The wine list, demystified

SO, how do you buy a decent bottle of wine at a decent price in a good restaurant?

It’s getting harder and harder. The current California grape glut notwithstanding, most restaurant wine prices remain outrageously high. Meanwhile, the quantity and variety of available wines are proliferating so rapidly that even the most savvy consumer is overwhelmed. If you, like me, prefer your wines with a little bottle age, you have an additional problem: Except for the best -- and, generally, the most expensive -- restaurants, wine lists are filled with bottles that are too young to drink.

How do you beat the game? After all, apart from a loving dinner partner, a good bottle of wine is the single best companion there is to good food. In fact, I’ve had many meals in which the wine was better than the food.

Before you pick up the wine list, I’d suggest that you start by narrowing your choices, based on four factors:

What are you going to eat?

What kinds of wine do you usually like?

How adventurous/experimental are you?

How much are you prepared to spend?

This is an especially important -- indeed essential -- step when you’re in one of those restaurants with a wine list the size of a telephone book; if you try to scrutinize the entire tome, your tablemates may be done eating and on their way home before you’re ready to pick a bottle.

Pushing the order

Often a waiter or sommelier will ask you to order wine before you’ve even put your napkin on your lap. He figures the sooner you order, the sooner he pours, the sooner you finish, the greater the likelihood you’ll be inclined to order another bottle, even if you don’t want one. I always say, “You don’t mind if we look at the menu first and decide what we’re going to eat, do you?”

Then I look at those categories on the wine list that might go best with the food we’ve chosen. If you don’t know what the best pairing would be -- and even if you think you do -- it’s a good idea to ask for help from the sommelier or the waiter.

“If your waiter doesn’t seem all that knowledgeable about wine, ask for someone who is,” counsels Michael Bonaccorsi, former sommelier at Spago Beverly Hills, who’s now making his own wine in Santa Barbara. “In every restaurant, there’s someone -- a waiter, a bar manager, an assistant manager, a sommelier, someone -- who’s responsible for the list and who knows where the buried treasures are and what will work best with the food on the menu.”

If price is a concern, don’t hesitate to say so, either specifically (“We’d like something less than $50, please”) or generically (“What can you recommend that won’t require me to take out a second mortgage?”) Either way, a sensible service person will understand. You can, of course, just point to a wine or two on the list and say, “I’m looking for something like this” or “What can you recommend that’s similar to this?” Better yet, name a specific wine you like; that will give the waiter or sommelier a reference point for your price range and the style of wine you might enjoy.

I usually try to pick two or three wines that seem appropriate for what we’re eating, then ask the sommelier or waiter what he thinks. My wine picks on a given evening tend to be in roughly the same price range, depending on the restaurant, the food and the current state of my finances.

Let’s say I’ve picked three wines between $45 and $60. If the waiter then suggests an $80 bottle, I usually know he has either the IQ of a turnip or the ethics of an Enron executive. I also know one other thing: I’m not coming back to that restaurant.

There are exceptions, of course. A knowledgeable sommelier might have strong feelings that a particular $80 wine is worth even more than that, and that it would be the perfect accompaniment to your meal. If so, he should explain why the wine is so good, and he should acknowledge that he’s gone beyond your anticipated expense. But he should do so in a way that doesn’t embarrass you and that gives you a graceful way out if you choose not to spend that much.

“I try to watch people’s body language and listen carefully to what they say,” says Chris Meeske, the sommelier at Patina. “If they don’t have an idea what they want and ask me to recommend something, I try to suggest three similar wines at three different price points -- say, $40, $60 and $80. If they look uncomfortable and start shifting in their seats or hemming and hawing, I know all three are too expensive, and I pick something cheaper. But if they say, ‘We really want something like Joseph Phelps Insignia,’ then I know they’re comfortable spending $175 a bottle, and I can recommend accordingly.”

But not every wine transaction has to be conducted in a subtle semi-code more appropriate to Cold War espionage agents (or third-base coaches in baseball). There are several strategies for picking wisely that are quite direct. Choose something other than California Cabernet, Chardonnay or Merlot, for example. As Bonaccorsi says, “You’ll usually get better flavor for your dollar if you order Italian Sangiovese or Barbera or Loire Valley wines, and they generally go very well with most foods.”

Describe the taste

Some people only order wines they know they like, either by the varietal or the winery. If you’re that kind of wine-drinker and you don’t see your favorite wine on the list, tell the service person what you like -- not just the varietal or the winery but the style. You don’t have to know any of that wine- speak gobbledygook; just say you like (or don’t like) wines that are heavy or light, more or less oaky, acidic or not, fruity, young, aged, whatever.

In fact, Meeske says, “Most people don’t have the vocabulary to describe what they’re looking for, so what they ask for isn’t necessarily what they really want. You have to probe to find out.”

But you should be willing to experiment, to try new varietals, new wineries, new tastes.

David Rosoff, former general manager and wine director at Michael’s in Santa Monica and now co-owner of Opaline in West Hollywood, says he thinks many people order the better-known varietals because the names are familiar, not necessarily because they actually enjoy drinking them.

“I’m firmly convinced that most people don’t like Merlot,” Rosoff says. “They just know it and understand it, and there’s a safety zone there. I’ve seen people who say the only red wine they drink is Merlot, and I get them to try a Syrah or a Shiraz or a Pinot and they love it. They find the balance of fruit and earth and acid and funk and body is much more appealing, and much more food-friendly. California Merlot doesn’t generally offer that range of dynamics.”

Rosoff says he’s often enjoyed recommending wines that are not only different but “$20 cheaper than what a customer was inclined to order.”

“If I’ve done my job right and picked a good wine, maybe he’ll order two bottles, instead of just the one he’d planned to order -- and, best of all, maybe he’ll come back and tell his friends to come.”

Many people are intimidated by wine and wine lists. Don’t be. You wouldn’t hesitate to ask about how a particular dish on the menu is prepared. You should ask questions about the wine list too. Remember: Wine is just a beverage -- a part of dinner -- not a cosmic mystery or a secret club.

David Shaw can be reached at david.shaw@latimes.com.