Why Wine Connoisseurs Choose Hot Water Sanitizing
When it comes to wine, there’s more that contributes to the finish of a wine than the wine itself. While the type of glass you use can affect the flavor of a wine, the cleanliness of the glass and the way its sanitized can also impact the overall result. Wine connoisseurs prefer hot water sanitizing over chemical sanitizing in all circumstances, and your restaurant should take these experienced opinions seriously when handling wine glasses in the kitchen.
To understand why hot sanitizing is the way to go, you first need to know about the composition of wines as well as the glasses themselves! Understanding the makeup of wines and glasses and what aspects of both can be affected can help emphasize the need for the purest sanitizing possible. Certain cleaning methods can affect your senses which in turn affect the overall perception of wine.
Smell
Wine glasses are thin and porous. Because of this, they can absorb smells easily. Chemicals used in low-temp dishwashers can invade the pores of the glass and leave a faint smell. When wine connoisseurs taste wine, they smell the wine first to initiate a conception of the profile of the wine. A waft of even the smallest bit of chemicals can spoil the perception.
Sight
Soaps can leave a residue on dishware, and we’ve all had at least one load of dishes where this is blatantly apparent. While most of the time the film is too thin to really perceive, it is in fact still there when chemicals are used. Consider this: wine connoisseurs typically swirl their glass, smell the wine, and then inspect the sides of the glass to look for the ‘legs’ of the wine. This gives them yet another indication of what to expect when they drink the wine, lending another facet to the final perception. Hot water sanitizing removes the chemicals from the equation and eliminates the dirty film.
When wine sits in a glass, it can dry and stick to the sides as well; chemical sanitizers may leave this residue behind. On another similar note, lipsticks from previous glass users can usually withstand chemical washes. Hot water sanitizing helps to melt the grease from lipstick off the glass, leaving a clean finish. There’s nothing worse than ordering an expensive glass of wine only to find that there’s a lipstick print left over from some stranger who used it before you.
Taste
The flavor of a wine is what the wine was created for in the first place, so having anything alter this flavor will do the wine and winemakers an injustice. Bacteria, wild yeast, and chemical and soap residues can all impact the flavor of a wine. Winemaker Magazine notes, ‘It is neither possible nor necessary to remove every last bacteria or wild yeast cell that might spoil wine. However, it is important to remove as many of them as possible to prevent some of the off-flavors that they produce when they get into wine and begin to grow.’ Hot water sanitizing helps to eliminate the prevalence of these flavor invaders!
JENIFER AQUINO
Sales Consultant
CKitchen.com
E Friedman Associates Inc
T: 800-555-0666 x 1975
D: 516-882-1975
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