart. What the guests
know depends on where they are from, their income bracket, their age, and general
tastes. It can mean having branded wine or it can mean having the great producers,
or vineyards represented. What the guests like is equally important. They may like
Pinot Noirs above all else, or Chardonnays that have a prominent oak influence. The
list/program should reflect that.

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Two: Price of the bottles.
This is hugely important. If the list is full of
wines that are priced too cheaply, profit
is lost and, more intangibly, the profile of
the list is diminished. Conversely, if the wine
selection is too expensive, guests will trade
down or out of wine, especially by the
bottle. Again, the bottom line suffers.
Three: A point of view.
This is the hardest to define and is a
combination of the wine director’s
preferences,thestyleandtypeofrestaurant,
and product availability.

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Wine at Cuistot
Cuistot has been at the top of the restaurant scene in
the Coachella Valley for almost 30 years. Over that
time, the wine and spirits offering has grown to
include the following:
• 35 wines available by the glass,
including champagnes and $100+
bottles by the glass served using a
‘Coravin’ to maintain freshness;
• 25 different sparkling wines
and champagnes;
• Over 550 wines from
across the globe with
specializations in

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France
and
California;
• A comprehensive dessert and
fortified wine offering;
• A comprehensive spirits and cocktail program
including fine Scotch whiskies, Cognacs and other spirits,
aperitifs and digestifs.
Lately, this program has expanded to include the ‘by the glass’ wines by the
carafe which is responding to a consumer need to have less than a bottle for the
table but more than a glass per person.
In all, the wine and spirits offering at Cuistot is good, covering most styles of wine
and delivering those at almost every budget.

9. Service
The most important interaction in the restaurant is that between guest and server.
The server is, at that point, the ‘face’ of the restaurant, providing information, offering
advice, and serving wine -- the food being served by the Busser. As a consequence
of the importance of this position, the server must be ‘fluent’ in wine and spirits
service.
Wine Service
Most wine service is a combination of common sense, safety, and
consistency. The following pages cover the very basics
of wine and spirits service as applied to Cuistot.

10. Opening
a bottle of wine
To open a bottle of wine, hold the wine
key so that your thumb is on one side of the
bottle neck and the knife of the wine key positioned
opposite, under the ‘bump’ on the neck of the bottle. This
blade positioning is very important. A slip, or lapse in attention
while engaged in removing the foil can result in a nasty cut
on the thumb. Twist the bottle and removed the foil. Insert
the corkscrew, twist and, depending on the design of
the wine key, lever out the cork as smoothly and
quietly as possible. Try to avoid a ‘pop’ as
the cork exits the bottle.

11. Wines
by the
bottle
Wine service should follow a
very simple order. The guest orders
the wine - either in consultation with the
server or sommelier, or from consulting the list;
the wine bottle is brought unopened to the table and
presented to the ordering guest; upon confirmation that
the wine brought is correct as ordered, the server should open
the wine, pour a sample for the guest to try, and receive confirmation

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that the wine is good. Upon receipt of
said confirmation, the server should
pour to the person seated to the left of
the taster, moving round the table and
finishing by topping up the sample pour.
Decanters
At Cuistot, it is policy to decant ALL
red wines unless the guest specifically
requests otherwise. This is for three
reasons:
• It allows oxygenation of the wine
removing any reduced aromas and
allowing the fruit aromas and flavors
to show at their best;

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• There may be sediment in the wine that
will be disturbed and thrown into the wine
through repeated glass pours. While not
harmful, sediment does not taste pleasant,
does not look good, and generally spoils
the enjoyment of a wine;
• Appearance in a restaurant is very
important, both to the immediate guest but
also to the other diners. This ‘theatre’ at the
table makes guests aware that wine is being
served and, not knowing that it is policy to
decant all wine, will assume that the wine
being decanted is ‘special’.
Returning to the process of serving, the server
should decant the wine PRIOR to offering it

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to the ordering guest. Pour then for all
remaining guests. See below for detailed
instructions on how to decant wine at
Cuistot.
How to decant wine
There are two ways to decant wine and
which one you choose depends on the
wine.
Fine wine decanting
Having made sure to agitate the wine
as little as possible moving it from the
wine room to the table, stand the wine
upright on the table, and remove the

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cork. For right handed servers, hold the
decanter at an angle in your left hand. In
your right, pick up the bottle and pour in
one motion, the wine into the decanter.
Do this as smoothly as possible, making
sure NEVER to get the glug of air moving
back into the bottle. This process should
be done while holding the bottle - not
the decanter - over a candle such that
you can see through the liquid and see
whenanysedimentreachestheshoulder
of the bottle. Done correctly, you will be
able to see the sediment collect there
and pour the wine past it.
Two important points to remember:

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• Once started you must NOT let
the wine move back towards the
base of the bottle. This will disturb the
sediment and no amount of decanting
will save it.
• Don’t be greedy! There is no way that a
wine with sediment can be poured completely,
getting100%ofthewine.Don’ttry.Leaveasmuchas
you have to while ensuring the clarity of the decanted
wine.
As with decanting above, pour the decanted wine for the
ordering guest to taste. Leave the cork by the decanter. The
decanter should be left at the table on a silver coaster.
Remove the bottle UNLESS the guest specifically requests that it remain
on the table. For very fine wines (above $300 per bottle) retain the bottle

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somewhere safe until the end of service
in case the guest wants to take it home.
‘Splash’ Decanting
For wines that necessarily have no
sediment because they are too young
or light, it is not necessary to use the
convoluted and theatrical method
above. Simply open the wine and pour
it quickly into the decanter. Pour for
the ordering guest to taste, then for the
table, as above.

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White Wines
White wines must be presented and poured as above and then placed in an ice
bucket standing next to the table. Occasionally, a steel insulating tube may be
preferred to an ice bucket if:
• The guest requests is specifically;
• The wine should not be too cold. Examples of this are older chardonnays and
dessert wines.
White wines should be decanted if they are particularly full-bodied. Examples
include, VERY good California chardonnay, white Burgundies at Premier and
Grand Cru level, AOC/P Rhone wines like Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc, the wines
of Condrieu, and Hermitage Blanc. The guest may not have encountered a white
wine being decanted before and as such, should be asked if they object to their
wine being decanted. Serve as above and finish by placing the decanter in an ice
bucket as with white wine bottles.

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More than one bottle
Parties over eight people in size, where all guests are drinking the same wine will
need a second bottle at the same time as the first. Present them both at the same
time to the ordering guest and open them ensuring that you have a second glass
available so that both bottles can be tasted by the ordering guest. As above, these
wines will be decanted prior to tasting.
Champagne
Should be presented to the table as above and opened QUIETLY by twisting
the bottle while holding the cork and maintaining pressure between the cork and
bottle. Ensure that you have the correct number of flutes at the table and pour
the champagne, if possible without having to revisit each glass. One bottle of
champagne will do eight glasses. Any more in the party and a second bottle will be
necessary. There is no need to have the guest taste the wine in this instance (though
this is more convention than anything; there should be the same likelihood that the

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wine will be faulty as with a still wine).
Half bottles
We have decanters for half bottles
and so half bottles should be treated in
exactly the same way as 750ml bottles.
Magnums
We have decanters for magnums
and so these should be treated again
as with 750ml bottles.
Wines by the glass and
by the carafe
We have a comprehensive wines by

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the glass offering. Glass serves are 6oz
mini-carafes. They are brought to the
table full and poured into the guest’s
glass. The assumption is that we have
already tried the wine and it is good.
By the glass - Coravin
The Coravin is a system whereby
expensive wines that will not rotate
quickly are made available by the
glass. These wines should be brought
to the table with the Coravin and
the 6oz carafe. Great care should
be used with the Coravin. It does not
have an ‘off’ switch. Make sure you

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are very comfortable using the Coravin before
attempting to use it table-side.
Wines ‘en Carafe’
These are 18oz/500ml decanters and should be
treated as with 6oz carafes for the glass pours.
The decanter should be left at the table on a
silver coaster
Glasses/Stemware
At Cuistot we rely on two key styles of wine
glass: the Burgundy style, and the Bordeaux
style.

