Top Ten Reasons to Order a Bottle Over a Glass

In today's age of chain restaurants and flare ordering untainted wine can be a challenge. This isn't limited to just chains however, local bars, steak houses, diners and other eatery establishments have a difficult time maintaining freshness and quality in the wines they offer by the glass. When going out for a drink or dinner the odds of enjoying your wine increase exponentially if you order a bottle over a glass. Here are the top ten reasons why:

1. Selection

Many restaurants and wine bars have three times more wines available by the bottle when compared to the by the glass selection. In an attempt to maintain freshness many establishments only put a handful of wines by the glass. Ordering wine by the bottle allows you to choose from a much larger list.

2. The fourth glass is free

It's almost always a better deal to buy wine by bottle than to purchase it by the glass. Establishments that serve wine take less risk when customers order it by the bottle, and they reward us for it. If you really want a value (price vs quality) order the $100+ bottles. While that sounds crazy these wines usually have a flat fee added to wholesale price whereas many wines under $100 are based on a certain margin like 200% markup or something.

3. Quality

This is the single most important reason to order a bottle of wine over a glass. Many establishments who serve wines by the glass don't maintain a freshness quality policy. In other words, that Merlot behind the bar, that was closed by putting the cork back in to it, has been sitting back there for the last three weeks. A good wine bar or restaurant will have a three day freshness quality policy meaning that if it's opened on Monday it needs to be dumped down the drain at the end of the shift on Wednesday. A great establishment has a two freshness quality policy so that wine that was opened on Monday is dumped at the end of the shift the next day.

Spoilage and dumping wine can be a major cost issue for restaurants so many just choose to open it and leave it open until it's gone. I still don't understand the chain restaurants that serve their wines by the glass out of magnums (equates to two standard bottles). They have a tough enough time selling 4 glasses before it goes bad let alone 8. Ordering a bottle ensures that the juice inside is fresh and if it's tainted with any number of wine related faults you can send it back. Not that you can't send back a glass of wine but who's to say the situation is going to be any better?

4. Temperature

Optimal service for most red wines is between 60 and 65 degrees Fahrenheit. However many red wines served by the glass are stored behind the hot bar on shelves (bar coolers emit a lot of heat so it gets very hot behind the bar, that's why a lot of bartenders wear shorts). For whites the optimal service temperature is between 45 and 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Yet many white wines are stored in the beer coolers that are usually set around a cool 32 degrees Fahrenheit, way too cool for even the coldest of whites.

If your order a glass of wine and it's served too warm the only ways to chill it down are to put ice in the glass or ask your server to put it in the freezer. Ice dilutes the wine and the freezer could take a while, neither option sounds good.

When you order a bottle of wine you can control the temperature better than if you order a glass. If the wine bottle brought to you is too warm, most likely because they store it in their kitchen, you can ask for an ice bucket to cool it down. If a white is too cold you can just let it sit for a moment with a towel or napkin around it or put your hand on the bowl of the glass to warm it up (you could do this for a wine by the glass that is too cold as well). People who say it's taboo to put your hand on the bowl of the glass are assuming that the wine is stored and served at the optimal temp. If it isn't, putting your hand on the bowl to warm it up is a must.

5. Brown bag it

Many states allow diners to take their open bottle of wine home with them if they don't finish. As I mentioned, many restaurants have a smaller selection of wines by the glass. By allowing people to put the cork back in the bottle and take it home states promote responsible drinking while allowing people to have any wine on the list without having to finish the whole bottle. If you don't know the laws of the state you are in ask a server for clarification.

6. Decanting

If you don't like chewing your red wine than you might want to order a bottle. Many reds have sediment or floating particles. Restaurants decant (pour the wine into another vessel) to remove these particles. If you order a glass of wine and that particular bottle has sediment odds are you are going to get some chewies. When ordering a bottle diners can request that the server decant the wine to remove the particles.

