Ordering
wine in a restaurant can be one of the most intimidating and potentially
embarrassing moments diners face when eating out.
For those of
us who know little or nothing about wine it is quite disconcerting to be given a
huge leather-bound list containing many different wines and being expected to
find one to suit the tastes of your fellow diners.
The
usual answer is to play safe and order the “House-Wine”. But how safe is the
house wine? More often than not house wines are inferior wines made from
blending many cheap grape varieties together. Mainly French, Spanish and Italian
these are generally bought by the restaurant at about the £2.50 a bottle price
level, (£1.12 of this is tax and don’t forget the winemaker’s costs and
profit and the shipper’s and wholesaler’s costs and profits). In fact, most
restaurants are charging their customers more for a single glass of house wine
than they themselves have paid for the entire bottle. So if you are paying £10
and upwards for your house wine - think of the profit the restaurant is making
for the privilege of having it carried to your table, opened and poured.
Therefore, we suggest that you avoid the house wine and look a bit
further into the wine list for a wine of true quality and value.
In recent
years those restaurateurs with a forward thinking approach have raised the
quality level by using New World wines from Australia and Chile as the “House
Wine”. These offer better value for money and many establishments have
introduced wines of decent quality and variety “By The Glass”. But which wines represent the best value?
Determining
what is a fair price to pay can be a pretty difficult decision to make. Expect
to pay at least double the wines normal retail price; this is standard procedure
throughout the UK. Some more informed restaurants choose a set mark up on each
bottle e.g. £5 whilst others choose to exploit the customer through mark ups of
over 2-300%. One 5* Hotel here in the UK has in the past served a chardonnay at
£3.40 a glass or £17 per bottle as its house white. The wine was in fact
Entre-deux-Mers (contains no Chardonnay) and was purchased by the hotel at about
£2.50 per bottle.
In our
opinion no wine, no matter how good, justifies a mark-up in excess of 100%.
A good idea
is to phone ahead to the restaurant and ask them if you can bring your own wine
for a small “corkage” charge. This can provide the opportunity to try a good
wine without having to pay an over excessive price. Alternatively, if a few of
you are dining ask the restaurant if there is any discount available on ordering
two bottles of the same wine - you never know your luck!
How to
tell a good wine list from a bad wine list!
Selecting
a good wine to go with your meal can greatly add to the dining experience.
Being treated well by the restaurant in terms of the quality of the
service, the food and the wine all add to the overall ambience. There is not
much you can do about either the service or the food except for ordering
something you definitely like or have had before, but, with the wine the chance
of gaining good value and quality can be improved by spending a little bit of
time and thought over your choice. In order to select a good choice you need a
good list to choose from. Unfortunately too many restaurants pay scant regard to
the customer’s expectations by stocking inferior wines of low quality or
value. Wine is often seen as an afterthought, but fortunately things seem to be
changing. The following list is a description of some of the different kinds of
wine lists you are likely to encounter when dining out in the UK.
The
We’re Not Really Bothered About Wine List
This is a
typical list usually featuring no more than 5-6 wines and perhaps one or two
Sparkling wines. Don’t expect anything exotic or different, but do expect poor
versions of Piesporter, Macon and Beaujolais. Usually associated with small,
uninspiring restaurants and demonstrates a restaurant merely going through the
motions of serving wine without any real care or consideration for the
customer’s tastes.
The
We Want To Sell The Same Wines As Everyone Else List
The
increasing proliferation of standardised and branded restaurants has in turn led
to the same wine list appearing in many different places. Although the list may
feature some wines of exciting potential they are generally full of
mass-produced wines. The list will be developed, printed and supplied by a
wholesaler who will supply many different restaurants. This is a list that has
been chosen for economy and minimal personal involvement. Once again this
demonstrates a restaurant that cares little for the potential enjoyment that
well chosen wine can add to good food.
The
Safe and Secure Branded Wine List
Look
out for lists with a wealth of wines such as Gallo, Jacobs Creek, Mouton Cadet
and Hardy. Although there is no real fault with the wines themselves their
choice suggests a list prepared by a sales representative rather than the
restaurateur. Therefore, little effort and imagination will have been placed on
matching the wine styles to the cuisine. Instead, the restaurateur is merely
selling wines that are familiar and common rather than interesting and
different.
The
War and Peace List
Watch in
wonder as your waiter struggles to carry over the leather bound volume of wines.
Although it’s nice to be offered a wide choice it can be a bit daunting when
attempting to make a simple selection for dinner. The best bet here is to avoid
making the obvious choice of the House Wine and instead ask the waiter’s
opinion on a good recommendation. Even if they know nothing of wine they may
have a fair idea of which wines are popular.
The
Perfect List
