When Ordering Wine in the Dark

First, the episode: We ordered a bottle of 1986 Silverado Cabernet Sauvignon, a personal favorite. The waiter came back with a bottle that he said was the 1987.

I tried to see the vintage myself, but St. Mark’s was as dark as Hernando’s Hideaway.

I joked about a flashlight; the waiter never heard me. I could tell from the marbly appearance of the label that the wine was from Silverado, but I said the ’87 Cabernet was awfully young to be drinking. I asked if the ‘86, which was listed on the wine list, was available. He left and returned to report that he had only the ’87. I accepted it; he opened and poured. The wine was fine, but it was in a different style for Silverado, I thought.

After the waiter left, I picked up the bottle and squinted through the dim light. And there was the answer: We were drinking 1987 Silverado Merlot , not Cabernet, a wine that wasn’t even on the wine list. I summoned the waiter.

“Hmmm,” he said, removed the bottle and snared a manager. The two tried to read the label.

But it was too dark. So they went over to a statue of Duke Ellington that had a spotlight focused upon it. Holding the bottle under the Duke’s nose, they discovered I was right. Hmmm.

To the management’s credit, they offered to let us keep the glasses we had at no charge while we made another selection. But since the Merlot is a fine wine, we kept it.

Among the reds, there are a few good wines at fair prices, but the Silverado Cabernet (assuming the Cabernet is eventually delivered to the restaurant) is $24, and most other reds are above that price. Of the about four-dozen red wines, 34 are priced $30 or more. (There is, of course, that bottle of 1980 Taurasi Riserva, a superb red wine, at $30. Retail is supposed to be $32. I wonder how long that’ll last?)

You do have to know something about wine to find the moderately priced wines on this list. Consider the 1987 Meriggio from Fontodi, which is 70% Pinot Bianco, 20% Sauvignon Blanc, 10% Traminer and aged in small oak barrels. The wine is supposed to sell for $22.50. The price here is $35, which makes it only 2.3 times wholesale (a relative bargain on a list where most of the wines are priced almost three times wholesale). But most people won’t find it on this list. Why? The wine is listed among the red wines, not among the whites.

Other marginally good white wine values are 1987 Cuvaison Chardonnay at $28, 1988 Edna Valley Chardonnay at $23 and 1986 Freemark Abbey Chardonnay at $25, all of which are about three times wholesale--too much.

On the plus side: Stemware are exceedingly attractive. Service is pleasant and efficient. And St. Mark’s features dozens of after-dinner potables, including Armagnacs, grappas and eaux-de-vies.