Hellobee Boards

@mrbee: What about asking if they would recommend wine A or wine B from the list? Then you can go with a recommended one and you know exactly what the prices are

Depends on what I'm eating then I narrow down by maker and region.

At nice restaurants, I always ask for help. Especially because the lists are overwhelming and most I have never heard of. I will tell the sommelier what kind of grapes we were thinking based on mood and meal and our price range (at a fancy restaurant I normally just say under $60, since $15 is typically the price per glass but by ordering a bottle we are getting to experience wines that we wouldn't have access to otherwise and so we don't end up with something crazy expensive) and i have always been pleased. At more average places, I just pick something I have heard of or a grape I like in a mid range amount.

Usually either a pinot noir (my husband's favorite) or an old vine zin (my favorite red). We try to go for something new, so many wines to try, so little time!

Depending on the level of niceness of the restaurant, I will ask the waiter or wine waiter to give a recommendation, giving her or him examples of wine that we like, or ideas about what we're looking for.

In one particularly high-end restaurant, the sommelier was amazingly informative *and* didn't simply try to push us towards more expensive bottles. I also like asking her or him what they have tasted most recently, or what has just been added to the wine list, as they may be able to give more information about that particular "new" wine than something that has been on the list forever.

That said, there are some meals where I know that with a particular food, I am in the mood for a particular style of wine. Or I'm just in a funny mood and decide that today is the day to have white wine with beef or red wine with fish. And there are certain standby wines like white burgundy, vinho verde, rosso di montalcino, or Saint-Estephe that when I see them, I'm probably going to get them (if they aren't too expensive).

I let my husband choose, he knows his French wines.