Priming wine glasses

In the Las Vegas Cut restaurant this past week, the table next to ours ordered the 1997 Opus One. After decanting, the server swirled a little of the wine around in each glass. I had never seen this before. Is this a good use for the wine that costs almost $1/ml especially if the wine used for priming was discarded (I don't know if it was, but if not what's the point?)? Enlighten me, please!

I don't see the point , either.

[Robin Garr]

The thinking behind it is to wash out any dishwasher/dust aromas that might distort the character of the wine. Waste a few drops to ensure maximum enjoyment of the rest.

I'm not sure of its validity - I wouldn't do it at home, and I would assume the sommelier at a place that sells such fancy wines and undertakes such service efforts would ensure the glasses are fresh and free of odd odors anyway. But I've seen it done at Michelin-starred restaurants in France, for sure, and maybe occasionally at high-end, pretentious-style eateries in the US.

I find it's more common in high end Italian places than others.
OK, I confess, I do it occasionally. We have an untreated/unstained cabinet (I also wrote Kabinett, damn wine notes!) where we keep wineglasses. I don't notice with glasses we use frequently, but sometimes I get stale/off odors from glasses in back. So I prime. Though if I am about to drink a more expensive wine, I'll generally prime with whatever is open.

I agree with Dale, it is more a "ritual" in Italy than else where, but it makes a little sense. You will get a cleaner essence of the new wine this way. I only do it at home when I'm changing from white to red, trying to use as little as possible of the new wine.

OK, so my experiences with it was in a couple of very popular Italians in New York City.

One of them was during an expense account dinner and our sommelier "primed" our glasses, 4 of them, with a good and expensive Barolo that we ordered a bottle of. As Robin had posted, we assumed that he or other restaurant staff had already made sure that we have clean and odor-free stems. My co-workers commented that he had already spoken with our wait-staff about getting us the appropriate stems after having our starter white, he looked at each of our glasses and checked each against the light, and still wasted some of our wine on priming the glasses that he was going to pour the same wine on.

In a word--bogus. To repeat, BOOOOGUUUSS!!!

Why would one prime the glasses? Only because they weren't properly washed in the first place.

You paid for the wine. You paid for glasses that had been properly washed. There should be no need to rinse the glasses with expensive wine--at the customer's expense--when the glasses should have been properly cleaned and rinsed in the first place.

-Paul W.

In full agreement with Paul.

There should be no need to rinse the glasses with expensive wine--at the customer's expense--when the glasses should have been properly cleaned and rinsed in the first place.

I totally agree. It's somewhat ironic that the same restaurants that practice such would only do so with expensive wines. It's like they don't care if the stems are foul-smelling or dirty and won't bother to prime when the ordered bottle is below a certain threshhold amount.

On the other hand if they know that the glasses are stored somewhere they might pick up off odors then I'm happy to see it done. I'll usually do it if changing between 2 very different wines (e.g., if someone insisted I try some Pax syrah and I want to go back to riesling immediately afterward).

As has been pointed out, Italian wine producers and sommeliers are very keen on priming glasses. Most winemakers, for example, will rinse the glass between wines pretty carefully, even if the wines are eg different single vineyards of the same wine type. I used to think this was pointless, but David Schildknecht pointed out in a discussion on this topic that most of what you're smelling in a glass is the film of wine on the inside of the glass, so making sure it smells of the right wine (and not Rinse-Aid, for example) makes a lot of sense. Now I do it religiously, particularly before the first wine but also in between wines.

Oliver,I believe your interpretation of what David S. proposed is incorrect. You actually smell the evaporate of the wine (volitalized wine), not the wine left in the glass. Swirling the wine in the glass does the same without wine 'sacrifice'. "Priming" the glass does little to remove off smells/tastes in the glass. (If it did , you would only need a small amount of water to rinse out the glass after washing.) I also have seen this done only in Italian restaurants. I also felt it is for show only.

[James Roscoe]

One local wine shop uses really nice glasses for their wine tastings. Unfortunately, the dishsoap is awful! Fortunately all the distributors will rinse your glass if you are offended by the chlorine smell. (Most people have no idea. One distributer is smart enough to just do it. His wines are the best!) So it is not always bogus. I wouldn't want it done in a high end place. I always sniff the glass first and would just send the glass back if it contained chlorine or other oder.

Oliver,I believe your interpretation of what David S. proposed is incorrect. You actually smell the evaporate of the wine (volitalized wine), not the wine left in the glass. Swirling the wine in the glass does the same without wine 'sacrifice'. "Priming" the glass does little to remove off smells/tastes in the glass. (If it did , you would only need a small amount of water to rinse out the glass after washing.) I also have seen this done only in Italian restaurants. I also felt it is for show only.

Harry,

I asked David whether I'd remembered him correctly, and he responded 'I would only add "[the film of wine is important] on the inside of the glass and above all at the rim." The importance of this is especially obvious if one tries to use a glass recently rinsed with water and not completely dried because the moisture left at the rim is then obvious even to the eye and would transform what you smell.
It's also worth noting as I have in the past that a small percentage of growers with whom I taste - particularly in Burgundy but also a few in Germany - religiously insist on total rinse between wines as a matter of course, regardless of who is tasting.'

Some restaurants here may do it for theater, but I can assure you it's not 'for show only' in Italy, it's thought to be very important. I used to think it wasn't useful, now I think it makes a big difference.

One local wine shop uses really nice glasses for their wine tastings. Unfortunately, the dishsoap is awful! Fortunately all the distributors will rinse your glass if you are offended by the chlorine smell. (Most people have no idea. One distributer is smart enough to just do it. His wines are the best!) So it is not always bogus. I wouldn't want it done in a high end place. I always sniff the glass first and would just send the glass back if it contained chlorine or other oder.

I believe the Health Departments require the use of a 'sanitizer' rinsing chemical, and that's what you're smelling. Tap water often isn't so great either, at least where I live...

I think there can be enormous differences between what happens in a restaurant and in a formal tasting setting. There are also some things in common.

1. In either restaurants or at wine tastings, I will take a good sniff of each glass before allowing wines to be poured. If the glass has any aroma at all, I will ask for it to be replaced.

2. If a "first-class restaurant" cannot supply me with "first-class glasses", they can count me as a former patron or as a critic who so writes in his reviews of their establishment.

3. When drinking more than one wine with my meal, I will not bother to prime glasses when switching from one wine to another but will request a separate glass or glasses as required.

4. At many tastings (trade or when visiting wineries), I will request a separate glass for each wine so that I can return as often as I like to follow how those wines open in the glass. (The exception to that is when walking through the cellar to do barrel tastings when one glass is generally available and in those cases I do rinse and swirl between samples).

5. From an entirely personal point of view, I do not want a sommelier or wine waiter to prime my glass as I find it just a bit on the supercilious side. As I say, if they cannot supply me with perfectly clean glasses, they should learn how to clean their glasses perfectly.

Best
Rogov







4.