Inside info: You don’t have to splurge on expensive wines — cheaper bottles are often just as good. Many pricey wines receive rave reviews only because human beings are psychologically predisposed to assume that expensive products are better.
Some inexpensive wines are far better than others, of course. Five shrewd ways to spot the values on restaurant wine lists…
1. Avoid chronically overpriced varieties. Certain types of wine are simply so popular that wineries and restaurants can charge a premium for their popularity.
Examples: Champagne — a name used for sparkling wines from a particular area in France — is usually overpriced. Instead, order a Spanish Cava or Pacific Northwest sparkling wine. Instead of California Chardonnay, order a Grüner Veltliner from Austria when you want white wine. It’s versatile and almost always a bargain. Instead of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, if you want a red wine that goes well with meat, order an Argentine Malbec or a French Bordeaux from a lesser-known winery. Among Italian reds, Brunello is almost always very expensive — order a Sangiovese di Romagna instead. It’s made from the same grape, albeit in a slightly different way.
2. Favor countries with weak currencies.
Examples: Wines from Argentina, Chile and Hungary are especially good bargains for US buyers because the value of their currencies has fallen against the dollar.
3. Skip the well-known wineries. Restaurants often charge very inflated prices for these — they know many patrons will pay extra.
4. Order wine by the bottle or half bottle, not by the glass. A bottle of wine fills at least four glasses — yet many restaurants charge much more than one-quarter of the bottle price for a glass, an additional markup on top of the already steep restaurant wine premium. Worse, wine sold by the glass might be poured from a bottle opened a day or more earlier.
5. BYOB and pay the restaurant’s fee for opening a bottle you bring. Paying $10 to $20 to drink your own bottle of wine in a restaurant might seem like a rip-off, but in fact corkage fees often are money savers.
Corkage fees and BYOB policies vary from restaurant to restaurant. Call and ask about the rules before bringing a bottle.
