Decoding the wine list [ March 20th, 2010 ] Posted in » Wine Article archive, wine education
There’s a secret to ordering wine at a restaurant. But like making cheap long distance phone calls–first you have to know the code. Most restaurants have two wine lists. There’s the one they put on your table, which may be as simple as a choice between the house red and the house white, or as complex as the blueprint for the B-2 bomber. This first wine list is the public list, known as the “regular” or “standard” list. The second list, the “reserve,” is the one kept in the back for the true connoisseurs, and the prices reflect the rarity of the wines. This list is for people with expertise and the financial wherewithal to indulge their tastes. If you’re someone who is used to buying off this second list, you’re way ahead of us.
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Vineyards. In 1995, Bettinelli Vineyards moved its production to Oakville Wine Cellars, a custom crush operation located closer to their “Rutherford Vista” vineyard.
This wine is from the completely whacked folks at Bonny Doon Vineyards. They blend together traditional French varietals Syrah, Grenache, Carignane and Mourvedre with Italian varietals Dolcetto and Barbera. This blending produces a rather nice wine that comes in under $10. The price point is key here. There is so much crappy red wine out there now for under $10 that whenever I can find something that is good or very good in that price range, I will let you folks know. I know it is the year 2001 and I should stop using the $10 price range for bargain reds. I need to up it to $15. Many of the under $10 reds I have bought lately with at least modest expectations, I have had to pour out. They were nasty.
Thomas Fogarty Winery & Vineyards