Team EWC has always been dedicated to elevating the experience of enjoying your favourite vintages at home – whether you’re sitting in a custom-built bar or sipping beside a bespoke wine wall designed with your personal aesthetics in mind. But we are also passionate about helping enterprises such as restaurants and clubs to house their wines in custom cellars and displays that please the eye and protect the product.
As a nod to our treasured commercial clientele – and to our readers who frequent these beautiful establishments here in the Valley – we felt it to be quite fitting to focus on the art of enjoying wine as you dine.
Here are just a few simple tips to get you started (no cork sniffing or encyclopaedic knowledge of grape varieties required).
Disregard “Wine Words” – Raspberry, caramel and vanilla can make loads of sense when considering an ice cream cone, but can perhaps seem awkward when discussing wine. If your palate is adept at deciphering multiple nuances of flavour, then that is a fantastic skill to have. However, if you find it more daunting then delightful to try to “speak the language” when ordering wine, simply relax about the verbiage. Tell your server or sommelier what you like, in your own words. This can open up an easy conversation that could very well end with you finding a new favourite beverage.
Mind the Markups – While there are plenty of wines that are worth their higher price point, it is still worth noting that markups on bottles in restaurants can be somewhere along the lines of 300%. More often than not, you will encounter a similar range of quality in the more mid-priced bottles as you would find in the highest-priced on the list.
Pleasant Pairings – Partnering a dish with its ideal vintage is one of the most pleasurable elements of dining out. And a great way to maintain that sense of fun is to avoid stressing over whether it’s proper for your roast chicken to share a table with a bottle of merlot. But if you would still like some loose guidelines to launch from, here are a few things to ponder:
- Champagne or other sparkling wines go well with fried dishes like fish and chips or
fried chicken. - Crisp white wines like Chardonnay pair beautifully with cream sauces and seafood.
- Red wines like Bordeaux and cabernet complement red meat, while pinot noir is lovely with salmon.
- A dry rosé wine goes well with cheesy or rich dishes.
- Sweet or dessert wines are best served with cheeses or fruity desserts.
While discussing food and beverages is quite entertaining, it’s no substitute for getting out there and sampling what the local bistros have to offer. And once you’re done wining and dining, give us a call. We’d love to hear about your favourite finds!