How to choose your wine in a restaurant?

It is not always easy to find your bearings on a wine list, regardless of your level of knowledge. This is even more true when it is mainly composed of author wines without appellation, decorated with labels which give few clues about the contents of the bottle. Here are some tips to help you find pinard to your liking!

Take photos of the bottles you like – at a restaurant or at the SAQ

“What helps me the most most of the time is knowing the last bottle that the customer loved. As far as I know her, of course! », declares Olivier Butcher, responsible (with Claude Laporte) for the very fine wine list at the Hiatus restaurant, at 46^e floor of Place Ville Marie.

“As a sommelier, I often go to the SAQ to see and try lots of wines from lots of price ranges to really understand what customers are drinking. It takes a lot of open-mindedness to be able to read well and understand what they like. Even if I love something, that doesn’t mean customers will love it too. This is why our menu at Hiatus goes in all directions. Our clientele is very, very diverse. »

Trust the sommelier

Since the advent of more “left field” wines, some drinkers have been confused. “I like it, because it forces customers to interact with the sommelier,” says Olivier Butcher.

Afterwards, when you find yourself in a bar or restaurant whose menu is mainly composed of more or less natural designer wines, you have to choose your side! “In this context, it’s important to know whether we like straight wines or more surprising wines – and I’m not talking about deviant wines, that’s my job to avoid them. But there are sometimes characteristics of certain natural wines that can be perceived as faults. There is something for everyone,” says Morgane Muszynski, who is almost always behind the wine bar at Denise to advise the undecided!

Request a few bottles in pre-selection

It’s a way of doing things that works incredibly well when the sommelier is in spirit and succeeds in making people dream with the history of wine. This is obviously not always possible in some establishments with less qualified labor, but at Mon Lapin, Alex Landry does it brilliantly. We were treated to the same treatment from Alexis Demers at Joe Beef two weeks ago. Morgane Muszynski also does it at Denise.

After a short investigation into the color, style and (above all!) the price of the wine the customer wants to drink, a few bottles are lined up on the table and described to help us understand its essence. There is bound to be one description that resonates more than the others. “There is no magic number, sometimes I present 3 bottles, sometimes 12, and on occasion, when the bond of trust and the relationship is there, I simply provide the best possible response. It’s all about the precious trust that the customer places in us,” concludes Alex Landry.

Learn keywords

Without becoming an expert either, learning a few basic terms to define one’s current tastes or desires will help the advisor enormously. Do you like “mineral”, “bold”, “woody”, “structured” wines? Pay attention when tasting/drinking to identify profiles.

Be careful, however, with certain terms. “People often ask me for a dry wine. It’s a good start, but in the end, it doesn’t mean much to me, because my cellar is made up of 97% “dry” wines,” says Olivier Butcher.

Rosalie Forcherio, co-owner and sommelier of the Paloma restaurant, would like, like many others, to dissociate “fruity” and “sweet”, because a fruity wine can be very dry. There are actually very few sweet wines on the menus and they are generally well identified.

Take a moment to feel yourself!

“At Denise, the first question I ask customers is how they feel,” says Morgane Muszynski. Do they want energy, something crunchy, salty, something that wakes you up, or do they want to settle down, with a more rounded and structured wine. In this case, I will have nice fuller Chenins, Chardos with a little aging. I am less into the flavors of the wine than into their energy. The first seconds with the customer are the most important. They will set the tone for the evening. And generally, if the first wine pleases, they trust me for the rest. »

Frequent restaurants where we have had good wine experiences

It’s a question of affinities. There are places where our tastes are so close to those of the person who makes the menu that we would drink there with our eyes closed. Of course, we like to discover new tables. But nothing can replace a sure bet!