We continue our exploration of ways to create a wine-by-the-glass menu using an approach that is efficient, offers a variety of flavor profiles and will offer flexibility in pairing wines with different food items on a menu. The approach we will be discussing today is easily adapted to an establishment that only wishes to offer a few selections but is scalable to a restaurant or bar which wishes to offer a much larger selection by the glass. As we have shown in previous installments, this approach works for creating a wine menu using common, recognizable wine grapes or for creating a wine list using wines from less common grape varieties, possibly from smaller zones of production.
In this section, we are focusing on red wines and approaching this part of the list by choosing wines according to their body, food compatibility, and age. We will try to answer this question: “How do you select red wines to offer by the glass which will provide a range of flavor profiles, offer an opportunity for different price points, and allow for pairing with foods ranging from vegetarian and fish to meat-based dishes”?
Red wines can be made in a light-bodied style, a full-bodied style, or somewhere in between. Whether a wine is perceived as light or full is influenced by many factors including the grape varieties used, the climate the grapes were grown in, and winemaking decisions. Alcohol, acid, and tannin are the three primary components in red wine which create a sensation of more or less body. A full-bodied red wine will often have more alcohol than a wine considered light in the body. However, higher levels of acid in wine can make it seem lighter even if the alcohol is high. The most important of the three is tannin. Tannins are compounds extracted from the skins of red grapes and cause a drying, astringent sensation on the insides of our cheeks and gums when tasting red wines. Let’s take a look at some popular wines in the US and see where they typically fall on the tannin scale.
Cabernet Sauvignon is the most widely planted red grape in California and creates a very popular style of wine. The skins of Cabernet Sauvignon contain a lot of tannin and the resulting wines will have high levels of tannin which can be perceived as being softer or more aggressive depending on both vineyard management and winemaking decisions. Let’s use Cabernet Sauvignon as our example for a wine with a full body. Pinot Noir, another popular wine grape, has less tannin in the skins and usually creates a much lighter style of wine. Merlot is usually made in a style with moderate levels of tannin and occupies the middle of our scale. If you offer a Pinot Noir, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon by the glass, the full spectrum is covered. Using these three grapes as a template, it is possible to offer red wines that focus on a specific country or wine region, possibly from less common grapes found in the United States, and still have selections that range from light to full. We will look at some possible configurations a little later in this article.
The other reason to focus on the tannin levels in red wine has to do with some basic principles of pairing wine with food, in other words, which red wines are better paired with fish versus meat? Higher levels of tannin tend to work much better with foods high in saturated fat like beef, butter, and cheese. Wines with less tannin tend to pair better with the polyunsaturated fats found in fish. Having wines with less tannin as well as wines with more tannin will allow you to match them to your menu items with greater flexibility. Grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Malbec, Nebbiolo, Sangiovese, Aglianico, and Tannat have higher levels of tannin in their skins. Grapes like Pinot Noir, Grenache, Gamay, Barbera, and Dolcetto, are typically made in a much lighter style with moderate to low levels of tannin. Merlot, Carménère, and GSM (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre) blends are often made with moderate levels of tannin.
Age is another factor to consider when choosing red wines for a list. There are many red wines that are capable of and often benefit from extended aging, either in barrel, bottle, or both. In fact, some countries like Italy and Spain have regulated label vocabulary that indicates extended aging with terms like riserva (Italy), Reserva, and Gran Reserva (Spain). Wines develop different aromas and flavors with age, and the tannins will soften over time. A high-quality red wine with several years of aging can be more expensive than a younger version of the same wine, so offering one of these by the glass creates greater flavor diversity and an opportunity to offer a more premium wine selection to your guests.
How many red wines should be offered by the glass? At least two, and easily 4 or more depending on the goals of your wine program. Offering one light red and one full-bodied red covers the two ends of the flavor spectrum and maybe enough for a small restaurant/bar where wine may not be the primary focus. Offering a medium-bodied wine brings that total to three and rounds out the spectrum. A more wine-focused restaurant or bar might offer 4 to 6 selections or more and this provides an opportunity to offer an entry-level wine and a more premium wine for the light, medium, and full-bodied wines on the list.
Here is what the red wine by the glass section might look like for a small restaurant where the typical guest wants a red wine from a grape easy to recognize:
Red Wine by the Glass
- Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon (Light)
- Merlot, Sonoma County, California (Medium)
- Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, California (Full)
A wine bar concept featuring wines from states bordering the Pacific Ocean might look like this:
Red Wine by the Glass
- Pinot Noir, McMinnville AVA, Willamette Valley, Oregon (Light)
- Pinot Noir, Santa Ynez Valley AVA, Santa Barbara, California (Light)
- Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley AVA, Sonoma, California (Medium)
- Grenache/Syrah/Mourvèdre Blend, Paso Robles AVA, San Luis Obispo, California (Medium)
- Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot Blend, Oakville AVA, Napa Valley, California (Full)
- Syrah, Walla Walla Valley AVA, Washington (Full)
This approach can be used to create a menu showcasing red wines from any wine-producing country. Here is an example of a list suitable for a restaurant that features regional wines from Italy:
Red Wine by the Glass
- Barbera d’Asti, Piedmont, Italy (Light)
- Pinot Nero, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy (Light)
- Valpolicella, Veneto, Italy (Based on the Corvina grape, medium body)
- Taurasi, Campania, Italy (Aglianico grape, Full Body)
- Barolo, Piedmont, Italy (Nebbiolo grape, Full Body)
- Chianti Classico Riserva, Tuscany, Italy (aged red wine based on the Sangiovese grape)
While the concepts and ideas outlined in this article, as well the previous two installments, are not the only ways to create an effective wine menu, they do offer a way to build in enough diversity to cater to different tastes and preferences. These concepts apply to both the creation of a mainstream list or one consisting of less common grape varieties and the template outlined here is easily expandable to create a more comprehensive offering by the glass and a diverse list of wines to offer by the bottle. Regardless of the structure and goal of your wine list, the concepts covered in this article arm you with the flexibility to pair with a variety of menu items with a minimum number of wines.