7. Sherlock Holmes

When you order a bottle of wine you get a number of clues as to the type of establishment you are dining at. The way a waiter holds, presents, opens and serves a bottle of wine can tell you a lot about the type, and amount, of training the staff received and ultimately the type of restaurant or wine bar you are in. If the server shakes the bottle, opens it by pulling off the foil (also called capsule), brings it to you after it has been opened at the bar, or any number of service faux pas you can rest assured, the establishment isn't up for a Michelin star.

I'm not implying you need to dine at a three star every night, I'm just saying that ordering a bottle and paying attention to the way it is handled can tell you a lot about an establishment, which can come in handy if you are not familiar with the restaurant. If they open the bottle behind the bar and bring it to you let me recommend ordering the fried chicken strips, not the steak and shrimp.

8. The cork

When you order a bottle of wine the server should open it in front of you and present you with the cork. While presenting the cork is mostly tradition it can serve a purpose. I have had plenty of wines that have been tainted or unhealthy and have a perfect cork. Inversely, I have had wines that are perfect and the cork looks like a disaster zone. The cork can be one of the many components a consumer uses to check for a wines health. When you order a bottle you get an extra clue as to how the wine was stored which can help determine if it's worthy of purchasing.

9. Verification

When ordering a glass of wine you don't usually get to see the bottle. A server or bartender may accidentally, or worse yet intentionally, pour you a glass of Kendall Jackson Chardonnay instead of Talley Chardonnay ($5 glass price difference) and if you don't pay attention you may not notice it. Ordering the bottle ensures you get the exact vintage, style and producer you intended.

10. Size matters

When you order a glass of wine the bartender determines the amount of wine you get, which can be good if they have a heavy hand. But if it is the last pour from a bottle and they don't want to open another you may get shorted. Ordering a bottle ensure you get the four glasses you paid for without discrepancy.

While I feel like I have made a compelling argument for why it's a safer bet to order a bottle of wine over a glass it can have its drawbacks, especially at a quality establishment. When ordering a bottle you are limited to just one type of wine whereas if you order wine by the glass you can try a number of different things. If the place has a fancy Enomatic wine dispenser they might have some really cool stuff available by the glass and odds are it's still pretty fresh. Also, places that have great reputation for wine are a green light to order by the glass. But the majority of restaurants don't pay enough attention to their glass pours and so most of the time I recommend going for the bottle.

The best case scenario when dining is to have a group of four. It makes it easier to order a bottle because everyone can have one glass and you can try a couple of different wines. Or if you dine with me, a dozen different wines.

Until next time thanks for reading and please pass this along to a friend if you liked it.

Salut,

Nicholas Barth

Certified Sommelier

Wine Director

Cru Wine Specialists

Wine Puns ARE Funny!

This morning I woke up feeling bubbly. I wanted to make the world smile for a day. World, take advantage of that, I am not always this chipper, especially on a Monday morning. I started my Monday just the same as any other. I checked my emails, wrote a LinkedIn post and then went on to Facebook.

Cru Wine Specialists has a Facebook fan page filled with all sorts of cool resources and fun information for people to read about and learn. Every Monday on the Cru Facebook page I post a Wine Pick, Tuesdays are 'Nick's Thought of the Week', on Wednesday I usually do something interactive and then Thursday I do a weather report from a wine region. Pretty cool stuff, people seem to enjoy it, and I get a bunch of comments which I enjoy reading.

After I post on the Cru Facebook page I usually go to my personal page and post something wacky. I do this because deep down I am just another Cork Dork wrapped up in a gorgeous body ;) This morning as I mentioned I was feeling rather frisky, so I decided to "free the grapes" in my own way, I started a post about wine puns. They are absolutely my favorite and I love when people engage in them with me. I have already received a positive response and I am literally having the best day EVER because of this.

So if you want to have fun and learn a little about wine at the same time check out our Cru Wine Specialists Facebook page and friend me personally on Facebook. Cru is on their 'Cru of 1000' campaign. We are looking to have 1000 Cru Facebook fans by the time we launch in a week and a half. So become a fan to support the cause and if you know anyone who would be interested in joining we encourage you to invite them to the insanity by clicking 'suggest to friends' on the left hand side of the page.

Thanks again for your continued support and CLICK HERE to check out the Cru Facebook page.

