Order wine like an expert
I was having dinner at the bar of a high-end Italian restaurant when the bartender handed me a hefty wine list. Feeling overwhelmed, I asked him to choose something for me. ‘‘I like bold reds,’’ I told him. ‘‘Pour me two glasses of wine at $25 apiece without informing me of the exorbitant price,’’ is what he must have heard.
Not all waiters are out to ‘‘upsell’’, of course, but my costly blunder could have been avoided had I not been afraid to engage in a deeper conversation about my wine preferences.
Sommeliers say that not asking the right – or any – questions is often the biggest mistake diners make when ordering wine.
‘‘Choosing a wine is not a multiple-choice exam with right and wrong answers,’’ says Bianca Bosker, a certified sommelier and the author of Cork Dork, a book about her intensive 18-month immersion in the world of wine.
‘‘People are embarrassed to ask questions about wine because they feel like they should know more about it than they do.’’
Determined not to make a similar mistake again, I sought the advice of pros on the dos and don’ts of ordering wine:
Don’t: be shy about your budget
‘‘A price range is always one of the most helpful things to know as a sommelier, because it narrows down the options,’’ says Eric Dinardo, sommelier and beverage director for Schlow Restaurant Group.
For those on a budget, Justin Logan, co-owner of Ruta Del Vino in DC, also recommends warming up your palate with a pricier varietal and switching to something less expensive later. ‘‘They even did that in The Bible,’’ he says of the Wedding at Cana.
Do: ask for a sample before committing to a glass
Most restaurants are happy to oblige when you ask to sample a wine before committing to a glass. If it’s not to your taste, you should feel no pressure to order it.
On the other hand, if you’ve ordered a full bottle, your options are more limited.
Don’t: fall for the ‘‘gimme’’ wines
Most restaurants have what sommeliers refer to as ‘‘gimme’’ wines, Bosker says, or wines that are so familiar and popular that diners order them on autopilot – think New Zealand sauvignon blanc.
‘‘If you order a gimme wine, you’re going to pay a gimme tax,’’ Bosker says. ‘‘They’re not a great value because restaurants know they will sell easily. Instead go with the wine from the grape you’ve never heard of from the region you can’t pronounce.’’
Do: take note of what’s missing from the wine list
You can count on most restaurants to offer the usual suspects, such as the aforementioned ‘‘gimmes’’. If the standards are nowhere to be found, there’s probably a reason.
‘‘Some places have a point of view with their wine list,’’ Bosker says. If you’d prefer to stick to what you know, tell your server what you normally drink, and they can recommend something.
Don’t: baulk at prices
Often, the price you pay for a glass of wine is about the same as what the restaurant paid for the whole bottle. ‘‘A lot of people are like, ‘This is such a big mark-up, I could buy this at a wine shop for less’,’’ Bosker says. ‘‘But keep in mind you’re not just paying for the 750 millilitres of fermented grape juice in the bottle. You’re paying for the staff wages, for the insurance, the cost of laundering your napkin, the entire experience.’’
Do: be patient
When ordering wine for the table, exercise patience. Although it’s not being mixed from scratch like a cocktail, it still takes time to prepare.
Don’t: wear strong perfume
A wine’s aroma is tied closely to its taste, which is part of the reason wine pros will swirl their glass and take a big sniff before taking a sip.