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Choosing wine in a restaurant

If you are on a date and you have been given the task of choosing the wine in a restaurant, remember to be assertive but chivalrous, commanding yet sensitive and include your date in the decision…

Have a look and see what wines are available by the glass. You might prefer to start with a couple of glasses of sparkling wine or a dry unwooded white while you look at the menus.

Leave your decision until you find out what the specials are and you have an idea of what your partner is going to eat.

Look and see if there is anything on the list which you know is good, you like, and you can describe to your partner.

Don't faint when you work out that it cost more than twice than in your local supermarket, and certainly don't make any comments to that effect out loud. If you are paying, she may then not order a starter and make you look like a cheapskate (which as you know, is completely different to being one), It is an accepted fact that restaurants make their profit on alcohol and drinks sales. Get over it.

A good wine list should provide you with drinkable, good-value-for-money wines, besides the more expensive well-known names. If the wines are completely unfamiliar to you, you could try asking your serving person for some advice and suggestions. From their first sentence you should be able to tell whether they know what they're talking about. Take a look around the restaurant before asking him or her to suggest something that is popular!

Have a look at the vintages listed. You might see a good red that is five or six years old at a reasonable price. Think twice about buying really expensive young reds. They have probably been seriously wooded and could therefore do with a bit of extra time in the bottle. Cheaper, young reds, one year old, have probably had little wood contact and may be light and fruity.

Many restaurants stock half bottles of red. If drinking and driving is an issue, why don't you see what is available? If you are concerned about drinking too many bottles too soon, learn to drink mineral water in between sips of wine.

Don't be embarrassed about doing the wine tasting routine. Wines are sometimes generally off and if you don't draw it to your servers attention straight away, you lose your chance for another bottle.

A corked wine is the only reason for objecting - finding it too wooded, dry or whatever, does not entitle you to send it back. How do you know if your wine is corked? It smells and tastes like cork has been dissolved in it. Take another sip if your suspicions have been raised when testing a wooded white. If you're not concentrating, a heavily wooded wine might taste a bit corked at first.

The full routine involves checking that you have been brought the right wine, the right vintage and whether you approve of the temperature. So read the label and feel the bottle. Speak now of forever hold your peace> it's fair to say that in South Africa we tend to over-chill our whites and serve our reds too warm. You can leave an over chilled wine out of the ice bucket. If you find your red wine too warm, 10 minutes on ice could make a difference. Remember that eating out in a restaurant is all about sense of occasion, so play the role and enjoy it.

story from Men's Health
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