5 Simple Tips for Ordering Wine at a Restaurant

Ep 36

Does the wine list at your favorite restaurant overwhelm you? 

Ordering wine at a restaurant can be an overwhelming experience, especially when faced with a lengthy wine list that’s multiple pages long and in a language that seems foreign! 

If you can relate then you are going to be so excited for today’s episode!

I’m sharing my best tips on ordering wine at a restaurant because I know how scary it can be when you sit down to have dinner and have no idea how to choose a wine you’d like. By the end of this episode I want you to be able to confidently open a wine menu and understand how to navigate it and how to best ask for help.

I’m covering everything from my 5 top tips that will help you confidently navigate the wine menu as well as how a wine list is organized, how to decide if you should order by the glass or by the bottle and how to utilize a sommelier to get the best wine choice for you.

So friend, if you’ve ever looked at a wine list and been insanely overwhelmed then this episode is for you!

Episode Highlights:

• Tips for ordering wine at a restaurant

• How to order wine from a wine menu

• Tips for understanding the basics of a restaurant wine list

• Is it less expensive to have a few glasses of wine or a bottle of wine

• Pricing differences and considerations for by the glass and by the bottle selections

• 3 Common ways a wine list is organized

• What is a sommelier

• How can a sommelier help you choose wine

• How do you order good wine at a restaurant

• What wine to order at dinner

• What do you say when ordering wine

• Understanding restaurant wine pricing

• My top 5 tips for ordering wine at a restaurant

Transcript

0:09

I'm very excited for today's episode. We are gonna be talking about ordering wine at a restaurant, and I'm gonna be giving you my best tips Because I know how overwhelming it can be when you sit down to have dinner and you're like, okay, I'm gonna go for a nice glass of wine or maybe even go for a bottle, And they hand you the wine list, and it is multiple pages long, and it feels like it's in a different language. Well, the thing is it is. Wine is made in multiple different languages and they're all based off their region, which is, you know, in French and Italian and Greek and German. And it's okay that it's confusing, but I am here to help you. So before we get into it, I wanna share a quick reminder. If you are not on my mailing list yet, I would love for you to join. When you join, you will get a free shopping guide that has 15 of my favorite wines under $15. Just head to corkandfizz.com, scroll down to the bottom, and there'll be a little section where you can join the mailing list. I send out a weekly newsletter filled with wine tips and recommendations, special offers for me, and so much more. And, of course, be sure to check out my virtual tasting club, The Court Crew. It's your opportunity to taste with me. It's your opportunity to taste wine with me from the comfort of your own home. So if you enjoy listening to me and think it'd be super cool to come taste wine with me, Join the club. We get together twice a month, once to try new wines, and then once to learn from other people in the wine world like winemakers, Smallies, authors, and so much more. Wanna give it a try without the commitment? You are in luck. Right now, I'm offering a free Class pass to anybody who wants to try out the court crew. With this pass, you'll be able to join a court crew event of your choosing, No strings attached. You do not have to put a credit card in. You do not have to make an account. You will be my guest. All I need is your email, and you will get that class pass. So simply head to cork and fizz.com/freeclasspass to get your free class pass. Alright. Let's get into this episode. Now let's start with going over some of the basics of a restaurant wine list. So the wine list will be you'll essentially find 2 sections of the wine list. The first is the by the glass, also called a BTG in the wine world. And the second is the bottle list or buy the bottle. Let's start with just the by the glass list. This is usually much smaller, and this tends to be the most popular wines and wines that go best with the food being served. Now, of course, you will pay a little bit more, for likely lower wine because the restaurant occasionally has to throw out some of this wine at the end of the day. These are the wines that they serve you just a glass. You don't have to buy a full bottle. Thus, they you have to make up for it by pricing the glass a little higher. Interestingly enough, it's super common for 80% of the by the glass sales to be made up with just 1 or sorry. It was just 20% of the wine, which is usually, Oh, man. I was struggling there. Just a second, Liz. So what's interesting is it's common for 80% of by the glass sales for a restaurant being made up of just 20% of the wine, And that usually means just one of the wines on the list tends to sell the most. This wine is typically Typically marked up. They'll make the most money off of this one, so they're gonna mark it up a little higher. It is Also often the most well known wine or the one that people are most familiar with. Oftentimes, it's the Chardonnay or the Sauvignon Blanc versus a lesser known wine, and this is often selected