Everyone is Opening Wine Bottles the Wrong Way

If you’ve ever been to a fancy restaurant you will notice that the waiter always starts by cutting around the mouth of the bottle to remove the top part of the foil covering. After removing the top part there is a slightly jagged edges of foil around the mouth of the bottle and the wine passed over those edges as the wine is poured. This makes absolutely no sense. Aside from being a waste of effort, it is also not particularly sanitary.

The logical way to remove the foil from a bottle of wine is to simply make one slice up through the entire length of the foil and remove it entirely. It takes a fraction of the time and then the wine is passing over nothing but clean glass as it pours. One of the reasons why the top of a bottle is covered in foil is presumably to keep the mouth of the bottle clean, so why would anyone want to pour the wine over foil that has been exposed for years instead of the clean glass underneath.

Wine bottles can sit around for a long time in your local restaurant or liquor store. A thin layer of dust will build up over time in even the cleanest environments. People will occasionally walk by the bottle and sneeze or cough. People who do not always wash their hands after going to the bathroom will grab a bottle by the neck and hold it up for a closer look before putting it back on the shelf.

Most waiters in fancy restaurants no doubt pride themselves on their cleanliness, and maybe all of the members of your dinner party group are all have very clean hands, but would want them to dip their finger in your glass of wine after pour it? No? Then why would you want them manhandling the top of your bottle of wine before pouring it for you? The next time you open a bottle of wine, ignore the waiters in fancy restaurants (but listen to this random food blogger) and just remove the entire foil cover.