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This shape difference seems to have arisen
naturally, each region using one or the other
style.
Ideally we serve cabernet sauvignons and
full-bodied red wines in the Bordeaux style
glass and we serve pinot noirs, lighter reds
and white wines in the Burgundy glass. This
is impractical in a busy service environment
with limited stemware and servers. As such,
unless the wine is a Fine Wine, we pour onto
the glasses at the table setting. This is typically
the Burgundy glass indoors and the Bordeaux
glassontheTerrace.However,whenreplacing
stemware for a fresh bottle, we always choose
the correct glass as noted above.
BURGUNDY
BORDEAUX

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Other wine glasses
Dessert Wines
Dessert wines demand a different glass for the
simple reason that the serving size for dessert
wines would ‘get lost’ in the bowl of a standard
wine glass. We use a straight-sided flute for
dessert wines. The size of pour is 4 oz.
Port
As fortified wines, these require a larger bowl
than a dessert wine - all to do with volatile
aromatics. Nevertheless, the smaller serving
size dictates that we use a smaller glass. We
use a specific Port glass for this purpose. It is

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the glass used in Portugal. Same size of serve as
dessert wines.
Sherry and Madeira
Though we do not have a large selection of
Sherries we still use a specific sherry glass. Dry
sherry is a 6 oz pour as with any white wine,
sweet sherry and Madeira are as per dessert
wines/ports.
Champagne
We use a large bowl Champagne flute,
technically a Riedel Vintage Champagne
flute.

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Spirits
For the service of fine spirits, we use
appropriate glasses for brandy and
grappa, For Scotch whisky, our guests
usually expect a rocks glass.
Other glasses
We do have small bowl glasses for
white wines and these can be used on
a case-by-case basis or when the guest
requests specifically a smaller glass. With
very old red and white wines, it can be
more appropriate to use a smaller glass
to prevent over rapid deterioration of
the wine.
PORT
CHAMPAGNE
GRAPPABRANDY
MARTINI
DESSERT WINE

27. Wine
Storage
Wine should be stored on
its side ensuring liquid contact
with the cork. This prevents the cork
from drying out and keeps to an absolute
minimum the interchange of air and wine. We
store our red wines at 54 degrees Fahrenheit and
our white wines at 48 degrees Fahrenheit. Our by the
glass wines rotate with sufficient speed that we store them at
a cool room temperature. They are chilled prior to service.

28. Wine
faults
There are two main faults of which to
be aware:
Trichloroanisole (TCA)/Cork
taint
Do not confuse bits of cork in a wine with the wine
being ‘corked’ or cork-tainted. Those are simply bits
of cork and can be easily removed, leaving the
wine in perfect condition.
TCA taint is a very specific chemical
fault with the wine. It

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is believed to be a breakdown of either chlorine-based
cleaning agents or agents used in the management
of the cork trees. Either way, it is obvious, smelling
of moldy leather, and pervasive: a corked wine
will not get better. If a guest complains that the
wine is corked, check that they do not intend
that there are bits of cork in the wine, then
replace immediately.
Oxidization
Will make the wine taste ‘sherried’
or, in extreme cases, acetic -
vinegary. Oxidization should
be easy to spot as it causes
a distinct browning of

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white wines and red wines, whites being more
obvious. If a wine ever looks older than it should
do, it is probably oxidized and should not be
served.
Dirty bottles
Very rarely, a wine may be simply unclean. This
is usually a fault of the bottle. The wine should
be replaced immediately.
Corkage
In spite of the breadth and depth of our wine
offering, guests will sometimes prefer to bring in
their own wines to drink in the restaurant. This is
for one of three reasons:

