Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Most wines on the list will be sold by the bottle, though
some, especially the reds, may also come by the carafe. A
decent restaurant will open the bottle for you at the table,
and before doing so let you look at the label to be sure it is
the one you ordered.
If you order a carafe or a fraction of one, you'll have to take
their word for it that they i lled it with Bourgogne (Burgundy)
and not just plonk. A carafe wine will usually be near the
bottom of its quality category, very young, a little rough and
uni nished, so the regional differences may be harder to tell.
The price of the wine usually goes up along with quality
and popularity. You pay more as you become choosy about
the particular wine you want to drink, especially if your
favourite happens to be from the fashionable Bourgogne
region. Don't go on price alone; in fact take some risks at the
lower end of the prices offered, even the carafes.
There are many excellent French white wines beyond the
best known, Chablis and Pouilly-Fuissé, but people know
these names and order them. Consequently, they are pricey.
In the more discriminating restaurants, the wine list will get
more sophisticated. Here the assurances of the AOC on the
label will help you. Look for the less expensive.
Most visitors (as well as the French) settle on a few
regions they particularly like with particular dishes. For
instance, I prefer a Bordeaux with a very good piece of
meat but a Côtes du Rhone with just a steak in pepper
sauce. With hearty bean soup or pasta in a tomato
sauce, I'll opt for a Beaujolais or a Touraine red. With a
i sh course, I'll take a nice dry Muscadet
over the fancier
Burgundian whites.
Generally, more robust wines stand up to hearty fare.
Lighter or more delicate wines are at their best with
more delicately flavoured dishes. Yet, a complex wine
can take either a very complex dish or a very simple one.
There is nothing wrong with drinking a white or
rosé
with
steak, if that's your preference! Don't be intimidated
by those wine snobs, even if your waiter happens
to be one.
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