Some good tips about wine in trattorias

By Morten Hansen


The drinking of wine is a confirmation of life, good food and special company. Studying about wine should additionally be a pleasure! Let's talk about ordering wine in a trattoria. This needn't be difficult or threatening, regardless of if you're a noob.

Whether sat at a grand, full service trattoria or your favourite bistro, a wine list should be available. It may be on the table or offered before or with the menu. If not, ask the waiter for the wine list. Regardless of format, certain information should be available on any good wine list. First, the entire name of the wine, this includes the name of the wine, the winemaker and the vintage. If a wine is listed without the name of the producer or the vintage, ask the waiter.

Most American trattorias don't have sommeliers or wine stewards. In cafes nervous about their wine selection, service and sales, waiters are often taught to be in a position to suggest wines. If a sommelier is available, it is generally worth taking advantage of his/her services. Often when the services of a sommelier are available, the only real way to find out is to ask. The advantages of including a guru in your wine selection are:

- He/she can orchestrate and invigorate the whole meal.

- He/she have tasted the wines on the list more lately than you.

- He/she knows the way in which the menu choices you ordered are really being prepared.

Of course, some sommeliers are far more informed than others. Do take advantage of feedback, yet, the decision is really yours!

Keep a considerable number of points under consideration when choosing a wine:

Allow yourself 1 or 2 minutes to review the wine list before discussing your choices. If you need ideas, give your waiter/sommelier something to work with. Do you have a region under consideration? Thinking all day of a Napa Valley Chardonnay? Interested in tasting a Syrah from Australia?

Consider the form of wine you need. Do you and your visitors want a light body, a smooth finish, soft tannins or a heavier, assertive wine? There's little wrong with exclaiming you would like something under $30.00 or pointing to a price on the list and announcing "along these lines." If wines are recommended that are not on the list, the waiter/sommelier should tell you the price and vintage; if they don't, ask.

When ordering more than 1 wine, debate when they'll be served. The best rule of thumb is to have them all brought-and even opened-as shortly as you order. This way, you can see the wines are what you ordered and you don't have to hang about if the waiter get too occupied for your next pour!

The waiter now opens the wine by removing the cork. Prior to this, the capsule is removed and the cork wiped as dust or mould could have adhered to the cork while the wine was waiting in the winery, for the capsule to be placed. Once the cork is removed, the method moves toward tasting. The waiter should present the cork to the individual that ordered the wine. Most people think they are supposed to sniff the cork. This isn't so! After all , a cork smells like cork! The point is to check the disposition of the cork. Is it damp? This is a great sign. A dry cork could indicate a storage problem, the bottle was upright and not stored on its side. If a cork is dried-out, air may have gotten in the bottle and oxidized the wine, thereby diminishing the standard of the wine.

Smelling and tasting are the subsequent steps. The taster is looking for failings that render the wine unsatisfactory. Taste once, then a second time, focussing on the taste. There are many reasons to reject a bottle of wine. It could be "corky" and smell like mould: the results of a bad cork, not poor winemaking. A "maderized" wine has the definite scent of sweet Sherry or Madeira, thus the term. This is usually the results of poor storage or exposure to heat. A taster may also detect sulphur in the nose or the flavour of a wine. Often , this abates with a bit of swirling; if it doesn't, it may make the wine upsetting and deserving of refusal. Some restaurants have policies on rejected wine, others handle every scenario individually. It is terribly poor judgment for a restaurateur to put a customer on the spot and challenge his/her taste. If the wine is costly, say about $50.00, the restaurateur may come to your table for a little taste of the wine. It does not take a seasoned wine drinker to spot these failings with bottled wine. If the cork is dry or the taste is compromised, tell your waiter.




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