as a personal favorite of the wine director or the sommelier to be on the buy the glass list. This one will be typically priced a bit lower because I don't expect to make as many sales on this glass. That is the one I recommend trying. If you can find the more unique sounding by the glass wine, that could be one that's worth a try. Another thing to keep in mind, if you find that your group is going to order at least 3 glasses of wine and you are all okay with drinking the same wine, you're actually better off going for a bottle. There is more variety on the bottle list simply because there are more options to choose from, and you get a better deal. Typically, a, yeah, a bottle of wine costs about 3 glasses of wine in the restaurant. So now let's talk a little bit about about the bottle list. The bottle list is a little more intimidating, but we'll talk first by let's talk about how it can be organized. So there are 3 common ways that you will find a wine list, the bottle list, organized at a restaurant. The first is by place of origin. So where does the wine come from? Is it a French wine, Italian wine from the US, so on. This is kind of the classic way of organizing wine. This worked in the past where wine came from just a few classic wine regions, But now it can be a bit overwhelming when wine comes from all over the world. It can also be hard for guests that are familiar with wine to know what wine they're ordering if it's only labeled by region. Right? If you do not study wine in your free time, It might be hard for you to know that a burgundy, if it's a red burgundy, means it's a pinot noir. Seeing red burgundy on the list doesn't tell you very much. Whereas, you know, if you're somebody who studies wine, you're like, oh, great. Okay. That's a pinot noir. Another way to organize your list other than place of origin is by the grape variety. This kind of follows the more modern preference for selecting wine the grape, and this can make guests feel more comfortable. But some grapes produce wildly different styles of wine. So let's take for example a Chablis, which is a French Chardonnay from Northern Burgundy, and then Napa Chardonnay. So these are both made with Chardonnay. They are going to differ significantly In their acidity levels, a chablis honestly tastes more like a Sauvignon Blanc. They're also gonna differ in their body. Again, an Napa Chardonnay is gonna be big in bold and full bodied, whereas the Chablis is gonna be very light and bright. And then also aging regimen. So the Napa Chardonnay could be, You know, only 2 years old versus that Chablis, the longer it ages, the better it gets. The other question, what about blends? What if you have a wine that's made with more than 1 grape. How do you put that on your list? And what if you have a single wine that exists for a variety? So, like, You probably have a large section of maybe you know, there's, like, 10 Cabernet Sauvignons. There's 10 Chardonnays. There's eight merlot, but then you come across the wine like albarino. Maybe the restaurant has a single albarino. Do you make a separate section for it or do you put it under another section? So Purple Wine Bar and Cafe in Seattle, Washington is actually organized by Grape Variety, But each section starts with an intro, and these are all little kind of, like, written blurbs, about or Sorry. Let me see that again. But each section starts with an intro, and then there are little kind of, like, written blurbs all over the list to explain things. So the wine director, Chris Horne, he relies on kind of creative and clever descriptions to sell the wines that otherwise might get passed over. So I think he kinda takes care of the whole, like, well, a Chablis is so different than a a Napa Chardonnay because he writes a little thing about it and tells you about it, which Anytime you can add wine education in and make it easier for somebody to choose from a wine list, I absolutely love it. Now the last way, which is actually, I think, my favorite way and what I would lean towards, for, you know, Organizing a wine list. Not that I'll probably ever do that in my lifetime, but, hey, this is the way that I like it. I think it's the best way, is by Beam. So this strategy is popular, you know, for places that have a larger by the glass menu and shorter wine lists. The advantage of structuring a list in this way is that guests can find wines they've enjoyed before and then find something that's similar. So this is actually super similar or at least it's kind of like, the same idea that's beyond how that is behind how I recommend finding new wines that you'll enjoy. Right? I've always talked about, like, okay, when we're doing a full wine tasting, when you're doing a private tasting with me or when you're in the court crew with me tasting, I always ask you at the end of the tasting, did you like it? And what was it that you liked about it? Right? So, let's say you taste a Sauvignon Blanc and you love it. You love that it has high acidity. It's bright. It has these herbal notes to it. But then it's, Okay. How do you take that information and find another wine that you like? Well, you look for wines that have similar tasting notes. Potentially, you know, find another Sauvignon Blanc or find another wine from that region. And the best way when they make a wine list like this where it's