Great Wine Made Simple - Andrea Immer [105]
A lot of getting good wine service is about going to restaurants that make wine service a priority. As I pointed out, that doesn’t mean just the fancy restaurants with huge cellars, rare bottles, and big markups. There are restaurants of all types and price points across the country that see wine as an important part of the overall dining experience, rather than just a necessary amenity along with bathrooms and matchbooks. Magazines like Wine & Spirits and Wine Spectator regularly profile them, and wine Web sites often keep up-to-the-minute listings with reviews from critics and patrons. But do be wary of wine-list awards, which recognize restaurants for their wine-list content but do not rate wine service. I have had some of my worst wine service experiences at restaurants with “award-winning” lists.
Having Fun with Wine in Restaurants
WINE BY THE GLASS To me, one major test of a great restaurant is their wine-by-the-glass selection. If it offers a creative array of choices and prices, you’re on to something. I remember my early days at Windows on the World, when wine by the glass at our competition meant house “chablis” for white and house “burgundy” for red. However, we were pioneers, offering premium varietal wines, and even dessert wines, by the glass.
Nowadays, premium wines by the glass are the industry standard, with many restaurants offering super-premium wine selections that most of us never thought we’d see in a single-serving size. What a great thing for wine lovers! As you continue to taste and learn about wine, you can use this to your advantage. Ordering a few different wines by the glass at the same time is a great way to taste and compare them. And remember the half-glass idea—even if the restaurant doesn’t specifically offer it, ask. You and your dining partner can each choose a different glass, but let them pour half for each of you, so you can both taste each wine and share impressions. At home and whenever I travel, I am always in search of restaurants with great wine-by-the-glass programs where I can try new things.
DESSERT WINE If you have not yet experimented with dessert wines, you’re missing out on one of the greatest categories in the world of wine. Restaurants are great places to begin your exploration, because many offer at least a Port or two by the glass, and often several other dessert wine styles. This lets you try different types to see what you want to buy for home. Here are the main dessert wine categories and a few brands you’re likely to see when dining out:
Why Wine and Food?
Isn’t this the whole point? Restaurants are by no means the only place to have fun with wine and food, but they are the place where people seem to get the most uptight about having the “right” wine and food match. I have just one thing to say about that: Relax. No one ever ruined an evening by picking the “wrong” wine. (If it’s that important, I’d say you should look for more interesting dining partners.)
Now, here are some rules of thumb about wine and food that can help you have more fun experimenting, which is something I do daily. Even if I’m having leftovers, I still taste a couple of wines with dinner—whatever’s around or open from the day before. And in restaurants, of course, I always try several different wine and food combinations.
Wine is a love letter to food, largely because of its acidity. Quite simply, acidity is like a turbocharger for flavor. It makes your mouth water, and when your mouth waters, food tastes better. This is because the enzymes in your saliva break down the food and unlock the flavors, so they really explode.
Chefs have always known this, and regularly use it to their advantage. It is no accident that nearly every famous sauce in classic