POCKET GUIDE · FREE 🍷
No nerves, no lab jargon and no staring at the wine list like it’s a multiple-choice exam. Ten rules you can still remember after the second glass. Keep this page on your phone: open it at the table and you’re set.
1. Food first, then wine
Choose what you’re eating and only then open the wine list. The wine matches the plate, not the other way round.
2. Heavy with heavy, light with light
Fish, salads, vegetables: a dry white or a rosé. Steak, stews, rich sauces: a full-bodied red. Chicken and pasta: either works, it depends on the sauce.
3. The sauce decides
Pasta with tomato sauce wants a red with good acidity. The same pasta with cream wants a round white. Look at the sauce, not the pasta.
4. Fried or salty? Sparkling
Bubbles and acidity cut through fat and salt. Dry sparkling wine is the best friend of chips, tempura and nibbles.
5. Spicy? Skip tannin and high alcohol
Heat sets a powerful red on fire. Go for an aromatic white, ideally with a touch of sweetness, like an off-dry Riesling.
6. Name your budget, no shame
Point at a price on the list and say “something around here”. A good sommelier gets it straight away and won’t judge you.
7. Check the label
When the bottle arrives, make sure it’s the wine and the vintage you ordered. Two seconds, and no surprises.
8. The tasting sip is for faults
You’re not checking whether you like it, you’re checking the wine is sound. Smells of wet cardboard or a damp cellar? You’re entitled to ask for another bottle.
9. Temperature matters
A red that’s too warm tastes boozy and flat: ask for ten minutes in the ice bucket. A white that’s too cold smells of nothing: let it warm up in the glass.
10. A third of the glass, tops
Leave room for the wine to breathe and for your nose to work. A brimming glass looks generous but smells of nothing.
The cheat sheet: what to order, depending on what you eat
Grapes, not brands. With these in mind you’ll find something good on any wine list, Romanian grapes included, in case you’re dining in Romania.
| On the table | What to order |
|---|---|
| Fish, seafood, salads | Sauvignon Blanc, Fetească Albă, dry Riesling, a dry sparkling |
| Chicken, turkey, pasta with white sauce | Chardonnay, Fetească Regală, a light Pinot Noir |
| Pizza, pasta with tomato sauce | Sangiovese, young Fetească Neagră, a light Merlot |
| Pork, sausages, barbecue | Fetească Neagră, Merlot, Băbească Neagră, a dry rosé |
| Beef, lamb, game | Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, oak-aged Fetească Neagră |
| Spicy or Asian food | Off-dry Riesling, Gewürztraminer, dry Tămâioasă Românească |
| Fresh cheeses | Sauvignon Blanc, Fetească Albă, rosé |
| Aged cheeses | Full-bodied reds: Cabernet Sauvignon, Fetească Neagră |
| Blue cheese | A sweet wine: Grasă de Cotnari, sweet Tămâioasă |
| Dessert | A wine sweeter than the dessert, otherwise it tastes sour |
| Can’t decide? | Dry sparkling. It goes with almost anything and lifts the mood at the table. |
Three phrases that get you out of trouble
- “Which wine would you recommend with this dish, around this price?”
- “Do you have anything by the glass, so we can try before a bottle?”
- “Could you chill it a little, please?”
The aroma wheel, the grape map and the tasting sheet are in the Full Glass Club, free as well. Cheers! — Viorel