Wine Whine #2

Wine Whine – October 17/08

On ordering in a restaurant

In my last missive I whined about mistakes I recently made in ordering wine. However, I occasionally get it right. Last night we ate in “Lot 30” an upscale restaurant in Charlottetown (where one of the silent partners is a well-known university pres.). The food was fabulous. We started with foie gras, served with scallops and shaved beef, and then I had Japanese-style mackerel while my attractive date (yes, it was Betty) had lamb shanks; minus the shank if you can believe.

The wine list gave a very modest price for Trapiche Malbec Reserve (a modest but very drinkable wine). The waiter proudly carried out a bottle of 2007 Trapiche Malbec, which is much inferior to the Reserve. I refused the wine and when the stone-faced waiter did not come up with a bottle of the Reserve I ordered a modest Zin (which turned out to be an 05 and which was excellent, especially with the lamb.)

All of this leads me to some hints on ordering wine in a Canadian restaurant. First, there are two kinds of wine lists: (1) where the vintage is listed; and (2) where you can guess at the vintage or ask the waiter (who will look stunned but eventually will go check.)

In an upscale restaurant where the vintage (year) is listed you should be home free. (By the way, if you forgot your reading glasses you have no business ordering wine at all.-- Ask for a beer) But, be careful. All too often the wine will be listed as a 2005 something-or-other but when it comes it’s the dreaded 2007. ABSOLUTELY DON’T ACCEPT IT. If it’s not the year you ordered or the specific wine you ordered, smile, say you don’t want it and ask to again see the wine list.

More commonly you will find that the year is not stated on the wine list. Probably that means that the wine is very young and came from the Liquor Commission that morning. Usually your only defense is to order a wine that’s intended to be drunk young, such as Beaujolais or valpolicella (although why you would ever drink valpolicella I can only guess). You will be safe with a merlot, but absolutely stay away from a wine that needs a little time in the cellar (such as shiraz or cabernet sauvignon). If you have established a good relationship with the sommelier you can always ask what the year is and sometimes you will be pleasantly surprised.

O.K. You’ve ordered and the wine has arrived. You have checked the label carefully and determined it’s the right bottle. Now what? Well, the waiter will pull the cork and with great flourish place it next to your plate. Ignore him! This tradition is done so you can presumably read the printing on the cork (and you would need not only reading glasses but a very bright flashlight) and determine that the restaurant hasn’t substituted some other wine. Other than one famous and now-defunct German restaurant in the back woods of Pictou County, I don’t think restaurants would ever be that stupid.

The waiter now pours you a small taste. What is your task? First, you are not tasting to evaluate the wine. If you ordered a lousy wine you are expected to live with it. What you are doing when you smell and taste is determining whether or not the wine is “corked” (oxidized). If the wine has gone bad (and lots of wines do, particularly in a restaurant where they have been stored at too high a temperature) it will smell musty and taste worse. Ask the waiter to taste it. He should agree that the wine is bad and then take it back. If he doesn’t agree you should still insist on another bottle and if you experience anything but graciousness, then (1) that should be your last visit to that restaurant, and (2) you should tell your friends so that they can also opt for other places.