The People Who Can't Choose a Wine Are Usually Choosing It Right

"I love wine, but honestly, I don't really understand it."
"There is so much jargon that choosing a bottle is intimidating."
Talking to people day in, day out, we hear this constantly.

And every time, the same thought occurs to me.
The people who feel they cannot choose a wine usually have the healthiest instincts of all.

The world is awash with shortcuts - this grape tastes like that, this score guarantees quality. They are a perfectly good way in. But lean on them alone and you will often end up more confused, not less.

As a sommelier, and as an importer, the first thing I ask a customer is never the grape or the region.
"What are you planning to eat with it?"
"Who are you drinking it with, and what's the occasion?"
Answer those two and the work is very nearly done.

The same grape, grown somewhere else or handled by different hands, can taste like an altogether different wine. And a highly rated bottle that suits neither the food nor the moment will never give you a genuinely delicious experience.

So feeling that you cannot choose because you do not know enough is not a shortcoming at all. It is a sign that you are trusting your own palate.

Most of the wines we carry at Cépages are not the sort that shout for attention. They are wines used in working restaurant kitchens: they flatter the food and never interrupt the rhythm of a meal. Rather than take the lead, they draw the whole table together. That is what we look for when we choose.

The same holds at home.
What do you want to eat with it? What sort of mood are you in?
The wine that answers those questions is the one that makes an ordinary dinner feel a little richer.

There is a very simple reason our two-bottle and three-bottle selection cases have proved so popular.
People do not want a cellar full of wine - they want a couple of bottles that are genuinely good, with no risk of disappointment.
The cases exist to answer exactly that.

There is no right or wrong way to choose wine.
It tasted good. The evening was a pleasure.
That is the whole of it.

If you are unsure, do please ask.
You do not need to know anything about wine.
Just tell us what you would like to eat and the sort of evening you have in mind.
Hearing that is the most useful clue we could possibly have.

You can reach us for advice on LINE.
https://lin.ee/ykYqyYkB


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