Salut,

Nicholas Barth

Certified Sommelier

Cru Wine Online

Wine Director

Unique Varietals: Stepping Outside of the Box

Last night was filled with mixed emotions for me. Each month a group of 12 of us get together at someone's house for a wine party. We rightfully refer to ourselves as the Grape Nuts. Since some are in the service industry we meet on Sunday nights, once a month. From CFO's to Natural Healers the group covers a wide range of lifestyles and professions. Some are really in to wine and some just like to drink, I span the range. We are all different but we have something in common, we enjoy each others company and we drink.

The reason last night was filled with mixed emotion is because it was our last meeting for the season. Our tasting season runs from September to May. Since the summers are hectic and people are busy chasing around family, vacations, and social events we take them off. While I too am hard to tie down in the summer, I truly miss the group. Last night's theme was Unique Wines and boy did the group bring their A game. From Xarel-lo to Roussillion we had some really cool stuff.

The wine I was most interested in was a Lemberger we had from the Red Mountain region of Washington State. The producer was Kiona and if you have never heard of them don't feel bad, I hadn't until last night. Kiona is owned by the Williams family and was started in 1975. They are best known for their Rielsing which has been reviewed by trade magazines like Wine Spectator with fairly good success.

Lemberger is a red grape variety from Germany. It is also known by its synonym of Blaufrankisch in Austria and goes by Kekfrancos in Hungary. It's profile is low acid, medium bodied, and spicy and it usually displays black fruit flavors and aromas. It's becoming popular in Washington State accounting for about 120 acres of land under vine. While it doesn't sound like very much it is the largest planting outside of Austro-Hungarian Europe.

Kiona's plantings come from the Red Mountain AVA which is located in the Yakima Valley, which is inside of the Columbia Valley, confusing I know. Anyway, the Red Mountain region (which is neither red nor is it a mountain) is a fairly new AVA gaining its status in 2001. It's fairly small covering just over 4000 acres of land. The Williams family of Kiona are the pioneers that inspired the Red Mountain district. They petitioned for their own AVA (American Viticulture Area) siting the region has specific characteristics that defined and separated it from other regions in the Columbia Valley AVA.

The couple that brought the wine to the tasting last night found the Kiona at a local retailer and decided to bring it to the tasting as a backup. You see, when the Grape Nuts get together the event is as much about food as it is about wine. The themes either revolve around wine or food but either way each member brings a food to pair with the wine they are sharing. The wine they brought to pair with their dish was the Tangent Albarino. Tangent is a label produced by Talley Vineyards in the Central Coast of California. The Tangent was great, I love seeing more and more California producers in the Central Coast planting Albarino. The first example I ever tasted was by Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon Vineyards. It was one of the finest examples I have ever tasted outside of Rias Baixas in Spain, Albarino's home where it accounts for 90% of the area under vine.

Back to the tasting. The couple brought the Tangent Albarino to pair with a delicious pastry filled with cheese, chicken, spinach and more. It was a great pairing. But like a good Grape Nut, they knew that we always need transition wines. Transition wines are the wines we drink in between courses while the next person or couple gets their dish ready. The transition wine after the Tangent was the Kiona. I was blown away by this fantastic domestic example of a grape I had tasted maybe a handful of times in my life. One of the lists I consult on a has a sweet example of a Blaufrankish (Lemberger's synonym from Austria). It sells well because it is the only sweet red on the list. But I had never tasted one from the United States before last night.

Unique Varietals in the US are an interesting topic because we do not have native Vitis Vinifera vines (European grape vines used for making wine). Bordeaux has its Cabernet, Spain has its Tempranillo, Italy has its Sangiovese, but the US doesn't have a staple native Vinifera varietal. Grapes like the Concord (the most widely planted grape in the US) are an example of a Vitis Lambrusca vine, the vine used for table or eating grapes. So with all of this said I have no strong feelings for one grape variety over another. We don't have a history that involves a native grape that we must preserve. Our most notable variety we plant and praise is Zinfandel but it's not even ours really because researchers have found it is the same grape as Primativo from the South of Italy.

