How to order wine at the restaurant

An advice by Italian Sommelier

Ordering wine at a restaurant can be confusing and for some people even intimidating.

Here’s the advice you need from the people you are normally ordering from: the Sommelier.

Let’s make it simple, you are sitting down, they give you a menu and you can start casually browsing the list. If you’re eating with someone, you ask what their preference is (you’re picking the wines but there’s nothing more rude than picking a wine you like without asking for permission).

If wine is your priority, look at the wine list first, I find that looking at the food menu always influences my choices.

Browse the list as see if anything catches your eye (perhaps a grape or a wine region you’ve never heard of, wine is all about exploration and getting outside the comfort zone), then comes the most important part: describe your taste to your Sommelier, you must be able to give a very general an idea of the wines you like, show the Somm a photo from a bottle you enjoyed, or say something like “I love Piemonte wines, especially Nebbiolo, and french whites from Burgundy”.

Then ask the Sommelier to recommend something from the list that he/she thinks is interesting. Feel free to give the Sommelier a budget, there’s nothing wrong with setting a price cap.

As a last note, do not feel intimidated, we have worked in Michelin starred restaurants and high end tasting room and trust me, there’s no reason to feel intimidated, especially now with service becoming more and more casual.

The Somm is there to help you pick the best wine for you so establish a connection, make friends and enjoy the evening!

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