corkSWAGGER: How to Pick from a Restaurant Wine List

I recently read a great blog post referring to a sales technique that defined swagger as a “mix of positive expectation and objective indifference.” Since reading the article, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about other potential –swaggers, and more specifically about corkSWAGGER. The concept lines up perfectly with our quest to help people love and appreciate wine, no matter where in their personal wine evolution they happen to be.

I think back to my early days of wine drinking, when we kept a (paper!) journal of wines that we drank. Most entries in the beginning of the journal read this way: “very yummy, get again.” Occasionally we would expand our entries to something like, “yummy with delivery pizza” or, “yummy with grilled steak.” There was no mention of the wines we didn’t like and we never commented on why we purchased the wine. For that matter, it took several years before we even began commenting on the degree of yumminess. But in spite of our limited knowledge and frivolous wine drinking, we managed to evolve as wine consumers; trying new wines, varietals, regions, traveling to wine destinations and seeking wines for both every day and special occasions. To this day I believe that our evolution can only be attributed to our steadfast commitment to corkSWAGGER…the firm belief that we were going to have a positive experience and that even if it wasn’t mind blowing, oh well, we were still relaxing and drinking wine! You don’t need 1000 or even 100 bottles of wine under your belt to have corkSWAGGER. You just have to believe that good wine times are coming your way!

So, polish up your corkSWAGGER and use these simple tricks to help choose your next bottled experience from a restaurant wine list:

1. ASK for help if there is trained staff available. Nobody is going to know more about the wines than the curator of the list. People with corkSWAGGER ask questions!
2. If there is no help available, find the largest section on the list (for example, Sauvignon Blanc, California Cabernet, French Burgundy, etc). These are most likely the wines that the curator knows the most about so the selection will be outstanding.
3. DO NOT order the second cheapest wine in the section. The jig is up! Restaurants are on to this consumer trick and the move has positively NO corkSWAGGER. The second cheapest wine in the section is typically the worst value on the entire menu.
4. Be willing to try something new.

So…go drink some wine and practice your swagger. Believe that something good will happen and that the great wine you will enjoy will amaze you. Be willing to make one or two mistakes along the way because the truth of the matter is that you are drinking wine, learning something new and you will have a good story to tell.  Cheers!