Other regions throughout the world have strong feelings against certain grapes intruding in to the vineyards. In Italy, 'Internationals Varietals' like Cabernet and Merlot have made their way in to their sacred Tuscany well known for producing Chianti. There are some traditionalists who think that the wines of Italy should only made from native Italian grapes like Nebbiolo, Sangiovese and Barbera. Spain is no different putting emphasis on native varietals like Albarino, Tempranillo and Monestrell (which is France's Mourvedre) and believing that Internationals like Chardonnay and Pinot Noir should not be planted in their vineyards.

So that brings us back the US. We as American's are a bunch of Unique Varietals. And more importantly we are all transplants from somewhere. Our culture is a byproduct of European trends. As much as we think we invented Gallons or Feet these were European units we adopted. So when it comes to grapes I say the more the merrier. Bring it on, I would love to see all sorts of unique vines growing in the US. The whole world perfects and boasts their examples of Internationals like Cabernet, Merlot, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Noir. Lets take obscure grapes and see if we can do them well. Look at Argentina, they took a minimal varietal like Malbec which was used in small amounts for blending in the Bordeaux region of France, and perfected it. Now it is their signature varietal and most people think it's native to Argentina.

I applaud pioneers like Kiona, Bonny Doon and many others for stepping outside of the box and growing unique grapes in the United States. I want to see more Gruner Veltliner, Aligote, Carignan and Tannat planted stateside. Of course with attention payed to site selection, growing season, climate, etc. I am not saying just pump out a bunch of below average to mediocre unique varietal wines for the sake of being different. But Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet, Sauv Blanc and Chardonnay are not the only things that will grow well in the US.

So it is to you Kiona and all the other unique varietal pioneers that I tip my hat to. Bravo, and keep up the good work. It is producers like you that will help put the United States on the international wine map. Okay, I am going to step down from my soapbox now. Make sure to check out our new website www.cruwineonline.com for more fun wine goodies.

Salut,

Nicholas Barth

Certified Sommelier

Wine Director

Cru Wine Online

Cru of 1000

With a week of being live under our belt we feel pretty good. It has been fun, chaotic and challenging, in no particular order. I got in to wine because I wasn't good with technology, now I find myself surrounded by it. I love writing scripts and being on camera, I would argue I am actually not too bad at it, but I can barely get the printer to do a double sided copy let alone shoot, edit and upload videos. Enter J.C.

J.C. is our Chief Technology Officer, he makes sure that everything works, even when it shouldn't. He is like a babysitter for binary numbers, when they get out of line he is so patient with them. He listens, understands and coaxes them in to doing what he wants. Not like me, I throw stuff and yell. And when I break it because I threw it, I yell more.

We have all logged a lot of hours trying to make this dream a reality. From JC's technology battles to Andy's Ecommerce project and my content, on-air, and production management, we are firing on all cylinders. The fun comes at the end of the day when we crack a bottle and laugh. The Chaos comes during the day when we are trying to complete tasks, and the challenge comes when we fall just short of a goal for the day.

We have a great team, and we have a lot of support. The people who stand behind us mean the world to us. We have all taken a risk and are believe in what we are doing. I jokingly tell my wife "this will make a good book some day." But to be quite honest, it really will. We are three guys working 70 hour weeks to launch a product that is in completely uncharted waters. We have faith that our passion and vision are in need.

With all of that being said we can't do it with out all of you. We need your help in spreading the news. We have put together a campaign called 'Cru of 1000'. We are trying to get 1000 friends to join the Cru Facebook page by May 1st. We realize it is an aggressive goal but we have such a great support network we know we can do it with everyone's help. If you haven't joined our Cru Wine Specialists Facebook page please do so. If you have we simply ask you to spread the word and let everyone know we would love their support too.

Thank you to everyone for following us, and for those of you who have no idea what I am talking about visit www.cruwineonline.com to see how we are revolutionizing the wine industry.
Until next Monday...Salut!

Nicholas Barth
Certified Sommelier
Wine Director
Cru Wine Online

We Are LIVE!

With the number of people I need to thank I feel like I need to give an Oscar speech. It has been a crazy last 3 months and an even crazier last three days. As you may know, the Cru Wine Online division of Cru Wine Specialists has received a lot of local attention over the past week.

