Wine List

[Francelia Marksman]

Is there a right and or wrong way when putting together a wine list for your menu/
Such as Melot -Santa Rita (Chile) or
Santa Rita - Merlot (Chile)



[This message has been edited by Francelia Marksman (edited 02-02-2000).]

[Innkeeper]

There are as many opinions about wine lists as there are opiners. A few short "rules." Separate red from white from rose from sparklers. Start with the name of the wine, in your case Merlot, and then the maker. Keep it in some semblence of order listing wines alphebetically, by price, by region, or something. Unless you are a wine destination, keep the list short but excellent. Most importantly, be sure that every wine on your list goes with something on your menu. If you change your menu, keep the wine list in mind, and change it if necessary as well.

[Thomas]

In my travels as a wine salesman I saw many variations of wine lists; the most common being wines listed under their region, color and style, wine name, producer, price.

Yet, I do not think there is a standard way to do it. Each restaurant has its unique presentation (or should) and each restaurant has its unique way of selecting and offering wines (or should).

If I was nuts enough to get into the restaurant business, I likely would have a constantly changing wine list that would concentrate on the evening's features rather than a set, stable endlessly predictable wine list.

[RickBin389]

to answer your question,

In my experiences, categorizing by either region or varietal works best.

The idea, simply, is to make it easy for your guests to locate their favorite wines and not frustrate or intimidate them into iced tea. If you would like some specific examples - email me & I'll be happy to fax a couple different formats your way.

[Innkeeper]

Like I said, there are many opinions. Agree with all that has been stated so far. One word of caution on Foodie's final and very salient point. To produce a daily wine list, it will have to come out of a computer. That does not mean it can't be a professional piece, and not look like an inventory listing. Hate to think of all the wino gathering places I've been to, even recently, where the wine lists were badly torn listings that looked they came out of a twenty five year old computer.

[Thomas]

Innkeeper, computers are so pervasive I simply assume that everyone has one and knows how to use it, and we know what the drill sergeant used to say about assume...

[Innkeeper]

Couldn't agree with you more. Thats why we get so puzzled and annoyed when somebody plops what we have described above in our laps.