How to Navigate a Wine List in Five Steps
You’ve worked so hard memorizing all kinds of difficult wine terms, only to be handed the wine list in a restaurant. Panic! Choosing a bottle of wine is difficult. With so many grape varieties, wineries, wine countries and vintages to choose from, even the biggest wine expert doesn’t always know. But no more worrying when they hand you the wine list. With a little common sense and these tips, you’ll go a long way.
(Almost) nothing is as intimidating as a wine list. Well, not everyone is thrilled about a clown at a children’s party either. But you can still walk away from that. That wine list, on the other hand, needs immediate attention. Pointing at something at random? The house wine? The second-cheapest bottle on the list? All possible. But it is rather timid and, besides, you want to enjoy that bottle too, right? These steps will make that happen, believe me!
Become master of every wine list in 5 steps
Step 1: choosing
Choose a bottle. And not always the one you happen to know. There is so much more in the world than Chardonnay, Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon! And French wines aren’t the only ones that are delicious. Step outside your comfort zone and see whether there are unfamiliar wine countries on the list. Wine from Azerbaijan? Good idea! Sherry? With some dishes, it’s even the very best choice! Tell the sommelier what you’re going to eat and what you feel like drinking. Red or white? Bubbles? Full-bodied and rich, fresh and light? That way, you can choose the perfect wine together.
Step 2: checking
Check that the right bottle is being served. So: is it the right producer, the correct vintage and does the grape variety match? This prevents an unexpectedly high bill afterward or a wine you may not enjoy. Do you detect the smell of a wet dog or musty cardboard? Reject the bottle. It probably has cork taint—and no, this doesn’t mean there is actually cork floating around in your glass. Cork taint is the name for a wine fault caused by contamination with mold or bacteria that produces TCA (trichloroanisole). And yes, even bottles sealed not with a cork but with a screw cap can suffer from cork taint. Or has your wine become maderized?! You’ve memorized all those difficult wine terms, so now you know what that means too.
Step 3: opening
In a good restaurant, the bottle is opened at the table. That way, you can be sure you won’t get the rejected bottle from the neighboring table. In addition, with bottles sealed with a cork, you can check whether the cork is dried out or moldy. It’s best to do that only with fancy bottles—or, if you want to show off or come across as a know-it-all, with every bottle, you do you.
Step 4: tasting
The preliminary tasting may seem scary—all eyes on you!—but it’s not too bad. And otherwise, take a cue from Dries Roelvink. The important thing to know is that you are assessing the bottle for any faults. You check whether the wine is ready to drink and whether it is free of cork taint. So you cannot send it back simply because you don’t like it. First, look at the color. Is it clear? Then comes the most important part: the aromas. Swirl the small amount of wine around in the glass and smell it. Keep in mind that many good wines need a little more contact with oxygen to come into their own. During the first 5 to 10 minutes, the wine may still be somewhat ‘closed’. But if it smells fresh, the wine is probably fine. Do you instead detect a wet, musty cardboard smell (cork taint), or something like vinegar, acetone or rotten eggs? Then that is a good reason to reject the bottle. Taste it once more, just to be sure.
Step 5: perfection
Wine approved? Then determine whether it is at the right temperature. Too warm? Ask for an ice bucket. Too cold? Ask for another bottle, or simply wait a little. If the wine is still somewhat harsh and ‘closed’, the bottle can be decanted into a carafe. With some extra air, it will open up faster and have a friendlier character. And, um… you hold a wine glass by its stem, not by the foot or the bowl. Cheers!
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