Editors note: With this article, Madison Dining Online introduces guest columnist Greg Fowlkes. Greg will be contributing an ongoing series of articles covering wine, beer, and other topics, while applying a local Madison slant to the topics. Here’s the first article in a series on wine lists - what to look for, rating wine lists, and the best wine lists in Madison.

So you’re in a restaurant and you decide that you’d like to have a bottle of wine. You ask the server for a WINE LIST.

Rule number One: Don’t show fear.

A wine list is nothing more than a list of wines the restaurant is offering to sell you, just like the menu. No matter how simple or pretentious, it is just paper and ink. The real trick is to realize it’s limitations and use it as a tool

Hopefully a wine lists with more than a few offerings will have some sort of organization to it. Typical ones are to either arrange the wines by the variety of grape or the country of origin. Sometimes there is a ranking on a larger scale with the lighter wines listed first followed by wines in ascending order of boldness or fullness. That can be helpful in selecting a wine to match the food choice.

Wines can also be listed by price from the most inexpensive to the most expensive. At least one restaurant I know of has divided their list into three sections of cheap, medium, and expensive wines (they use more colorful terms, but that’s the idea). This is also useful. You can go through the list until you reach the point where you say “Whoa!” and then take a U-turn.

So what does the wine list tell you about the wine, and what is important? At a minimum, it should give the name of the producer, the variety of grape, the vintage, and the country or region of origin. There may also be a brief description full of words like “jammy currants” or “earthy aromas”. These are extremely subjective and mostly useless. There may also be a recommendation for the type of food it will go with. These may or may not be useful, and in any case will tend to be on the safe side. You can ignore that unless you haven’t a clue.

Of the other information, the producer, if you recognize the name can be helpful. If you’ve liked another of their wines, chances are good that you will like the wine on the list even if it is another variety. If you hated the wine, look elsewhere. This is particularly true of the smaller producers, each of which has a distintive style. This is less true of the industrial wineries, though they at least try to go for consistency.

The grape variety can be very useful, though wines using the same grapes can be made with a wide range of style. Unfortunately, many French, Italian, and Spanish wines don’t list the variety, but instead specify the district or region, which leaves you to guess about the variety. Fortunately, the rules for most districts limit the varieties that can be used in wines with that designation. If you liked a wine from Burgundy, you may well find another wine from Burgundy will appeal to you.

The country or region may also tell you something about the style of the wine. An Australian syrah (shiraz in Aussie speak) will taste differently than one from the Rhone valley in France, or one from Santa Barbara. Again, if you liked one Shiraz from down under, another Aussie may be just the thing. It’s also true to some extent that wines tend to go well with the food from that region. So if you’re having pasta you can pick something Italian. Of course, this has to be taken with a pinch of salt. A country like Italy has a wide variety of cuisines and a range of wines to match. If you’re trying to find a match for a country without a wine industry like say Sweden, you’re out of luck on this route.

The vintage is probably useless. First, unless it is a high end restaurant with an extensive cellar, you probably won’t have much choice. All that will be on the list is the most recent release. It’s true that some wines will improve with age, but restaurants can rarely afford to hold wine that long. Also, unless you really enjoy pouring over the vintage charts in The Wine Speculator most people don’t have a clue as to whether the 2003 or the 2004 was the better year. In the rare case where the restaurant may actually have several different years on the list, the relative prices will at least give you an idea of what other people thought.

So your ready to choose a wine. What do you do? Well you could ask. Depending on the restaurant and the server this may or may not be useful. I’ve gotten replies that range from “I never drink wine myself so I don’t have a clue” to an informed and enthusiatic recommendation that was right on the mark. In the same restaurant. I guess the choice of asking or not depends on whether you’re the type of person that asks directions.

If you choose to fend for yourself, there are some guidelines you can use.

Rule number Two: The cheapest wine is usually not the best value.

The cheapest wine is probably ok, but it is also probably boring. It was considered a safe choice by the person assembling the list, but not much effort was put into the selection. Wines a few rungs up are often much better values. Of course if the whole wine list is grossly overpriced, the cheapest wine may be a way to limit the damage.

Rule number Three: The most expensive wine is not the best wine.

On many wine lists the most expensive wines are “trophy” wines. They give the list class, but they don’t actually expect to sell any. And as a “trophy” wine the price has probably been jacked up quite a bit. It’s the wines in the middle of the list that were probably chosen because they were values, or tasted great, or are a good match for the food.

Rule number Four: Look beyond the typical.

The best wine values are often varieties beyond the basic Cabernet or Pinot Noir. Wine price is based on demand. By looking at lesser known varieties or regions you can often find really nice wines or real bargains or both. Try a Mourvedre or a Grenache or a Petit Syrah. Try something from Spain or Sicily.

Rule number Five: Don’t worry, just pick something.

The fact is it is unlikely that any wine on a decent wine list is really bad. Just pick one. Base your choice on the price, or a funny name, or anything. The worst that can happen is you get a bottle that doesn’t really have any appeal, but unless the particular bottle has gone bad it should at least be drinkable. If that happen, just don’t pick that wine again. On the other hand, you may find a wine that you fall in love with. Either way, it’s a learning experience. Enjoy.

You might also like this:

• Liquid Assets - Three Stand Out Madison Wine Lists
• Liquid Assets - What Makes A Good Wine List?