So what do you look for in a wine list? Do you look for the big names? The wines you recognize? Or maybe your favorite region?
Everyone's answer is going to be different and it really just depends on what wines you like to drink and how comfortable you are with going out of your comfort zone...
My personal opinion is, I want a wine list where you can see there is actual effort put into the list. A variety of different styles, producers, regions, varieties and price points. At a minimum, every single wine should be well made (which isn't always the case). I'd like a mix of well known names and some hidden gems. I want some where they might be popular in certain wine geek circles but not necessarily well known wines. I want wines where if I want a known quantity, I can easily go with that. I want different styles so I can pick a wine based on the preferences on the table...I want something a bit different but safe..I want something really different and not.
At a lot of well known restaurants, you might often see a very large, very nice but incredibly boring list that has absolutely no effort. Making a book full of Bordeaux 1st Growths, 2nd Growths, Burg GCs, 1er Crus (all well known names), the most famous wines of each region..multiple vintages..I can't think of anything more boring than that. To top it all off, you pay a super premium to buy one of these no brainer wines...Snooze...
At the same time, a big trend right now is sommeliers picking a lot very oddball wines....So the list, while it might appeal to some wine geeks, is packed full of lesser known producers, very acid driven in style and they seem to have it in their head that they're trying to teach their customers about wine.
Now, out of the two there, I'd rather see the latter...just because for my personal tastes that is gong to be what I want to drink...but I don't think most people fall into that category..I also think the Somm has failed in what they're supposed to be doing here. You can have your geeky wines but still have stuff that will be in a style THEY might not want but that their customers might prefer. Or in the least, go with something that will have mass appeal but might be slightly different....You'll still be surprised how many people would be willing to try something different but why limit your list to your own personal preference. If you can't honestly evaluate wines of a different style to what you prefer, maybe a job that requires you to think about the palate of others is not the right profession....
