Re: Wine and dinner
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There is so much bad advice (and good) in here that someone should try to sort it out. I volunteer.
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Actually your advice is terrible.
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2. If you are in a chain restaurant, odds are the wine is not worth ordering. Higher end, it might be worth a shot
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This is wrong, especially for those just getting into wine.
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Less chance of getting something undrinkable.
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Very rarely will one get something that could be described so strongly and most often it will be due to a bad bottle and should be sent back.
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3. Never order wine before ordering food. They need to match, no one can order wine properly without knowing what they're going to eat.
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This is a huge exagerration. Yes wine's can and should be paired to foods but they do not have to be. For a beginner this is totally unnecessary beyond very basic red with beef type matchings.
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(The exception will be if you know you're ordering steak. If you order steak in a restaurant regularly, you are too boring for words.
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Makes no sense.
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4. If you're in a place you dare order wine
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Dare???? It's not [censored] russian roulette it's a bottle of damn wine. What is so [censored] daring?
Just terrible advice throughout.
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Yeah, I always order the house red with a steak at Appleby's. Bet you think Bud Light is good beer too. Almost anyone with a grill and a good cut of meat can make a better steak at home than you can get in any restaurant. Why order what you can make at home? And wine at Appleby's/Friday's/Ruby Tuesday/CPK/Chili's/Bennigan's etc. is almost always a bad idea.
Seriously, there is some bad plonk out there, something that even first timers shouldn't be subject to. And yes, if you can at least get something halfway decent when starting, you're more likely to continue.
I never said send back a BOTTLE. That's why you don't order bottles, especially when you're first starting. You can easily send back a glass. They will also let you taste glass pours before getting a full glass if you just don't know. Most decent restaurants will do this.
Finally, if a restaurant will advise a food/wine pairing, by all means take their advice. Even the finest red will taste bad if paired incorrectly. Pinot noir with steak is going to taste thin, even if you are following the red with beef rule. Some merlots would work great with steak, many will not. Italian reds don't seem to work with steaks either, but that just might be me, I'm not a big Italian fan, but I have been surprised. There is no way most people will know this, and they'll wonder what is wrong with the wine.
Being macho and thinking you can do it on your own is just a crap shoot waiting to go bad. Expertise is out there, use it.
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