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Order Wine with Confidence

© Eve and Millard Carr

One of the pleasures of traveling around the world is that you not only get to savor countless cuisines, but enjoy the wines of the world as well. Unfortunately, many people are not comfortable ordering wine with their meals because they’re afraid that they will select the "wrong" one.

There are some terrific wine educators in the world. But other "experts," with their esoteric exposition on the complex details of wine making and analysis, have definitely intimidated some people about entering the wonderful world of wine.

As in many other things, there is no "right" or "wrong" when it comes to wine. The wine that goes best with your meal is the one that you personally enjoy—not what someone else says you should.

Learning about wines, though, can help you appreciate and enjoy them more. Reading books, joining chat groups, taking courses about wine all can help….as long as you remember that it’s all a value judgement and enjoy the process of learning more about something you enjoy.

An excellent way to learn more about wines is to make friends with a sommelier (or wine steward) at a fine restaurant. Joe Pierce, who operates Pierce’s 1894, in Elmira Heights, New York, a restaurant that has been operated by the Pierce family for over a century, sets an outstanding example for what restaurateurs should be doing to help their guests learn more about wine so that they can enjoy it more.

In addition to serving gourmet meals, Joe Pierce has a nationally renowned wine collection — and a wine list that does much more than merely list wines and their prices. He has taken the time to give guests the benefit of his extensive wine knowledge by providing a short, readable introduction to various groupings of wine and recommendations for alternatives to more well-known wines to encourage experimentation.

"The enjoyment and understanding of wine and food have been a passion of mine throughout my career," he says. "To that end, every segment of the wine program at Pierce’s has been developed to provide you with the most enjoyable dining experience."

In addition to the helpful information listed in Pierce’s wine list, this restaurant offers a "wine by the glass" program to allow you to try different wines to see which you like best with different foods.

With this personal taste view, we should all make it a point to sample wines from all over the world—and not fall into the trap of comparing a California wine to a French wine, or a New York wine to one produced in Australia. Wine growing regions are very different, with different soils and climates that produce different wine from the same grapes.