Comments on: Why Huge Wine Lists Suck

By: Joe Roberts, CSW

Joe Roberts, CSW — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:24:00 +0000

Thanks, Amy.

"I am always impressed with a carefully thought out, concise list that perfectly compliments the menu."

Beautifully stated!

By: Amy Atwood

Amy Atwood — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 22:01:00 +0000

I am with Lenn and Joe on this one. Big lists are distracting and overwhelming.
I am always impressed with a carefully thought out, concise list that perfectly compliments the menu.
I think the phonebook size wine list seems antiquated and elitist….and therefore has limited appeal to the average wine drinker.
I want more Americans to feel comfortable drinking (and choosing) wine with dinner.
The long lists are just another hurdle for them.

By: Joe Roberts, CSW

Joe Roberts, CSW — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 17:32:00 +0000

Thanks, Stevie. I can commiserate - I recall being told by restaurant staff during a dinner in PA that the wine available was not the vintage listed in their big wine list. Three times during the same dinner for the three different wines.

As for those Phoenix fans - hang in there, hopefully by Monday you will have a picture of the Steelers holding a 7th trophy that you can email to them to shut them up! :-)

GO STEELERS!

By: Joe Roberts, CSW

Joe Roberts, CSW — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 17:29:00 +0000

Hey Jeff - that, or a movie.

ATTACK OF THE GIANT WINE LIST

Damn, that should have been the title of this post...

By: Jeff (Good Grape)

Jeff (Good Grape) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 17:14:00 +0000

All I keep thinking about on this thread is what an opportunity for the Somm. at Bern to write a book about their wine list -- give each wine a page and have him tell the bacakstory for how the wine was acquired and why it's special.

that's a money book right there.

Jeff

By: Stevie Ann Rinehart, CSW

Stevie Ann Rinehart, CSW — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 17:08:00 +0000

Dude! Glad you brought this up. One of the things I've wondered about huge wine lists is just how much the "wine-educated" staff (which are often no more than the head food server in many restaurants) knows about the list. It's near-impossible even for those of us in the wine industry to keep up with all the vintage and varietal variations year-to-year, let alone memorize a wine list's tasting notes and make appropriate suggestions for pairings. It becomes unwieldy, and I'm sure a lot of misinformation and mismatches occur as a result when working with such enormous lists. It takes me 1/2 hour just to get through some of the lists ... and that stresses me out.

Which leads me to my thought I'd like to posit to you: I've suspected that perhaps when customers ask for recommendations, the server will only recommend those that they (A) personally like, (B) read the tasting notes for, or (C) were told to push by management for whatever reason. How are we to know they truly know the whole list?

What irks me further about these tomes is that they're not always current (imagine reprinting costs!); a vintage I select may not be the one arriving at my table. And it can be vastly different in taste from what I'm expecting, or what I was told by the server. It's happened to me before.

That said, I agree with Lenn that restaurants should have a carefully considered wine list that pairs nicely with the menu items. Less chance for mishaps. :)

Oh, and as someone who was born and raised in Pittsburgh and has black-and-gold in her blood, I say loud and clear, "GO STEELERS!" (Hey, I live in Phoenix now, so imagine the crap I'm getting right this week ....)

By: Joe Roberts, CSW

Joe Roberts, CSW — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 02:03:00 +0000

Thanks, Anonymous. You bring up a really interesting point: do establishments with large wine lists sell more wine than those with smaller lists?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 01:30:00 +0000

Bern’s is a exception, it is widely known in the wine world for its huge selection. I work in the industry and agree that in many cases, the list is bigger than it oought to be for the given level of restaurant. But if the owner has the $, that is part of our freedom. Buy a lot, sell a lot.

By: Joe Roberts, CSW

Joe Roberts, CSW — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 18:54:00 +0000

Did someone say free wine???

By: Lenn Thompson | LENNDEVOURS.com

Lenn Thompson | LENNDEVOURS.com — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 18:23:00 +0000

First, Joe doesn't think that Napa Cabs suck...if he gets a bottle for free ;)

The point about sommies is a good one -- I was thinking more along the lines of the stuffy restaurants that inexplicably do NOT have good sommeliers. We've all been to those places.

Then again, I tend to prefer smaller, less-stuffy restaurants too.

GO STEELERS!