Reading a wine list without anxiety

A wine list is a document with a structure, and knowing the structure removes most of the discomfort of being handed one.

Lists are usually organised by colour, then by region or by style. A regional list assumes you know what the regions taste like; a style-led list — "crisp and citrus", "rich and rounded" — assumes you do not, and is a kindness rather than a dumbing-down. Neither ordering says anything about quality.

Position on the list means less than people think. The old advice to avoid the second-cheapest bottle rests on the theory that restaurants put their highest margin there. It is repeated far more often than it is demonstrated, and it is not something WineHQ will assert.

What does carry information: the number of wines by the glass, which shows what the restaurant expects to sell; the presence of producers rather than only regions, which shows somebody chose them; and the length of the list, since a short list is usually a considered one and a very long one is often inherited.

The two questions that work better than any of this are "what are you drinking at the moment?" and "we liked this, what else is like it?". The second is the one this whole site is built around, and it is the question a good sommelier most wants to be asked.

Being told a wine is corked is not an accusation. A restaurant expects a small proportion of bottles to be faulty and will replace them without argument.