Introduction to Sommeliering
What to do if there’s no one on the floor who has a clue? The sommelier’s out sick, or the restaurant didn’t bother to hire one? Delve into the list. Everything you need to know is in there. It’s just a matter of knowing where to look.
The first thing you’ll want to do is figure out how it’s set up.
Wine lists come in all shapes and sizes, from a laser-printed piece of paper to an oversized leather portfolio. The look of the list won’t tell you much but the level of pretension, though.
There are three major ways to design a wine list: Throw money at it, stocking the cellar with all the wines you can afford; hand it over to your wine distributor, who will fill it up with wines they will make good money on; or pick and choose a manageable amount of wines carefully tailored to the style of the restaurant’s cuisine, prices, and vibe.
All three methods can lead to good lists, and all have the possibility of ending badly, so give the list a hard look. In a big list, look to see how they’ve filled the space. Does it read like the catalogue for a wine store, with lots of everything and nothing that stands out, or is the list a treasure trove of older vintages, hard-to-find wines, and “verticals,” different vintages of the same winery’s wines? Does it have a slant that suggests the list is so big because the sommelier can’t contain himself when it comes to his favorite country’s wines?
In a small list, does it offer some interesting options beyond the usual Chardonnay, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon? Do the prices feel reasonable compared to those for the food?
How’s the list arranged? There are no rules here. The traditional method, modeled after wine lists in Old World countries like France where wines are typically labeled by the region in which they grew, is to group wines by country, and within country by region.
That works well if you know a lot about a country’s wines, but it can leave the rest of us out. Therefore, a lot of restaurants in the United States have taken to arranging wines by grape variety.
The downfall here, as you know by now, is that not all Merlots, for instance, are created equal, and the range of styles can make choosing by variety a bit of a minefield.
Look for half-bottles on wine lists: They can be a boon to couples who’s like one wine for appetizers and another for entrees, and don’t want two full bottles. Half-bottles can also be a good way to try something that’s too expensive in a full-sized bottle.
Many restaurants compromise by arranging the wines by style. The divisions might be as straightforward as light, medium, and heavy, but usually they are also whimsical, like “light and flirty” and “big and brooding,” or “librarian types” and “hussies.”