It all started when we moved in to our new location in downtown St. Cloud last month. Ms. Downtown herself Pegg A.K. Gustafson came over to welcome us to the neighborhood. She asked what we were all about and if she could put our new location in her weekly email.

The email got in the hands of a KNSI reporter, Cassie Hart. She called and began asking questions about our new business venture. She then aired a news feature about Cru on KNSI 1450. Within 15 minutes of the KNSI interview being aired WJON called. They wanted to know more. From that we received a call from UTVS, to which they did a 2 minute feature on our new addition. Later that day the St. Cloud Times called and wanted to know what all the fuss is about.

This is all fine and dandy, I mean, don't get me wrong, I love publicity, but we were not exactly ready yet. The launch of our site was to be the first week of May, not April. However, after countless hours and hard work by our Chief IT Director J.C. Turner and his mad scientist web developer Mark Monn over the weekend we were able to get our public site up and running. I am not exaggerating when I say that J.C. has logged over 50 hours in the last 3 days. If there were an Olympics for Information Technology J.C. Turner would have won the gold.

You can check out our new and improved website at www.cruwineonline.com. While the full launch of our membership page will not be ready until May, we encourage you to check out the public site and pass it along to anyone you know who may be interested in having fun and learning about wine. The site is loaded with videos to explain exactly what our new adventure entails. In addition we have posted a sample of an online tasting as well as an example of a Cru radio podcast. I will keep you up to date with any changes, postings, or additions made.

This is the most excited and nervous I have ever been. Thank you again to everyone for your continued support, because without you, we would have to drink alone!

Twitter, Look Out

As you may have guessed by the title of this Blog, I have branched out in to Twitter. This may not be much of a surprise to many of you because I realize many people are on this networking site, but I decided to join to help stay connected.

Our username is CruWineGuys. I so far have no followers and am following nobody. Not really sure how the site works but I can image I am like the girl a prom who sat in the corner and nobody asked to dance. So humor me and become a Twitter follower for me.

Since there are only about 6 of you who read this I am really asking my short followers list to follow me where I have even less. Really pathetic if you ask me.

On a serious note we just recorded three different short videos for our website so hopefully we will have those up in the next couple of weeks and you can check out me trying to be a big shot.

That is all for my posting today. Thanks for reading and enjoy the new year!

Sorry For The Delay

To my Blog readers (all three of you) I am very sorry for the delay. It has been too long since I have been on my blog. My pre new years resolution is to blog once a week (thanks Jeremy for the kick in the butt).
Quick update on what I have been doing. In October I passed my Sommelier Certification through the Court of Masters. It was wild ride and I am so glad to be done. I am pursuing my Master Sommelier Degree but am not in a hurry. I have to wait a year from October before I can even apply so I am just hanging out right now. My goal to becoming a Master is to try to finish by the time I am 30. I have 4 years and plan on finishing around 2013ish.
Of course as many of you know I have started a new company Cru Wine Specialists. It has been a journey getting it off the ground and running. Things are going well, so well that I have stepped down from my day to day responsibilities with the Veranda as the General Manager and am now only updating their wine list and training their staff.
We have grown Cru from an idea to a successful business entity in 9 short months. We are gearing up for a lot of growth in 2010 and hope to have this company really cooking by next December.
Meredith, Jack and I are well. Jack is 17 months and can jump. Sure he has the vertical of a baby elephant, but it is cool to watch. Meredith is editing and taking care of making sure I don't make any Barthisms in my publications, it so far has been working.
I am spending a lot of time writing a book and studying as well as trying to hold down the fort and start up a new business. I wouldn't be happy if I wasn't stretched thin.
Everything else is just great. The holiday season is a time of giving and quite frankly I need some receiving. We have had a great December and are looking forward to some family time.
I wish you all a Merry Christmas and I encourage you all to follow my blog in 2010. I promise I won't have 7 month lapses.
Thanks again for the support and feel free to call if you need a friend to drink with.

Salut,
Nicholas Barth
Certified Sommelier
Wine Director