An expert reveals the one thing you should never do when served wine at a restaurant

When you go out to a nice restaurant, your appetite kicks in — and you might get the urge to enjoy a good glass of wine, whether it’s white or rosé. After all, if you’re going to spend the money, might as well make it worth it and enjoy yourself.

Once the server pours the wine, a lot of people suddenly act like professional wine tasters. They start swirling and putting on a performance worthy of a masterclass.

But it’s actually much simpler than that. Spanish content creator De vinos con Pablo Teipro posted a TikTok video explaining exactly what you should — and shouldn’t — do.

You just have to smell it. Yep, that simple move: stick your nose in the glass. That’s it. Nothing more.

Now, of course, you do need to pay attention. If it smells like dampness, wet cardboard, or old mushrooms, that’s a red flag. But if the aroma is clean and doesn’t have any of those signs, then you’re good — it’s ready to drink.

As this food and wine influencer says, wine is meant to be enjoyed, not judged. Most of the time, that whole smelling ritual is just to check that the wine hasn’t gone bad. That’s all. Especially if the server recommended it — the only goal is to make sure it doesn’t taste off.

That said, Teipro agrees with a follower’s comment that said, “You still need to taste it — sometimes it smells clean but doesn’t taste right.” Another pointed out that “what smells like dampness might actually be forest floor, and that can be a good thing.”

But in the end, it’s always the same idea: smell it, taste it — and that’s how you know if the wine is good to go.

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