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House wines - 3/7/2008 4:38:50 AM

La Bets

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Joined: 3/6/2008
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Do any of you have tips about ordering house wines? Or do you have "rules" about ordering off of a restaurant's wine list?

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RE: House wines - 3/7/2008 2:05:49 PM

fingers

Posts: 682
Joined: 8/26/2006
From: Santa Ana, CA
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Depends on the caliber of establishment. My rule is generally, "BYO" and pay the corkage. Only very serious (read; expensive) restaurants store their wine properly or have skilled wine stewards for food pairing anyway. Ever see those wine racks right near the entry of the kitchen soaking up all that heat? I've been to several restaurants that only had simple house wines and they're pretty nice about even dropping the corkage. If there is a real sommelier, don't hesitate to utilize their service. Chances are, they'll pick something better than you.

< Message edited by fingers -- 3/7/2008 2:07:25 PM >

(in reply to La Bets)

Post #: 2

RE: House wines - 3/7/2008 9:09:26 PM

ParkHill

Posts: 124
Joined: 6/27/2007
From: Denver, CO
Status: offline

I can't get past the pricing, usually double the retail price, and I know that local regs require wholesale purchase. My taste is expensive enough when I buy for home consumption; I can't afford the same thing at a restaurant.

So, I usually play it safe and go with a zin or pinot grigio, with the knowledge that it will usually be at least innocuous. Restaurant house cabs and merlots are usually dreadful.

To my surprise, one of my favorite restaurants suggested a moderately priced Rioja that blew me away. (Asian-Latin fusion, Sandoval chain, highly recommended)

(in reply to fingers)

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RE: House wines - 3/8/2008 7:20:52 AM

Kazappa

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Joined: 3/8/2008
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I've heard that the tradition with house wines was for a restaurant to offer something fairly good, because it reflected back on the taste of the 'house.' Perhaps that's only with the upper-end restaurants? Any experience with this?

(in reply to La Bets)

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RE: House wines - 3/10/2008 3:13:30 AM

Colonel Lawrence

Posts: 1953
Joined: 4/24/2006
From: Arabia
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Kazappa

I've heard that the tradition with house wines was for a restaurant to offer something fairly good, because it reflected back on the taste of the 'house.' Perhaps that's only with the upper-end restaurants? Any experience with this?

I've certainly found that house wines are at least reasonable value (compared to the restaurants own wine list).
It is also pretty certain that someone in the restaurant actually tried the wine before stocking it, sadly most restaurants will not have tried all (or even most) of the wines they list.

_____________________________

First they came for ....................

(in reply to Kazappa)

Post #: 5

RE: House wines - 3/15/2008 8:08:25 AM

cgrimes

Posts: 895
Joined: 10/8/2007
From: Massachusetts
Status: offline

In my opinion, any wine oriented (or otherwise) establishment should spend the most time and effort properly picking their most expensive AND their least expensive wines, since both are most likely to fail miserably.

(in reply to Kazappa)

Post #: 6