"ordering wine" news and stories

When you're out to dinner with your friends, ordering wine can be fun. You have discussions about what to order, negotiate how much you want to spend, and even poke fun at each other by threatening to order "white zin."

However, in a business situation, ordering wine is a whole different ball-game. In fact, it's not a game at all. If you are wining and dining a client and are in charge, then take charge, and keep in mind a few guidelines. Forbes has consulted with some of America's top sommeliers and "The rules for handling wine at an important business dinner are pretty much commonsense and not very different from the rules for any kind of successful entertaining--be prepared, plan ahead and use the resources at your disposal." Here are their tips in brief:

• Call ahead to the restaurant
• Don't dawdle with the list
• Think back to examples of wines you actually liked
• Go for the lowest common denominator
• Go with what you know
• Dont' start too big with a Cabernet Sauvignon or Zinfandel
• Be direct about price with the server
• Don't wait too long before ordering
• Expensive is not always the best
• Consider the whole picture

The always-funny Waiter Rant recently posted an extensive list of tips entitled "How To Order Wine Without Looking Like An Asshole." Just what it sounds like, this is a collection of common sense advice with gems such as "don't ask 'what's cheap?'" and "don't smell the plastic cork." There are suggestions about tipping on wine and not trying your hardest to stump your waiter about the soil in which a particular grape is grown. Also, there's plenty of practical advice, such as knowing that some states, such as New York and Florida, allow patrons to take the rest of their bottle of wine home as long as it's in a special bag. The more than 100 comments that accompany Waiter's post are pretty informative as well.