With so many ways of arranging the actual list, where do you start? Some wine lists are arranged by varietal, like Xai Xai’s South African Wine Bar in New York does. I think this model works best for a list that’s trying to appeal to a wide audience (think airport lounge) where “Sauvignon Blanc” and “Pinot Noir” are well-known ‘brands’, or it works for a list where the regional emphasis has already been determined like Xai Xai’s. The downside is that your unique Ploussard from the Jura may get lost in the “Interesting Reds” catch-all category.
Next up is the arrangement by style or flavor profile, including some annoyingly cutesy category names (“Flower Power”). The theory is if a guest knows they like Wine X, they can pick Wine Y right below it on the list and have confidence that they will enjoy it. This seems like a good idea, but I find it rather confusing.
For argument’s sake, let’s say a Nuits-Saint- Georges is generally a spicier version of a red Burgundy than Chambolle-Musigny. Ok, so we’d see the Chambolle-Musigny on the “Light & Fruity” section of the list and the Nuits-Saint- Georges on the “Spicy & Robust” section. But then, how does the Nuits-Saint- Georges compare to a Washington state Syrah, which is also “Spicy & Robust”? That spicy red Burgundy would then seem “Light & Fruity”. I’ve written lists like this before and even I can’t find the wine I’m trying to recommend.
If your wine list is brief, I do support arranging wine progressively by weight, or the body of the wine. This is especially helpful when your staff is not well-trained on giving wine advice.
You could also arrange by price. It only hurts my brain a little to bounce around unrelated wines on a brief list (let’s say under 30 selections). My only fear (and the customer’s benefit) is that by arranging by price, it makes it too easy for a guest to pick a price and that’s what they are drinking. The guest might miss an opportunity to try something interesting if they’re mainly focused on price.
No secret, my favorite presentation style is by appellation, meaning arranged by where the grapes were grown (Gotham’s bottle list is arranged this way). Admittedly this puts a greater burden on the guest to know something about styles of wines from different parts of the world. From a wine geek’s perspective, the more one drinks wine, the more one narrows in on favorite regions. Even folks who admit they don’t know anything about wine will generally add that they love Italian wines or are crazy about Argentinean wine. I think presentation by appellation is the easiest common language we can all use (you might not immediately have a frame of reference for Sangiovese, but you know where Italy is, and that gives you confidence).
The flaw here is that typicity by appellation is not always reliable (Sancerre, I’m looking at you). And some regions like the Vin de Pays around the Languedoc-Roussillon area can produce such a wide range of varietals, that you might not know if you’re getting a Pinot Noir or a Mourvedre. This latter point is easily remedied by including the varietal somewhere in the name of the wine when it is not straightforward.
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