By Ben Hughes
If you like wine, but are not an expert, ordering wine in Las Vegas – or in any other vacation destination – can be perplexing. Las Vegas has very few good local wines, but most good restaurants have enormous cellars with wines from everywhere. If your favorite wine is not among them, you will need some competent advice.
Look for Help.
Fortunately, good restaurants usually have a wine steward – a sommelier. Place yourself in this person’s hands. (The owner, if present, may know about the wines on the list, but not about wines not on the list, and that is important to you.) Your waiter may know nothing more than to recommend the second cheapest wine, as it always has the highest profit margin for the house.
If there is no sommelier, it is fair to ask your waiter how much he (or she) understands about the wine list. Ask if he’s tasted the wines. If you suspect a bluff, ask if someone else on staff is knowledgeable and available to help.
Declare Your Price Range.
You can’t get good advice without providing some information. It is essential to declare your price range. Do so by pointing to a price on the wine list that is OK with you and say, “in this range.” (If the waiter says he cannot recommend any wine in that price range, he is trying to leverage up your bill. Don’t accept that. Ask: “If these wines can not be recommended, then why are they on the list?”)
Say “Red” or “White.”
Do not say “pink” or “rosé” If you are with someone who insists on a pink wine, order white Zinfandel, which is about as off-color as a good sommelier will tolerate. The convention is that reds go with stronger flavors, like meats and spicy dishes. Whites go with delicate flavors like fish, chicken and crème sauces. This is not a law. Break that convention if you like. Go ahead and have a red with seafood. If you countermand your sommelier and order a white to go with a spicy or savory dish, be sure it’s got enough bite or “zing” to be tasted above the competing flavors. You need to say “red” or “white” regardless, because the wine list is organized that way.
Give examples of what you like or what you are thinking about.
Though your wine may not be on the wine list, the sommelier should know it. He will tell you which wines are similar. He will steer you away from varieties that are too heavy or sweet or puny for your taste. If a suggested variety is foreign to you, do not reject it. The sommelier believes, from what you have said, that you will like the wine. If you do not mislead him, he will not mislead you.
The rest of the process is ritual, but also practical. When the wine comes:
- Look at the Label.
Is it the right bottle? Mistakes happen. Check the winery, variety and vintage. If it’s OK, nod.
- Check the Cork.
If it’s a natural cork, notice whether it is dry or wine-soaked on the inside. A soaked cork warns that the wine may not be all right. (“All right” is a wine term, meaning something like “unobjectionable.”) The use of artificial corks is on the rise. They can not flag a “corked” bottle. If that’s the case, Just skip this step.
- Taste the wine.
If you are responsible for the wine, do not ask someone else to taste it. Wine tasters swirl and smell the wine first, but you’re not a taster, you’re having dinner. Let your tongue and palate decide. “Corked” wine tastes damp or moldy and is unfit to drink. If it is acidic, like vinegar, the wine is also spoiled. This happens to about one bottle in twelve. If you fear the wine is not “all right,” just hand the glass to the sommelier. A new bottle should be brought right away unless the sommelier disagrees with your judgment.
Have fun inviting Bacchus to join you on your Las Vegas vacation!
Benjamin Hughes writes for Vegas365.com, the authoritative source of information about Las Vegas, from hotels to restaurants, nightlife, gambling and many other activities. To get in touch with him, and for more information about Las Vegas, visit Las Vegas and go to the “contact us” page.
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