Time again for an old gripe to rear its ugly head. Why do restaurateurs, caterers, functions and banquet managers and hoteliers continue to feed out untrained cannon fodder as wine waiters and beverage staff before an increasingly demanding public? The excruciating pain of having to hold one’s breath as a waiter (a) pours a bottle of wine without pausing to see whether or not it’s corked, (b) tops up a glass of an alarmingly pricey wine with an un-tested and freshly opened bottle which may or may not be of the same wine, (c) over-fills wine glasses beyond the point at which their aromas can be detected, let alone appreciated, (d) tells you they’re fresh out of that bottle (after you’ve placed your order), (e) arrives with a bottle of correct wine, wrong vintage, which they’ve already opened, (f) dribbles or spills an excessive amount of the wine over your course, the tablecloth or your lap. In case you think I’m going too far, I have encountered each of those circumstances in the last couple of months, each time at a restaurant whose reputation would suggest they’d know better. One thing’s for sure, it’s not the fault of the staff. Training breeds confidence and technique and without it a young student or hospitality hopeful will inevitably be reduced to the quivering, nervous degree of incompetence we see so often. That’s nothing new, of course, but it’s a shame it has to be whinged about so often. But it is almost impossible to drink or simply think wine these days without being drawn into the issue of the best stopper for the bottle. For the first time ever, there now appear to be three viable choices: the Stelvin screw-top, the synthetic cork or the traditional bark of the Quercus suber, the cork oak tree. It’s an argument which appears to be going around in circles and has managed to neatly divide the wine media into camps for and against the retention of cork. It’s patently obvious that there’s precious little ground in common between the criticisms presently being directed towards cork by some of Australia’s most important cork buyers and the claims being issued by those orchestrating what has evolved into a very active campaign being undertaken by the cork lobby. I offer my views on the matter on page 7. Australian wine experienced another sad loss with the recent death of one of its promotional and educational stalwarts, Colin Richardson. Colin, who will be remembered for his presence, his energy, his laugh and his integrity, helped hundreds of people, myself included, navigate their ways into careers in food and wine. His shoes will be impossible to fill. Jeremy Oliver