by a theme, They might have a section that is simply, like, bright and acidic wines, and then you'd find Sauvignon Blanc under there, and then you would see the other options that you can try that are similar. I I just think this is such a great way to encourage people to try new wines while being, Like, confident that they're going to like it, because they found something else under that category. So, one of the ways that they do this is by body or weight. So, this is where you'll find, like, wines that are sectioned off by, like, light bodied, medium bodied, full bodied. And this is also a really great way to organize a wine list if you have if you're at a restaurant that there are not a lot of sommeliers working. It makes it easier for the wait staff to navigate the list they can help you when you're choosing something. There are also some that are grouped by specific characteristics. That's what I was talking about where they're like, maybe they might have a section that's light and bright. Actually, Vinovolo, the wine, wine bars in or, actually, Vinovolo, which are the wine bars that you'd find in airports, do this style, of wine list where they have each, you know, kind of section, I think. I'm trying to remember. I was there couple weeks ago, and I think they have a section that's like, you know, cabernet kings, and those are like or California kings, and I think they're like big but they also had a section that was, like, new and unique, and they had a section that was, like, I'm I'm not remembering that. But you know what I mean? Like, they they categorize it by a specific characteristic of the wine, which makes it easier for you to choose something you might like that's a little different. Okay. So those are the ways that a wine list may be organized. So the especially by the bottle, if anything. So you have, by the regions. This is where the wine is from. You have by the grape variety, and then you have by style. So when you're looking at a bottle list, A great thing to do is first figure out how it's organized so then it's easier to read it. Now my next thing I'm gonna talk to you about are the sommeliers. Now sommeliers are wine waiters whose job is to help you order wine. These people are total wine nerds Just like me, they love talking about wine and serving people. That's the one difference. You'll notice I am not a sommelier, as in I I don't think I'll ever work in a restaurant again in my life, but the people who are sommeliers, they both love wine, and they love having like, giving you the best possible experience ever. Like, these smallies, they've gone through rigorous training, and they have chosen to serve folks in a restaurant setting where they often don't get the respect they deserve. So they love people and they love wine. Don't be intimidated by them. Okay? Think of them like a version of me. Ask them questions. Get them talking. I promise they will love it. Of course, they want you to buy wine. It helps the restaurant and it is their job. But more importantly, they want you to enjoy the wine you buy. So don't think of them as somebody who's like trying to get you to buy The most expensive wine on the list. They are trying to get you to buy the wine that you would like the most. Now in terms of pricing, don't compare the price of wine at a restaurant versus what you'd find online. And why? Well, restaurants provide a service for you. They store the bottles, they curate the wine list, and they talk about the wine. It's just like how you pay more for a chef cooked prime rib over a prime rib at your local butcher. So just just to kind of continue on with this. So basically, I'm saying yes. Wines at restaurants are far more expensive than the wines you'd buy online, but there's a reason behind So let's do the math. Most restaurants sell bottles of wine for anywhere between, like, 3 and 4 times what you what they pay for them wholesale. This is even less than what you'd find, like, online or in a store. This tends to be oh, sorry. Scratch that little bit, Liz. I'm just gonna start this over. Most restaurants sell bottles of wine for anywhere between, like, 3 4 times what they pay for them wholesale. And this tends to be about double what you'd pay at a liquor store. So the wholesale gets them a little cheaper, but they're gonna upcharge that 3 to 4 times. So let's say a restaurant buys a bottle for $15 from their wholesaler. And the same bottle is usually about $30 at your local at your local bottle shop. They charge you$50 for it. So how much of that $35 remember, they paid 15. So how much of that $35 is profit? Likely only about 10%. So part of the money has to go to rent, staffing, and even like the HVAC that keeps the wine cellar at a tolerable temperature. Now the restaurant owner, Caleb Ganzer oh, scratch that. I don't like that. It doesn't fit in. I was reading an article and they had interviewed a restaurant owner. His name was Caleb Ganzer. And he said it best when he said, when you buy a bottle in a store, You literally just pay the retailer to have bought it, and the producer to have made it. But when you go to a restaurant, the cost that come no. I'm still not seeing that right. Scratch that whole thing, Liz. We're just gonna talk about let me figure out what I want to say here. So when you are buying wine from a restaurant, you are paying for more than just the wine itself. You are paying for that experience and to enjoy it in a nice place. Alright. Now here are your tips when you go to wine. So we've talked about how the wine list is organized, and we've talked about why it is more expensive to buy a bottle at a restaurant, but it's still worth trying those wines. The other thing I'll say too is super quick just on the price of wines at a restaurant. One of the other reasons is a lot of times you can find wine at a restaurant that you won't find anywhere else. Some places only sell their wines to restaurants, or you can find wines that have been aging for a little bit of time that you wouldn't be able to try at because you'd have to wait another 10 years, right, to have it age. So restaurants, it is still worth buying even though they are a little more expensive. Now in terms of choosing which wine to buy, here are my tips. So tip number 1, be willing to try something new. Get out of your comfort zone. A wine list gives you the opportunity to try something totally new without any of the danger. It is very unlikely, but you'll absolutely hate the wine that you choose, especially if you talk to the sommelier and they help you find something. But, I mean, like, How often do you get to try a unique bottle of wine from the mountains of Switzerland made by a 6th generation winemaker who only makes 6 cases of wine a year? Not often. Right? You gotta take advantage of this. So go into it with that same attitude that you go into trying new foods. It's a chance to explore something new and appreciate someone's talent. K. So now that we have the right mindset that we're walking into this, my next tip, If there's a sommelier at the restaurant or just folks that seem to know the wine list, ask for help. And here are some of the things that you are going to tell them. 1st, tell them the kinds of wines that you really like. So you could even you could You could either share a bottle of wine that you recently enjoyed. So and, again, no judgment here. Don't, like, worry that they're gonna, like, care what you last drank. So If it's the Snoop Dogg red, you say I really love the Snoop Dogg red that I treated the other day. They'll know what you're talking about. Or you can just Share things that you like in wine, and and don't worry about having the best words to say it. If you say a dry, fruity wine that is Kind of sweet, but not too sweet, and isn't too tart. Don't worry, don't know what you're talking about. So you're gonna say the kinds of wines that you like. You can also say the kinds of wine or things in wine that you really don't like. So same thing as before, either list a say a specific bottle, or say something about the wine that you don't like. So, like, for example, you might say, I don't like white wines that are so acidic. It makes, like, my mouth pucker and I just, you know, like, what we will get what you're saying. The small e will know what you're saying. So kinds of ones you like, kinds of wine you don't like, then say the food that you're planning to order. This will help them better pair your wine with your food so you don't have to worry about It's it's literally built in. They'll do that for you. And finally, very, very important, share your price point. My preference is to be straightforward. I'll just say, I'd like to stay under $120 for the bottle. You can also, if you're a little uncomfortable saying it out loud, You can also point to a bottle on the list that is in your price point and say, I'd like a bottle around this price. Avoid saying thing avoid saying things like not too much or a reasonably priced bottle because those things mean different things to different people, and the sommelier will have a hard time finding your price point. Now if you don't share your price point, many sommeliers will share recommendations at different price points. And this is to help them narrow it down. Now you can avoid all this by simply setting your price point in the beginning. But if they do, Again, know that they're not trying to price gouge you. They're not trying to get you to spend more or calling you cheap. They're just trying to figure out what your price Point is but again, you can avoid all this just saying in the beginning. So an example of something I might say when I go out to eat at a restaurant. Let's say, I'm out to eat and I say, I'm looking for a wine to try. Tonight, I'm gonna order the, baked chicken, and my husband is getting the shrimp scampi. We really enjoy wines that are kind of, earthy, but a good fruit note to them. I had a Mouvedge the other day that was really lovely from California. Really like that. And I don't like wines that have too much of that, like, dry feeling, like my mouth is super dried out, like the tannin. Not a fan of that. My price point is about I'd like to stay probably under$100 if I can. What recommendations do you have? Simple as that. Just say what you like, what you don't like, the food you're ordering, and your price point, and they will find some great options for you. And if you say all this and then the sommelier says something that you don't understand, ask them questions. Okay? They might say something like, okay, well, I'd recommend this wine. It's light bodied and aromatic, very expressive. And if that means nothing to you, ask them to explain. Just