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• They have a very favorite wine and having
looked on our website, know we do not
offer it.
• Typically, restaurants struggle to keep older
vintages of wines. Though we do at Cuistot,
the guest may not be aware of that and so
may bring in their own aged bottle.
• They are saving money: it can be very
efficient to bring in a very expensive bottle
of wine and pay only a small corkage fee.
We offer a corkage/’bring your own’ (BYO)
service at Cuistot in Palm Desert.
Corkage Fees
750ml Bottle: - $25 + tax + gratuity

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1500ml Bottle (Magnum): - $40 + tax + gratuity
3000ml Bottle (Double Magnum/Jeroboam): - $80 + tax + gratuity
All other sizes by prior arrangement only.
Quantities
All quantities are per party, defined as being under the same booking, irrespective
of number of guests.
Cuistot allows up to four 750ml bottles of wine, or the equivalent volume, per party
to be brought into the restaurant.
Cuistot retains the right to refuse any BYO bottles above four bottles per party.
In exceptional circumstances and by prior arrangement only, Cuistot will allow more
than four bottles of wine for one party and a total corkage fee will be agreed upon
beforehand.

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Corkage Fee removal
We remove one corkage fee for every bottle of wine purchased from the wine list,
and/or for every $100 per party spent at the bar.
Wine Vault
Cuistot, in agreement with Wine Vault, will remove one corkage fee per party on the
production of a valid Wine Vault card. This is irrespective of the number of people in
the same party with valid Wine Vault cards.
Exceptions
Any exceptions to the above are by prior written agreement only.

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Describing wine
Taste is subjective. I cannot taste what you taste, you cannot taste what I taste.
At the same time, we use some words communally to describe wines. Here are the
most useful:
Acidity – The level of acidity in a wine will determine how bright and fresh it is. In a
hot year, there is typically less acidity in a wine. A wine with too little acidity will be
‘flabby’ and not nice, while a wine with too much acidity will be tart, sour, and un-
pleasant.
Aroma – the most important aspect of any wine is the aroma. This is the combina-
tion of smells that come from the wine. The aroma should be enticing, making you
want to taste, and it should compliment the taste.
Balance(d) – A wine displays balance, or is balanced, when there is harmony be-
tween the various flavors, acids, sugars, and structural components like tannins. It is

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a sign of a good wine.
Big – Big wines can be either red or white. It means that the wine has been made
with very ripe grapes and usually has spent time in an oak barrel (which gives flavor
and structure). They are usually more alcoholic than the norm.
Delicate – In wine, the opposite of big. Delicate is usually applied to young, fresh,
white wines but it can be applied to very old reds, though these are more often de-
scribed as fragile.
Elegant – A great characteristic for a wine. Similar to balanced but an added di-
mension of light- touch, structural beauty.
Fat – Fat wines literally contain fatty acids that result from fermentation. More often
than not, this applies to white wines like oaked chardonnay but can be used to de-
scribe reds. Unlike big, fat is not necessarily positive.
Fruity – Young wines and those made with lighter tasting grape varieties are often
described as fruity. These wines are generally not complex but bright, enjoyable,
and ‘quaffable’.

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Full-bodied – Like fat but without the
negative meaning. It is mostly reds de-
scribed as full-bodied indicating a ripe
character to the grapes backed up by wine
making techniques like oak fermentation and
aging.
Nose – Similar to aroma in meaning but more so. The
combination of aromatic and other smells like alcohol
and wood.
Oaky – A wine fermented and aged with oak contact but not
displaying balance; the oak being out of balance with the other
flavors.
Rich – Like full-bodied only more so.
Tannic – Applied to red wines where the tannins – the compounds found in
the grape skins that give a wine color – are too much for the wine.

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Summary
Wine and spirits service should be one of the
most enjoyable parts of the process of din-
ing. There should never be any pressure on
either the server or diner to in some way per-
form. A well-crafted program with enthusias-
tic, well-schooled servers will ensure that the
food created in our kitchen is complimented
on every level by the choice of wine, and
that the opening and closing parts of the
meal, built around cocktails and digestifs,
make the whole experience perfect.

38. 72-595 El Paseo
Palm Desert
CA 92260