Male Polish on Wine Etiquette

(Q.)“Must I toast EVERY time?” J. J. M., New Haven, Conn.
(A.) Yep, or risk insulting the guest of honor. But you don't have to down a glass with every toast (regardless of what boozehounds and traditionalists say). By sipping and fake sipping, you can toast till dawn on a single drink. – Did you know? “Gourmet” is old French for “wine taster” and the word is used properly in this 1957 etiquette advice column. A “gourmand” and not “gourmet” is the proper term for someone who loves food.

Don'ts Of Drinking Wine

Discovering that “Male Polish” today is all about wine etiquette, non-drinkers may be tempted to sashay elsewhere. But stick around, fellows. Wine etiquette reserves its most ticklish problem for people who never touch the stuff. 

WITH GOURMETS: The problem is, in fact, how in this boozy world do you avoid touching the stuff gracefully? You're dining with gourmets. Wine is served. For reasons of conscience or constitution, you don't want any. So what do you do? Put your hand over the glass? Turn it upside down? Both smack of histrionics. Or do you go into a spiel about the “Evils of Drink,” or the “Virtuous Life,” or “Wine Gives Me Heartburn?” Spellbinding as these subjects may be, they aren't likely to inspire a dinner companion whose chablis glass is lipward bound. 

JUST SAY NO: The thing to do, of course, is say “No, thank you” without any fuss whatever. No person in the world has less need to explain or apologize than a teetotaler. A wine etiquette for non-wine drinkers obviously is not too complicated. What about men who do drink wine? The biggest goof is to guzzle. Wine is not beer. To swill it in large daughts is to miss the subtleties of bouquet and flavor. Apart from this, gluttony in any form is bad manners. 

The second biggest goof is to be a Connoisseur with a capital C. The “Wine Snob” doesn't drink much; he just talks. But his lectures on vintage and vintner, body and bouquet, are so rapt and endless, many guests wish he would drink up and shut up. 

Goof No. 3 is to know nothing at all about wines. This is not really the world-shaking goof Connoisseurs would have us believe. All the same, if you expect to do any fancy hosting, it's well to have a nodding acquaintance with Bacchus. 

ALMOST as important as the wine itself is the technique of serving it. Traditionally, the host pours a little in his glass before serving counter-clockwise around the table. This is to assure bits of cork will land in his glass, not in the guests’. Some hosts even sip the wine before pouring, though others feel this is carrying tradition too far. 

Wine bottles should not be swathed in a napkin. Highly sedimented wine should be decanted or at least served from a basket. Wine glasses should be filled only two-thirds full, giving the bouquet room to rise.

Traditionally white wine (chilled) goes with light meat and seafood; red wine (room temperature) with red meat and game; and rosé wine with nearly anything. Many people feel that, with respect to wine anyhow, palate and pocketbook count more than tradition. They're probably right.

Q & A ON P’S & Q’S (Q) “I went to a bachelor party the other night and everybody was toast-happy. There were a dozen toasts, so I had a dozen drinks. Felt awful the next day. Must I toast EVERY time?” J. J. M., New Haven, Conn. (A) Yep, or risk insulting the guest of honor. But you don't have to down a glass with every toast (regardless of what boozehounds and traditionalists say). By sipping and fake sipping, you can toast till dawn on a single drink. – Don Goodwin, Copyright 1957

 Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia