By Anthony
Gismondi
Long before
appellations and approved viticultural areas (AVAs), single vineyard barrel
fermented, critter labels and globetrotting winemakers, restaurant wine lists
were a simple read. Essentially your choice boiled down to red or white wine,
all of which was equally sweet.
Those days are
long gone in a province where the inhabitants are mad about wine. With B.C.’s
annual per capita consumption growing monthly and heading north toward 20
litres per head (similar to UK consumption), drinking quality table wine is
fast becoming an integral part of the every day dining experience. Both
sophisticated and thoughtful, many of today’s B.C. restaurant wine lists are as
good as any you’ll find on the continent.
While I
wholeheartedly endorse the notion of better and not necessarily bigger wine
lists, sophistication comes with a price — and it’s more than just the
cost of the bottle. There is a fine line between giving the customer the
variety and depth they demand and totally confusing the person given the task
of actually choosing something to go with his or her meal. Obviously a wine
list that scares off as many customers as it attracts is not the goal of any
restaurateur.
As someone
frequently charged with reviewing and, in some cases, evaluating wine lists, I
thought it might be useful to breakdown the format of the modern wine list and
see just what all the shouting is about.
If you are 35 years
of age or older you may remember the term “house wine” although, hopefully, you
won’t remember any of the wine. House wine was never much of bargain, at least
quality-wise, and its disappearance off the modern-day list can only be
interpreted as a good thing. Wine-by-the-glass is where the action is today and
it’s by far your best opportunity to explore new wines without “investing” in
an entire bottle. For many it has become the perfect pre-dinner solution before
ordering that bottle of old faithful.
Some
restaurants have even instituted regularly scheduled taste programs. These are
designed to offer customers a “sneak” preview of what is on the regular wine
list, again without forcing you to buy the entire bottle.
From here most
wine lists launch into a standard format that breaks out the white wine from
the red. Many methods are used including progressing from the lightest- to the
richest-textured wines, from the simplest to the most complex, or even from the
youngest to the oldest. That said, today’s favoured and no doubt most successful
wine list format is the one sorted by grape variety and/or blend.
In the case of
white wine, sauvignon blanc and chardonnay generally command separate sections,
followed by a miscellaneous band of varietals that include riesling, sémillon,
chenin blanc, viognier and an assortment of blends. The reds follow a similar
pattern led by cabernet sauvignon, followed by pinot noir and more recently
merlot, shiraz and zinfandel.
Other
techniques include a more traditional listing of wine by country and region.
Here on the West Coast it has become fashionable to separate the Old World
wines of Europe from the New World efforts of the United States, Canada and the
southern hemisphere. Within each country you may discover some regional sorting
such as Italy-Tuscany-Chianti. No matter what the format is, once consumers
become familiar with the layout, finding most wines isn’t very complicated.
Sometimes
within the aforementioned groupings the selections are arranged by price.
Others mix the order in the hope that you will read the entire list and not
just those selections that most suit your budget. Still others have fixed
prices, offering selections at various price points such as $19, $29, and $39.
It is here that customers with particularly fine-tuned pricing knowledge can
often find bottles sporting less than the full mark-up.
Restaurants
with more advanced wine programs normally offer a small range of specialty,
high-end products either within the main selections or on a completely separate
list that often represents the best they have to offer. Typically selections
are limited and tend to change often, although usually what’s available more
than meets the demands of the most discriminating diner.
Of course, the
value of any specialty list is closely related to the quality of what is in the
bottle, with particular attention being paid to both the vintage and producer
of the wine.
Any
establishment hoping to improve its wine list (and its bottom line) will find
that building a solid, wine list is a relatively easy and painless process, if
and only if, they are prepared to seek professional help. And that doesn’t mean
trading a free meal for second-hand advice from your accountant, lawyer and or
banker.
Once selected,
the new list must be introduced to the staff. Only a small percentage of
restaurants can afford to employ a full-time sommelier to look after wine sales
so the onus for wine service falls squarely on the shoulders of the wait staff.
They need as much information as possible to offer uncluttered service shaped
with a solid grasp of the fundamentals of wine.
It is my
experience that staff is mostly a reflection of the owner and his or her personality,
and what they think about their customers. If the owner cares enough to educate
his staff about the wine list chances are the staff will look after all your
wine needs. Just remember to ask for help when you need it.
• • •
I couldn’t
leave you without a couple of killer wine picks to kick off the warm weather:
Vina
Casablanca Sauvignon Blanc Coleccion Privada 2006, Casablanca Valley, Chile $14
Edition two is
as solid as the previous year and it’s great value for $14. The nose is clean
and fresh with plenty of lifted gooseberry, green apple and lime rind aromas.
It’s New Zealand for $5 less. Love the balance and freshness here. Perfect
seafood/shellfish wine. Drink it all summer.
Pascual
Toso Malbec 2005, Maipú, Northern Region, Mendoza, Argentina $12
Big savoury,
gamey, spicy, menthol, black cherry, cedar, licorice, shoe leather aromas.
Ripe, round, fat, full bodied style with smooth tannins. Peppery, menthol,
black cherry, orange, cedar, tobacco, savoury flavours. Continued good value
and intensity.
Anthony Gismondi is a globetrotting wine writer who makes his home in West Vancouver, British Columbia. For more of his thoughts on wine log onto www.gismondionwine.com