NOWHERE is encountering wine more fraught with obscurantism, rapacity and indifference than on restaurant wine lists. Who hasn’t experienced a sinking feeling under the weight of a leather-padded carte des vins? What to do? The decision may come down to price. That’s a shame. Cheaper wines have the largest mark-ups; in other words, if you can’t afford a more expensive wine, the restaurateur will make you pay dearly for it. Encylopaedic wine lists, lists organised by price, lists with multiple vintages of the same wine, or wines with no vintages, may betray the restaurateur’s lack of discernment. Better wine lists narrow the choice for you.
Full article first published in The Connexion (October, 2011)
