What’s in a wine list? A lot of unfathomable information and intimidating hidden codes for many people, or so it would seem. A survey carried out by Asda found that British wine drinkers more often than not “bottle it” when it comes to choosing wine from a menu. Drinkers feel “completely out of their depth” when it comes to trying new wines, with a majority “choosing the same wine every time they eat out”. And half of us always go for the second-cheapest option on the menu, no matter what it is.
A scurrilous rumour has been aired on many occasions that some restaurants knowingly apply a higher margin to the wine sitting above the house wine, reaping the reward from wine-list ingenues – I’ve never known this to be the case in any restaurant I’ve worked for as a sommelier. So while putting that myth to bed, where should we look for value on a wine list, and which wines are likely to give you more bang for your buck?
Don’t turn your nose up at wine served from a box
Related: ‘Special occasion’ drinking: the 12 times you just have to crack open a bottle | Michael Hogan
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