Choosing a good wine does not have to be stressful.
Selecting a wine to make an impression on a romantic date can seem like an intimidating prospect. You want to make the right choice at a restaurant to complement what you might be having for dinner, and you'll also hope to impress your date with the selection you've made. However, you don't want to appear too showy or pretentious, or as though you're trying too hard. Having some basic wine knowledge and knowing the right questions to ask your server or wine shop employee can certainly set your date in the right direction.
Instructions
General Food and Wine Pairings & Tips
1. Choose red wine if you're having a dinner with red meat, and white if you're having white meat or seafood. Though this is a very basic and general rule, you don't necessarily have to obey it all the time. Sometimes your server might offer a better idea, since they'll have the most knowledge about the food. If you can get a better idea of which wines they have that are more full-bodied, you can better pair it with a rich meal.
2. Order sparkling wines with dessert, cheese or alone. Sparkling wines can be either red or white, though, most are white. Frissante and Spumante are two types of sparkling red wines, as opposed to the more common sparkling white wine and champagne. Frissante has a very slight sparking quality and is a finer wine type as compared to Spumante, which is more standard and similar to champagne in terms of its sparking quality. Spumante is more concentrated in flavor and more common than Frissante.
3. Know the difference between a ros and a blush wine. Ros is a dry, delicate wine that is pinkish in color, whereas a blush is much sweeter and generally less expensive. Ros s, because of their versatile flavor and quality, can be a good choice when you're not sure if you'd prefer a white or a red, whereas blushes tend to be better suited for after a meal or on their own.
Questions To Ask Your Server Or Wine Attendant
4. Ask which is the restaurant's best-selling wine and which one is its favorite.
5. Ask which bottle was opened more recently, if ordering by the glass. You don't want a bottle that has been open for more than two days.
6. Smell and taste the wine if ordering by the glass. If it smells or tastes bad, have the server taste it. One way to tell if the wine has gone bad is if there is a complete lack of a fruit quality -- this means it has been corked. If you're tasting a red wine and it tastes acidic, effervescent (and it's not a sparkling wine), or vinegary, it's been mishandled. If you want to send something back, this should be allowed. A sommelier can tell without a doubt if a wine has gone bad.
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