- Order Pinot Noir to please a table.
- Acidity in wine refreshes food and your appetite like a lemon squirt.
- Australian Shiraz is the most instantly likable red under $15. Côtes-du-Rhône is a close second.
- Drink wine in thin, roomy, inexpensive glasses.
- A “waiter’s friend” is the only wine corkscrew you need.
- Judge a wine shop by whether it has homemade shelf signs.
- To extend the life of opened wine, refrigerate it (even the reds).
- Tasting a wine in restaurants is only done to see if the wine has spoiled – not to judge how much you like it.
- In your home, designate a “house white,” “house red,” and “house bubbly” – and call them that.
- Stock bubbly like soda – and drink it throughout dinner.
- Don’t sniff the cork.
- To overcome “Riesling Resistance,” visualize lemonade before drinking it.
- Drink a slightly sweet wine like Riesling with spicy food.
- Pick up a bottle of French “Tavel” to introduce yourself to the summery pleasures of dry rosé.
- Visit wineries that require a reservation – and buy something during your visit.
- Any wine shop stocking Beaujolais Nouveau in July works for the forces of darkness.
- When you BYOB, call ahead and give your server a taste.
- Finish a heavy meal with feathery-light Moscato D’Asti.
- White wine with cheese is better than you think.
- To “supersize” your generosity, give a magnum as a gift.
- The best introduction to “serious” red Burgundy is Volnay.
- A wine’s price is often inversely proportional to how easy it is to pronounce.
- A wine’s price by-the-glass can tell you how much that restaurant paid wholesale for the bottle.
- Cheese and substantial meats can diminish your perception of bitter tannin in wine.
- Big spenders who love rich, buttery Chardonnay should try Meursault from Burgundy.
- To store wines for the short-term, all you need to do is avoid big temperature changes and extreme heat.
- Don’t store unopened wine in the refrigerator for more than a week.
- Host a Beaujolais Nouveau party in late November.
- When giving wine as a gift, attach an explanatory note and a “consume by” expiration date.
- The “second labels” of top producers can offer similar quality at a fraction of the price.
- Order Bonny Doon’s Vin de Glacière for the perfect meal closer in restaurants.
- Often dessert wine is best as dessert, not with dessert.
- If your table plans to drink three or more glasses of wine, it’s less expensive to order a bottle.
- Moderately-priced Malbec will rescue you from steakhouse sticker-shock.
- Less than 2% of wine gets better with age – drink your stash now…
- …But, if a wine is red, expensive, and made from a tannic grape, it can’t hurt to age it at least a few years.
- The best introduction to “serious Port” is a 10- or 20-year old Tawny Port.
- If you’re feeling frisky, smell – but don’t taste – the wine when the waiter presents it. (Your sense of smell is all you need to detect a dud).
- “Adopt a winery” and follow it throughout the years.
- Drink your reds a bit cooler than usual – it will focus the flavors.
- Virtually all white Burgundy is Chardonnay.
- Virtually all red Burgundy is Pinot Noir.
- Distinguish different Champagnes by their weight and their bubbles.
- The most common reason to send a wine back is when it has a mildewy smell.
- Chocolate can overpower many wines – but flatters Port and Banyuls.
- Shake your dependency on snobbish, overpriced, or indifferent wine stores.
- To ferret out the gems on a wine list, ask your server what the chef drinks when he or she is off-duty.
From Oldman’s Guide to Outsmarting Wine