Public Servant Lifestyle

All you need to know about choosing the perfect wine for any occasion

Need some tips on choosing the perfect wine to accompany your meal? This simple set of guidelines should help you find a wine that to keep your palette - and your wallet - happy.

For some of us when we dine out we ask for the wine list, find the varieties we know, make our informed decision based on what we will be eating and order away. The rest of us (the majority) we are looking for something that will be nice to drink, complement the food (ie not ruin it) and that we won't have to pawn our jewellery to afford.

Cheapest v. Dearest

First off, avoid the cheapest wines and the most expensive. Now that sounds simple, but for what reason you may ask? Simple – restaurants have a sliding scale for storage of wine that means the prices can be up to 500% dearer than if you bought them wholesale. The storage cost is worked out so that the dear wines are marked up with less storage cost, the cheaper wine has a greater one. If you enjoy top-end wine, you are paying slightly less in percentage terms than if you chose a cheap one. This means that the cheap wine is really cheap wine if you remove the mark up, so for better wines with less hidden costs move to the middle of the list.

Pay Attention

Pay attention to the wine list. Most lists will contain wines you may have heard of, but many lists also have a selection of wines from one specific area in some abundance. If this is the case try one: the person in charge of the wine list will know the area and is trying to share his or her passion with you.

Vintages can be misleading. Unless you are an expert, do not pay to much attention to it as you may get caught out – for example some people actively seek so called 'bad' years as they are cheaper and much more drinkable.

Important Considerations

One of the most important things when selecting wine is to ask. Often the cheaper wines have had much more thought go into them as it is easy to find a good, expensive wine, but not so easy to find a good reasonably priced or cheap wine. The only way to ensure you are not passing up a great deal is to ask someone who will know at the restaurant. Tell the person you ask what you are having, and what sort of thing you like and then leave it to them.

If in doubt, if no one can help and you are getting stuck – pick one you know, even if it is only by name. Just remember that if it's became famous it is probably so for a good reason!

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