Ordering Wine Made Easy

When dining out at a nice restaurant, one thing that can truly compliment your dinner is a good wine. For some people ordering a bottle of wine without thinking too long can be a very simple task. For the others, it can be a long and difficult ordeal. However, it might not as difficult as you might think. If you follow several simple rules and ask for a little help choosing a bottle of wine to enjoy with your dinner can be positively easy.

Wine lists in good restaurants can be pages long and if you are a new wine drinker they can be truly overwhelming. If you know in advance the restaurant you are visiting, you can check their wine list on line before you actually get there. Make a little research about the wines which are on the list and make it you chance to impress a group of friends or a date. Another option which can save you from reading the wine list is bringing your own bottle. This is generally allowed. However, it is still a good idea to check in advance. And you still have to know the basic rules of food-wine pairing. It would be unwise to bring a bottle of a full-bodied red wine to the fish and seafood restaurant, because the wine will not compliment the food and the food will spoil the wine experience.

When the choice is made, the chosen bottle will be retrieved and present to the party host label up. This allows him or her to check that it is the right wine and vintage. The cork is then removed and placed on the table next to the host. If you do not know much about wines, there is no point in taking and smelling it, as it will not give you any information. You can only do so if the cork seems dry, which means that the bottle has been stored vertically and the wine might be spoiled by oxygen, which was admitted into the bottle by the dried up cork. In that case, you should send the bottle back. If everything seems to be fine, the server will pour a small amount into the host’s glass. The host will swirl the wine in the glass to release the aroma and smell it. After the host has taken a sip, he or she should say “Thank you” to the server and that will indicate that you confirm the choice. In this case, the server will start filling everyone else’s glasses, starting on the right. Ladies’ glasses will be filled first, followed by older guests and finally men. The host’s glass will be filled last. And that’s the whole procedure! Not difficult, is it?

Apart from the whole “wine choosing” procedure, there are few other tips you might want to follow if you are to enjoy your chosen wine even more. The wine ought to be served the right temperature. One of the biggest mistakes the restaurants make with white wines is automatically putting an opened bottle into an ice bucket. White wine is best to be served at 9-14°C, whereas ice makes it too cold. Red wine requires some oxidation before it is drunk. Oxygen will help to shape the bouquet and release the fuller flavour. All in all, if you let your red wine to “breathe” for a while and don’t keep your white wine in an ice bucket for too long, you are more likely to enjoy them more.

Finally, before you leave do not forget to tip the sommelier who helped you to chose the perfect wine for your dinner. It is good etiquette to tip 10-20% of the wine price. And one more thing! Enjoy you wine and the entire experience.