What wine to order in a restaurant
Choosing wine in a restaurant is one of those situations that feels harder than it should be. The list is long, the names are unfamiliar, and the pressure to decide quickly while someone is waiting does not help. A few simple principles make it significantly easier.
Start with the food
Wine pairing works outward from the food. Before opening the list, decide what everyone is eating. If the table is split between fish and meat, you need a wine that works for both -- which usually means a rose, a light red, or a full-bodied white. If everyone is eating red meat, you have far more latitude.
Look for the grape variety
Most modern wine lists include the grape variety in the description. This is more useful than the producer name if you do not know the producer. Grenache, Pinot Noir, Tempranillo, Albarino, and Picpoul are all grapes whose character you can predict regardless of who made the wine or where it comes from.
Find the value
The best-value wines on most lists are in the lesser-known appellations. A Cotes du Rhone instead of a Chateauneuf, a Menetou-Salon instead of a Sancerre, a Txakoli you have never heard of. These wines cost the restaurant less to buy and are marked up less aggressively because they are harder to sell. That is your advantage.
Wine list in front of you? Upload it to Pour with your dish and skip the guesswork entirely.
At a restaurant right now? Upload the wine list and Pour will pick the right bottle.
Use Pour at your next restaurant