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What should I bear in mind when ordering wine in a restaurant?
You can already recognise the importance of wine in a restaurant from the wine list. If you only find information such as "Pinot Grigio", "Greek country wine" or "house wine (red)", you should lower your expectations of quality considerably. A good wine list has a certain scope, includes both open and bottled wines at least in the white and red varieties and at least states the vintage, origin and grape variety(ies) for each wine.
The wine selection
The harmony of wine and food is a complex issue. As a guest, you often know neither the wines on the menu nor the exact ingredients and preparation method of the dish you have ordered. It is therefore the job of the service staff (the waiter or waitress) to help the guest choose the right wine when in doubt. They should be able to judge which wine harmonises with which food and also have a feel for how much the guest is prepared to spend on a bottle of wine. As a guest, you can also clearly specify the price range - or you can ask whether a certain wine, which is in the desired price range, goes well with the chosen dish; in this way, you are discreetly but clearly signalling the desired price level.
Unfortunately, in many cases the service staff are not very knowledgeable about wine - even if the wine list makes a good impression. Sometimes the wines are described in the menu, at least to some extent, so that you can get a rough idea of their flavour and texture. If you really are on your own when it comes to choosing a wine, the "Food and wine" section for beginners offers help: What should you bear in mind when pairing wine and food?
The sommelier or sommelière
In top gastronomy, the sommelier or sommelière is expressly responsible for advising guests on wines. As a specially trained service employee, the sommelier or sommelière has a sound, extensive knowledge of the entire world of wine and is also responsible for purchasing and storing the wines in the restaurant. He or she therefore knows all the wines on the menu (which he or she has created) as well as the style of the cuisine and the individual dishes very well. The sommelier can competently recommend the right wine for the food (or the right food for the wine) - you can and should trust this advice.
Some representatives of the sommelier guild are sometimes accused of lecturing or arrogant behaviour. If this happens, it is completely out of place and unprofessional - as in any other service profession. Conversely, it is also not appropriate to try to impress or even outdo the sommelier or sommelière as a guest with your own wine knowledge. Such airs and graces should not be necessary as a connoisseur.
The ceremony
If you order a wine by the glass, it is usually served ready-poured in a glass or carafe. The finer way is to pour open wines from the bottle at the table after the guest has had a chance to inspect the bottle.
After ordering a bottle of wine, it is first presented to the guest closed. The guest then checks the label to see whether it is actually the wine they want. It is still possible to change the choice without any problems.
The bottle is only opened at the table once the guest has signalled that they agree. A sample is then poured. Those who are unable or unwilling to test the wine themselves can ask another guest at the table or the service staff to taste the wine without hesitation. As the person who tastes the wine (because you usually ordered it), you check whether the smell and flavour are flawless. The purpose of this test is not to comment on or rate the wine, but to discover any faults, e.g. a cork taint, at an early stage and make a complaint. If the bottle was sealed with a natural cork, you can also look at it and/or smell it; however, you will not find any wine faults in this way that you would not recognise much more clearly in the glass.
Smelling and tasting should be done calmly. If the wine is flawless, you signal your approval by nodding your head or making a brief, positive comment ("It's fine."). It is not necessary to make a definite judgement on the quality of the wine - but of course you can also comment on the wine in more detail. If you are unsure about the flawless quality of the wine, you are welcome to ask the service staff for their opinion; some wine faults are not easy to recognise, even for professionals. Only when it has been established that the wine is flawless is it poured for the entire table; the person who ordered or tasted the wine is served last.
It can happen, for example, that a cork taint only becomes noticeable after a longer period of time - with increasing air contact or higher temperature. Even then, you can still complain about the wine and ask the service to carry out an inspection to confirm the suspicion. Nobody has to drink corked wine just because it is supposedly too late to make a complaint. However, the complaint becomes unbelievable if two people have already drunk almost the entire bottle...
The financial side
A catering business has to calculate differently to a retailer. Therefore, wine in a restaurant is logically more expensive than in a retailer. However, moon prices are not justified. A mark-up of 100 to 200 per cent on the purchase price seems appropriate, whereby the more expensive the wine, the lower the percentage mark-up should be.
Outside of top gastronomy, a decent bottle of wine should be available for less than 20 euros; good quality usually costs between 20 and 40 euros.