I thoroughly enjoyed Alder Yarrow’s perspective. I found his approach accessible and particularly appreciated two takeaways: first that assessing and interpreting wine is entirely subjective, and second that the importance ascribed to a given wine is largely derivative of the story/influencer reading of the juice. I came out of the talk feeling that- if I were to expose myself to enough wine- I could develop a valid opinion/taste.
However, for the time being, Alder’s talk brought up one tactical (and possibly pedestrian) question: if interpreting/describing wine is so subjective, how would you accurately order wine to your taste at a restaurant, or ask for a recommendation per your personal preferences?
Of course, if you are an expert or are well-versed in your preferred wines it may be easy to spot a wine on the list or to generalize the taste you are going for, but as a beginner, this seems challenging. It is (admittedly, sometimes) embarrassing to ask the sommelier/waiter’s recommendation for “a dry white.”
Maybe I have a bad memory, but I generally struggle with wine lists (even with Vivino’s help). As a result, when it comes to selecting a red wine I often resort to the cabernet sauvignon on the ‘by the glass’ list or ask the somm for the most “full-bodied” red- which I generally enjoy (though that’s probably the vaguest description, confirmed by Alder’s detailed tasting card). When it comes to white wines I am lost (aside from requesting a “dry” or “minerally” white). Should I instead say that I prefer “ocean air” over “butter”? I have a feeling that wouldn’t go over well.
The words that I have used to describe my taste preferences when ordering wine differ somewhat for red and white wines but have resulted in inconsistent outputs and overall varied success (measured by whether I like the wine I ordered, how closely the taste matched what I was attempting to put into words, and the somm’s reaction to my amateurish requests). Based on some of the reactions that I have received when ordering it is entirely possible that the descriptions I have attempted may have even been contradictory (e.g. is it possible for a full-bodied red to be earthier rather than fruit-forward? I hope so…).
After class I did a quick “how to order wine” google search and found that, in-line with Alder’s comments, lack of confidence around ordering wine plagues many. There are countless articles with step by step instructions on how to order wine, including Wine Mag’s “How to Order Wine in a Restaurant: 14 Alternatives to Panicking.” While this article certainly wasn’t foolproof, I found a few tips to be encouraging, including:
· - “Lesser known wines (usually) mean greater value.”
· - “Skip the second cheapest bottle.” (we also covered this in our microeconomics class) - this has inspired me to look into pricing for my next post!
· - “Know what you like and be honest with yourself.”
· - “New World (fruit-forward) or Old World (earthy)” - this seems like a helpful break down…but is it really this generalizable?
I will continue to look into this, and will let you know if I find anything particularly ground-breaking!
Thanks for sharing this Raya! I inevitably struggle with wine lists and end up ordering the second cheapest wine - even though I know better! I found your suggestion around fruit forward versus earthy to be extremely helpful - it is one of the only taste "profiles" that my novice wine tasting skills can distinguish. I had never thought to use this when stumped looking at a wine list. Do you know if this is the type of question to ask a waiter/waitress or if simply by looking at where the wine is from I'd be able to tell?
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