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Are you more of a clod than a connoisseur when it comes to choosing a wine? Here's a surefire five-step guide to impress your dinner date. Picture this: You’re on a first date at a restaurant. You want to impress your prospective partner and appear confident, classy. Then the waiter approaches, hands you a weighty wine menu and the panic sets in. What do you choose? Where do you start? Fifi Smith, Sales Manager from Golden Gate Wine, Hong Kong’s leading importer of American wines, offers a handy five-step guide to conquer those first-date jitters and take you from novice to know-it-all.
Buy a Bottle Rather than order a single glass, order a bottle of wine so you can share the experience. To ensure that the conversation flows smoothly, you can always turn the focus on the wine. Also, the quality of wine by the bottle is generally superior to wine by the glass.
Limit Your Options So you’ve decided to order a bottle. Which bottle do you go with? If you are a fan of white wine, Riesling is an obvious choice because it matches well with most foods. For reds, Pinot Noir is a safe bet because it complements most dishes since it is generally more subtle and lighter-bodied compared to other reds.
Find a Conversation Starter So you’ve narrowed your choice to a Pinot Noir. But with three on the menu, which one do you choose? To spark a conversation, look for a Pinot Noir from Oregon. Everyone knows France’s Burgundy region, but how many are familiar with the Willamette Valley, the Russian River Valley or Mt. Harlan? These Oregon and California regions have long been considered the top producers for New World Pinot Noir. And this is your cue to reveal your wine knowledge and inform your date that Oregon is the same distance as Burgundy from the equator and shares a very similar climate to the famous French province. For top-tier Pinot Noir at a reasonable price, look out for Elk Cove Pinot Noir from Oregon. If you prefer whites, you should still try to find something unusual, like Seven Hills Riesling from Washington state, or Eberle Viognier from Paso Robles, California. By making an unpredictable choice, you show you’re full of surprises.
Test Your Senses Your waiter then brings the selected bottle to your table. To be sure the wine is not corked (or tainted), the waiter pours a little into your glass to try. Generally, a corked wine smells like wet wool or wet cardboard and has a very musky smell. If you smell this, ask for a new bottle. As a rule, restaurants have a free-of-charge replacement policy for corked wines, so don’t be embarrassed to bring it to their attention. It’s easier to smell for corkage if you don’t swirl the wine in your glass, so let it rest before smelling. For only slightly corked wine, you may also need to taste the wine. Slightly corked wine lacks flavor as well as aroma.
Savour the Flavours Show your expertise by exploring the wine’s features. What shade is it? Is it transparent or opaque? Smell it to identify the fruity, flowery flavours. By swirling your glass, you add air into the wine, releasing its aromas and flavours. What do you taste? A handy tip is to think about the colour of the wine, and ask: What fruits are this colour? A yellow wine may have pineapple, mango or banana flavours. A red wine may have strawberries and raspberries, while a dark purple wine may have blackberries, blackcurrants or plum! Follow these foolproof steps to woo your date and wow them with your knowledge!
For the entire month of February, Golden Gate Wines is offering 10 percent off bottle purchases and 20 percent off cases. For more information, visit goldengatewine.com.
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