Wine

When visiting a restaurant for the first time, I’m always intrigued by the wine list. The presentation, selection and pricing structure clearly state the intentions of the restaurateur. A wine list can elevate the overall dining experience or cast a shadow of disappointment over an otherwise enjoyable evening. We can maximize our wine experience in any restaurant by observing the following details.

If you’ve ever had to drink a nice bottle of wine out of a thick-rimmed “Libby” glass, then you’ll know the importance of stemware. Eighty percent of taste is smell, and the antiquated 12-ounce wine glass doesn’t encapsulate a suitable air column for focusing a wine’s scent. The industry standard for a glass of wine is 5-6 ounces, or 4-5 glasses of wine per standard bottle. The glass should support a ratio of two thirds air and one-third wine (a 15-18 ounce wine glass). The lip of the glass should curve inward; trapping the nose or bouquet for your olfactory to harvest. If a restaurant doesn’t have suitable stemware, do not spend money on a fancy bottle. The subtleties that differentiate the better wines from the lesser wines will be lost.

The construction of the wine list itself sheds quite a bit of light on a restaurant’s wine program. Does the wine list include the vintage of the wine? Unless they are serving box wine, they should. A laminated wine list is a dead wine list, suggesting magnums of beverage-grade wine wallowing in oxidized Rigor Mortis. A wine list should be alive, ever changing and complete with vintage dates where applicable, regional information, and categorized by varietal, region or both.

The best wine lists change often (due to availability and vintage) with new and exciting selections becoming available weekly. A restaurant that can’t change their wine list is effectively operating with a quality cap, destined to become quickly outdated. How does this affect us? Ask your server or wine attendant if they have any new and exciting wines. A wine list is usually comprised of selections made years ago and selections purchased quite recently. The best wines are often the newest wines. If the old wines were great, they wouldn’t have any left!

You can count on any restaurant to offer Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot by the glass. It is common to find restaurants with upwards of 20 wines available as glass pours. This is a great way to sample new wines without paying for a whole bottle. The problem lies in the movement of these wines. A restaurant with 20 glass pours sells little if any of at least 10 of these wines. This equates to a lot of opened wine sitting for days waiting to be sold.

Regardless of what the restaurant tells you, it is dangerous to try the Malbec, Tempranillo, Grenache, Albarino, Viognier or Gamay by the glass because no one else is! There are two ways to approach this problem; ask your server which wine sells the most (you’ll end up with a typical varietal), or ask if there are any wines by the glass that currently don’t have an open bottle. Choosing one of these will lessen the chances of spending top dollar for a damaged glass of wine.

One solution to buying wine by the glass is to purchase “half bottles.” These mini wine bottles hold 12.5 ounces of wine, just right for one person. They run a little more than half the cost of a standard bottle, but they’ll generally be of higher quality, and it will be opened in front of you. I’m actually considering decreasing the number of wine by the glass I offer at the Colony Grill, and increasing the number of half bottles. It is a great way to increase the selection without increasing costs, and catering to the growing number of solo dinner guests or dinner guests with companions who don’t share their vinous enthusiasm.

Last but not least, the unenviable task of deciphering the wine-pricing curve. While some restaurants prefer a linear, fixed percentage mark-up, many have chosen to decrease the percentage mark-up as the wine price increases. I personally like an aggressive price curve; with the high-end wine costing slightly more than they would at retail. It is difficult to determine the pricing strategy that every restaurant uses without a working knowledge of wholesale prices; basing it off of retail pricing can be misleading because they can also use an aggressive price curve.

The easiest way to find out is to ask the wine attendant or manager. They’ll either tell you or they won’t. Purchasing expensive bottles of wine from restaurants that employ aggressive price curves will actually maximize the value of your dollar. Percentage wise, less of your money will go to the restaurant and more will go towards the cost of the wine!

Contact Matt Devan at wineguy@lagniappemobile.com.

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