How to take charge of the wine in a restaurant

What did you drink the last time you went out for dinner? If "red" or "white" is the answer, then it's time to take charge of ordering the wine in a restaurant.

The power of the internet has forced any serious restaurateur to develop a website reflecting the restaurant and more often than not, the wine list is available to download. By taking advantage of this you can browse it in your own time and even ask the opinion of a wine buff friend.

Before even setting foot in the restaurant, do some homework taking these four things in account:

• Budget
• Occasion
• Food
• Individual preference

Even if you have decided to take charge of the wine, you may not be paying for it, so consider your fellow drinkers. Are they having the lobster or the pasta? A great bottle of wine will improve any meal just as a disappointing wine will ruin the meal, but their qualities should certainly match. The Europeans think the Brits are crazy to drink wine without food. A special occasion usually demands a special wine, so if it is an important dinner, go ahead and treat yourself. An important occasion is remembered with a good bottle of wine and a good bottle of wine is measurably improved by good food matching.

The six basic rules for food matching

Newspaper articles and books can make food and wine matching seem like a minefield, but this is certainly not the case.

• 1. Acidic food does not go with red wine. Meaty food does.
• 2. Salty food does not go with white wine, the wine loses its flavour.
• 3. Spicy food needs spicy/peppery wine such as Syrah/Shiraz (red grape) or Gewürtztraminer (white grape)
• 4. Balance the body of the wine with the body of the food. A thick piece of steak has a lot more body than white fish.
• 5. Shellfish does not go with red wine, it can leave a metallic taste.
• 6. Match sweetness with sweetness for dessert.

For plenty more information on food and wine matching visit Fiona Beckett's www.foodandwinematching.com or read "Food and Wine" by Mary Dowey.

Having already looked at the wine list in advance, or while reading it at the table, discuss with your fellow diners their food choices. The more people you have the harder it may be. It may even be necessary to order two different wines if you have enough people.

Some wine knowledge...

There is some basic knowledge about the wine itself that will help you understand the wine list, but you do not need to be a wine buff. Below are some simple guidelines but there are of course exceptions to every rule.

• Wines from Europe (old world) are named after the place they are from – Rioja, Chablis, Champagne are all places!
• Wines from Europe (old world) are most often a blend of different grapes.
• Wines from outside Europe (new world) are mostly named after the grape or grapes. Good wines will also tell you the specific region in that country from which the wine has come.
• Older red wine will be easier to drink because the tannin in the wine will have softened with age. It will also be less likely to stain your lips and teeth!
• Pinot Noir has less tannin than Merlot, which has less tannin than Cabernet Sauvignon (as used in Bordeaux).

Here is a short list of just a few of where certain grapes come from in Europe:

• Bordeaux – Cabernet and Merlot (red), Sauvignon Blanc (white)
• Rhone – Syrah and/or Grenache
• Chablis – Chardonnay
• Burgundy – Pinot Noir (red), Chardonnay (white)
• Rioja – mostly Tempranillo
• Barolo – Nebbiolo
• Sancerre – Sauvignon Blanc

Armed with the above knowledge and hopefully having seen the wine list in advance, pretend to read the list for a moment in front of your guests when you have secretly already made your mind up. Discuss with your fellow diners their food choices or their wine preferences, taking them into account.

Don't forget about the wine waiter

The sommelier (wine waiter) is there to take the work out of choosing for you, but he or she will look to you for guidance. Remember to ask for the wine list and not the wine menu. Use your advance knowledge to give the sommelier hints about what you might choose off the list by pointing to your choices. In a top restaurant, a good sommelier will almost psychically be able to decide what wine is best for you to suit your budget and if you have ordered food, your meal. I have often been amazed at how right the sommelier gets it. If in doubt try to give him or her a basic idea of what you do and don't like and then trust them.

On a short wine list and when there is no wine waiter, don't stick to the house wine (don't be a slave to the restaurants limitations) unless it's a very, very good restaurant. Going a few price points up the wine list will really pay dividends in quality and enjoyment but don't go for the most expensive. The restaurant will probably sell very little of it, it will have been sitting there for ages and is probably not stored well.

Once the bottle arrives

Most importantly if you are going to check the bottle, there are two things to remember. Do make sure the wine is what you ordered and matches the wine list exactly. Don't make a big deal of sniffing, swirling, tasting and slurping the wine – this is only done by show-offs. If your date does it, start to worry! The reason the wine waiter is showing you the wine is not to see if you like it. The point is to allow you to confirm it is not 'corked'.

Corked

Corked doesn't mean that it has cork in it. It means that a fungus living in the cork has tainted the wine with a bad smell called TCA. All you need to do is take a good sniff of the wine and see if you can detect anything that smells like, mushrooms, cabbage, feet or indeed cork. Women have a better sense of smell than men as long as they don't smoke. Take your time, don't feel rushed, but don't put on a show. If the wine smells flat or unfruity, tell the waiter, ask him to taste it and hopefully he will do something about it.Stick to the same wine

Don't be tempted to change to something different on the second or third bottle after the first bottle, unless you really don't like the wine or are having many different courses. Unless you really know how to switch between styles without too much of a shock, a dramatically different wine will shock the palate and not taste nearly as good as it would have done to a clean palate with the right food.

If all else fails...

...follow the actions of a girlfriend of mine. Just after arriving at the restaurant, she disappears to powder her nose whilst grabbing a wine list on the way out. Using her mobile, she phones a 'wine friend', quickly runs down the list and asks "Which wine shall I order?!"