how to order and drink a good wine?

Question

My husband and I have been treated to a very upscale exclusive restaurant. One that we would never be able to afford on our own. We are going tonight, for my birthday. How do I order a good wine? I know that white wines go with seafood, and red wines with meat, but that's about the extent of my wine knowledge. What if I order steak and lobster? What kind of wine goes with that? Am I supposed to swirl it in the glass, smell it, comment on it's bouquet (whatever that means)? I am totally lost. Please help! I have a dinner tonight with very important people that I want to impress.

Thank you Swiss, but as stated in my question I already knew that bit of wine knowledge.

Answer 1

there is rule of thumb for this, in case if you are not sure:

when you eat red meat (beef, pork), it always goes perfectly with red wine.
For dark red meat -> e.g. Bordeaux (French), Salvagnin, Blau burgunder (Swiss), Rioja (Spain) are fine
for light red meat -> e.g. Beaujolais, Johannisberg

when you eat white meat (fish & also chicken with white sauce), it always goes perfectly with white wine. Other style for chicken, red wine is also good.

Lobster goes well with white or rosé wine.

for aperitive: light sekt/ champagne or rosé wine

To decide which country, you may ask the waiter which one he would recommend you, once you select your menu & type of wine red/ white/ rosé.

The waiter might ask you to taste it, so just do as he asks you. There's no necessary to smell the wine if you don't know about it, whether it's good or not. Good restaurant won't serve you bad wine. So don't worry about smelling it.

Answer 2

First Happy Birthday.

second, the best thing to do when you don't know anything about wine is to act like if you know everything. :))))

well if you have an " entrée " what ever it is you take an white wine.

but when you decide to have your main dish, don't take meat if you already eat sea food .
continue with the same type , if you took as an " entrée" any type of meat , chicken , you can take as a main dish meat , beef, whatever.

therefore if you started with sea food thing , continue and you can continue with the white wine.
if you started with anything else you can change to red wine and continue with your main dish with red wine .

when you need to select your wine bottle, if you don't know the difference you ask the waiter for some reference and you choose according your pleasure or flavor . the waiter comes with the bottle , you should read the tag ( to check if it's the same as you ordered) then the waiter has to serve you a little bit, you take you glass and you smell the wine , after that you taste it , keep the wine in your mouth few seconds before swallow.
once you swallow it, time few seconds to check if you the wine is too dry in your mouth or smooth, acid or sweet , any particularity.

if your are satisfied than you say " yes" for the waiter and he serves everyone.

P.S: if you feel you are not capable to do all this , be clever and after you choose the wine bottle and the waiter wants to serve you, tell him to serve either your husband or the most important person on the table, someone you want to be nice too, or knows a lot about wine . in that case you would be saved and that person will be flattered.

again Happy Birthday & just be cool .

Answer 3

Don't fake it! That's the least impressive thing to do and you will be found out. One strategy would be to speak to the wine waiter on your own and tell him/her that you don't know much about wine and would like him/her to recommend a wine for each course. Usually the house wines are good in a decent restaurant so you could just order a bottle of white to go with seafood and a red to go with meat course. If the people you are going to the restaurant with know more about wine than you do why not let them impress you and order the wine for you - they'll like that. Don't make a big show of swirling it in the glass and smelling it - it's not really done like that for dinner. If when you take a drink you feel like commenting - why not say something like "That's nice- I really like that - What do you think ----------?" and see what your guests say.Good luck. Enjoy the wine and the night.

FOr me - If I had a seafood course - I'd go for a Sauvignon Blanc (pronounced- sovinyon blong) and for the meat course - an Australian Shiraz (pronounced sheeraz), or Chilean, Argentinian etc. but Australian is probably best.

Sorry if you think I'm being patronising with the pronunciation but you have to sound as if you know what you're talking about and if you mispronounce something ---- dahhhhhh!! Good luck!!

Answer 4

People are intimidated by wine. You will be more impressive if you are cordial to everyone and don't act like a wine snob.
Ask the sommelier (sum-el-yay) or wine steward what he/she suggests with your entree choice (or first course if you require more than one bottle) There are no longer any hard rules regarding which color wine you drink with what.
As for tasting it there are a couple of standard things to know:
Remember:
- after you have ordered the wine it is tasted to see if the wine has turned or is corked. It is NOT a test to see if you like it. (unless it was suggested by the sommelier)
- a cork smells like a cork and you cannot tell very much by smelling it.
To properly swirl a glass:
-straddle the stem of the glass on its base with your index and middle finger.
- make a gentle circular motion to get the wine swirling.
- pick up the glass by the stem hold it under your nose and smell the bouquet. (it's just like a bouquet of flowers)
- smelling the bouquet helps to see if the wine is good. If it smells bad i.e. vinegary or musty. then ask the sommelier to check it.
- if it smells like wine.......then it's good!
- at this point you can taste it and comment on what YOU taste not what you are supposed to taste. Remember everyone has different tastes and what you taste may not be the same as the next person.
- smile to the sommelier and tell him it's fine (if it is) this lets him know he can begin to pour. (he will ask you if it's o.k. to pour)
Most of all to be impressive it is better to be subtle than pompous. Your guests will be most impressed if you don't act like you are a snob.
CHEERS!

Answer 5

A bottle of wine will usually be ordered by the host,how ever if it is left up to you and surf and turf is what you desire(AND YOU SHOULD CUZ ITS YOUR BIRTHDAY) know that lobster tails are commonly paired with filet mignon, a very mild lean cut of beef.
so try a nice Oregon made pinot noir. it will go nice with the filet and still a light enough red to go nicely with the lobster tail with butter. if al else fails try something new you might find a new wine style that you like , besides wine is not a tool to impress .it really is for you personal enjoyment so enjoy your birthday.

Answer 6

Ask your Host who invited you to this place to order your wine for you - then thank him or her profusely for having such fantastic taste after you have actually tasted the wine they ordered for you!

Before you drink the wine or even taste a little bit of it you want to hold the wine glass close to your nose and take three real good deep breaths of it by inhaling the "essence" or the "bouquet" of the wine into your lungs - Then your taste buds will be ready to "accept" the wine when you take a little into your mouth!

This is the proper way of "tasting a new wine" that you will be drinking. -

Don't forget to take a small piece of unbuttered bread or roll into your mouth and chew on it to "cleanse" your palate just before you take any other wine that may be ordered for you if it is different than your first glass!

Answer 7

without nutrition i'd initiate with Pinot Noir, which has a humble state-of-the-paintings easy style, then Zinfandel the different easy one (the single to bypass in case you do no longer open all 3), then Chianti better sharper and dryer tasting additionally a good wine (all are dry having no sugar) end with Cabernet Sauvignon the main straightforward grape type a good wine to style even after the others.

Answer 8

A wine expert named Andrea Immer-Robinson has two shows on the Fine Living network. She said that if you have any doubt, try one of the two "universal matchers" - Riesling (a white) and Pinot Noir (a red). These have enough character to stand up to heavier food but they don't overpower lighter fare.

Answer 9

I would like to have a glass of wine right now