Wine list mistakes.....

📘🥂Wine lists should be the CV of the cellar. The wine list should have as much thought put into the creation of it as the food menu. The wines chosen should correlate with the style of food in the restaurant. However this is not always the case!

Restaurants are often led by healthy margins and less so by hand selected wines that reflect the cuisine and ethos of the restaurant. Understandably so. Food is far more difficult to make decent revenue from, therefore wine can be a healthy asset to a good restaurant.

From having worked in so many restaurants and written many wine lists these are my three tips below.

1. Try and avoid most House wines as they are high volume item on the wine list. Therefore high volume, high margin. Yes of course we are all on a budget of some sort, so if I’m in this scenario I generally try and choose the second wine in or the third as these wines will have far superior quality for a minimal increase in price.

2. Try to avoid ordering wines that need to be decanted. If you are on a night out and given 1 hour 45 mins for your table, by the time the wine is open, poured and decanted, chances are it has not had enough time to breathe sufficiently. You’re probably well into disco time by the time you wine is ready to drink.

3. Prosecco by the glass in a restaurant is more often than not the Frizzante style. Meaning it’s made in a tank and often flat by the end of the glass. If there’s another joining you in Prosecco it is far better to buy a bottle of Spumante Prosecco and share it around. Bubbles stay fresher, the flavours are better and it’s a far more enjoyable experience.

I will probably get loads of stick for this, but these are my thoughts and experiences. Hope this helps.

#restaurantwinelists #wineinrestaurant #diningout #winetips