say, oh, what do you mean by aromatic? Or what do you mean by expressive? What kind of flavors could I expect or something along those lines? You know, they're just they wanna they want you to enjoy the wine. And sometimes in the wine world, we just get so used to speaking a certain language that it just takes reminding us that, hey. I don't know what that word means to bring us you know, to for us to be able to speak to you in a language that you understand. Okay. That was tip number 2, ask for help. Now tip number 3. If there isn't a sommelier, look for something familiar but different. So for example, if you enjoy Washington Merlot, maybe try a different Washington red wine like Syrah or Cabernet Sauvignon. Or you could look for a Merlot from a different region, like France, Australia, California, or Italy. This is where knowing how the wine list is organized will be very helpful. And tip number 4, I was gonna say last tip, but I actually have 5 tips. So this is tip number 4. Ask to try a sip of wine or two that is offered by the glass. Now this only works if it is offered by the glass. Nobody's gonna open you a bottle of wine to try a sip of. Okay? And sometimes they might not let you do this by the glass either, so it's it's up to you if you wanna ask. But since they have the bottles already open for by the glass offerings, if you ask nicely, the waiter might pour you a small sip of wine so you can try it before you order a full glass. Funny enough, I actually did this recently at a bar, but with a type of cider. I ordered it, and she was like, oh, have you ever tried that before? And I was like, no. But it sounds good. And she's like, oh, well, it is unique, so let me give you a taste before you get the whole class. So this is a pretty common thing that that happens. I ended up loving it. It was wonderful. And, again, this would be a perfect time to try something less familiar, on that by the glass list because you're getting to have a little taste of it. Okay. Finally, this is my this is actually my last tip. Tip number 5, Go for a wine that fits the style of the restaurant. So use context clues to choose the best wine. If you're in an Italian restaurant, I'm going to bet the Italian wine will go best with your meal. Right? Like, what do they have the most of on the menu? What does it seem like they specialize in? You know, they know what they're doing when they created that wine list. Right? They wanted it to go with the food. So, you know, if you're an Italian restaurant and they've got, like, 50 Italian wines and 2 California wines. I I would I would lean towards one of the Italian ones. You know? If you're in a French restaurant, you know, go for the French wine. It it's in Greek restaurant. Right? That's what I go for. Like, there are so many Greek wines. I know probably, like, 5 of them, but they're over 50 Probably. And so whenever I'm in a Greek restaurant, I kinda just lean on trying something new that is Greek, because I'm like, they they gotta go together. Right? And and worse comes to worse, it's not perfect, but you still enjoy it. So, again, go for wine that fits the style of the restaurant. Okay. So just super quick in review, your Five tips for ordering wine at a restaurant. 1, go into it with an adventurous mindset. Be willing to try something new. Number 2, ask for help. Tell them the kind of wine you like, the kind of wine you don't like, the food you're eating, and your price point and they can help you find they being the sommeliers can help you find a great bottle of wine. Tip number 3, if you don't have a sommelier Look for something familiar but different on the menu. Tip number 4, ask to try a sip of wine as long as it's offered by the glass. They might say no, but they might say yes. Tip number 5, go for a wine that fits the style of the restaurant. If you're an Italian restaurant, try an Italian wine. Hopefully these tips will help you feel more confident when ordering wine at a restaurant. And again, the biggest thing is to remember to just have fun. We don't stress this much about trying new foods, so don't stress that much about trying new wines. It's totally fine. Do you have other questions about ordering wine at a restaurant? Message me on Instagram at corkandfizz or email me haley@korkandfizz.com, and I will get back to you. Alright. I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Cork and Fizz Guide to Wine Podcast. If you loved it as much as I did, I would love it if you could take a quick second to rate it and leave a review, And be sure to share it with a friend who wants some help ordering wine at a restaurant. Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. I release new episodes every Wednesday. And next week's episode is a fun interview. We will be interviewing 2 badass female winemakers from Santa Barbara, Maria Tarabao and Tara Gomez. Mira and Tara are the owners and founders of boutique winery, Cayman's Dreams. They fell in love through the world of wine, which I'm so excited to hear story, and they share that love with us through their low intervention terroir driven wines. It's gonna be wonderful. Thanks again for listening. And as a thank you, I'd like to share my free shopping guide, 15 wines under $15. Simply head to my website, corkandfizz.com. Scroll down to the bottom and join my mailing list. Cheers.