SUB-ZERO WINE BLOG

How do you choose wine in a restaurant that’s good, yet won’t blow your budget? Use my entrée-plus formula: look for bottles in the color, style or grape you like at the price of an entrée, plus a few bucks. It’s not a hard-and-fast rule, but it’s something I’ve found over the years to work well. That’s because most restaurants with a thoughtful list offer bottles that are about the same price as an entrée. A lot more than that is typically above the budget of their core diner, while bottles much lower than that range may not suit the food or the overall experience.

So in a neighborhood pasta joint where the mains range between $9-14, you should be able to find good wine choices from $18-25 or so. In a pricey steakhouse where plates of prime average $35 and up, you’ll probably see a good range of wines between $35-50. If you don’t recognize any of the wines you see in this category, get the waiter’s recommendation or just experiment! For only the price of another entrée, you can try something new.