Step 1
What are you eating?
Pick by dish type, or jump straight to the cuisine if your menu is region-specific.
By dish
By cuisine
Step 2
What's your spend?
Restaurant bottle prices — about 2–3× the retail markup.
Restaurant Wine Picker
You're handed a wine list with names you don't recognize. Pick your dish and your budget — we'll tell you what to look for, what to skip, and the exact phrase to say to the sommelier.
Step 1
Pick by dish type, or jump straight to the cuisine if your menu is region-specific.
By dish
By cuisine
Step 2
Restaurant bottle prices — about 2–3× the retail markup.
The words on a wine list that signal quality, style, or sweetness — translated. Skim before you sit down; pick them out on the page when you're handed the list.
Cuvée
A specific blend or batch — usually the producer's signature wine.
Reserva
Spanish or Portuguese term — wine aged longer than the basic version. Always a quality step up.
Riserva
Italian equivalent of Reserva — longer aging, more depth.
Grand Cru
Top tier in Burgundy, Bordeaux, Alsace, and Champagne classifications.
Premier Cru
Second tier — still excellent, often the smart-money pick.
GG (Grosses Gewächs)
Germany's dry top-tier wine, usually Riesling or Spätburgunder. Worth the price.
VV (Vieilles Vignes)
Old vines. Lower yield, more concentrated flavor — quality marker.
DOC / DOCG
Italian quality designation. DOCG is the highest tier.
AOP / AOC
French controlled appellation — the 'where it's from' guarantee.
Sur lie
Aged on the dead yeast — creamy texture. Common in Muscadet and Champagne.
Méthode Champenoise
Traditional sparkling method — second fermentation in the bottle. Higher quality.
Botrytised
Affected by noble rot — concentrated sweet wine (Sauternes, Tokaji, German TBA).
Late Harvest
Picked later, riper, sweeter. Usually a dessert wine.
Brut Nature
Bone-dry sparkling, zero dosage. Drier than Brut.
Extra Brut
Still very dry — drier than Brut.
Demi-sec
Off-dry sparkling — noticeable sweetness.
Magnum
1.5L bottle — wine ages slower (better) in larger formats.
Corkage
Fee for bringing your own bottle. Worth asking about for special occasions.
House wine
The restaurant's everyday pour — usually the safest cheap option.
Pet-nat
Pétillant naturel — natural sparkling, fizzy and funky. Trendy.
Orange wine
White grape, red wine method — skin-contact. Tannic, polarizing.
Sommelier (somm)
Wine pro on staff. Always ask — they want you to enjoy it.