I'm going on a date to a wine bar. .

[daligirrl]

What should I order so I don't sound ignorant (which I am)?

[Kali]

1. try honesty

ask your date's recommendation

[daligirrl]

3. To be honest. .. I think he

might not have a clue either. I want to be able to "save" if he starts to look silly.

[disinfo_guy]

9. Ask for Pino Grigio

as easy to drink as it is to prounounce :) PEE-no GREE-jo

[Jack from Charlotte]

48. Request a bottle of their best Sparkling Muscatel and remember to

smell the bottle cap. Everyone will think you're way cool!

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

20. Bring lots of money...

http://www.rathergood.com/gaybar/

[daligirrl]

24. He's paying. . .lol!

[bigwillq]

2. Just ask your date or the waiter(waitress)

what they recommend with whatever you're having to eat (assuming there is food there, I never heard of a wine bar before). OK, who is the ignorant one now?!

[daligirrl]

6. They are all over the place now. ..

Wine and muncies. . . a friend told me that the waiters there are really snooty. I just want it to go well. And have an idea of what we should be asking for.

[bigwillq]

10. What state you live in?

I don't think there in Connecticut yet but I could be wrong.

[daligirrl]

23. Northern freaking Indiana. . .

Here in South Bend (home of Notre Dame) there are some cultural institutions.

[bigwillq]

27. Cool. My sister is thinking about applying to

Notre Dame for her PHD. She may visit this summer.

[daligirrl]

29. That's great. . .

I came here for Graduate school and never left. Go figure. At least you know she has a good wine bar to frequent.

[bigwillq]

30. Then maybe she'll go out more

She's kinda a home body. She never comes to the bar or clubs with me here in Connecticut but she does like wine so maybe that'll work.

How's the religion (Catholic) scene there? It would seem to be pretty heavy with ND and all. She's all into God and stuff like that.

[daligirrl]

31. The ND'ers

Are big drinkers. This area has great bars. The school doesn't sanction drinking on campus anymore, but the barkeeps around here keep an eye on the ND students. There have been too many lawsuits. She will have a good time, I think. Is she thinking about living on campus?

[bigwillq]

33. I think on campus or slighty off

It depends what kind of financial/job deal she gets out of it. I know one of her friends is going to Princeton for her PHD and she got on-campus housing all funded for her.

[daligirrl]

35. I teach at ND part-time. ..

I find that graduate students who live off-campus have a much better experience. There are a lot of apartment complexes around the campus that are almost like graduate dorms. Students seem very happy there, Catholic or not. The undergrad dorms hold regular Mass (optional) every Sunday morning. I've heard reports about people getting grief from their peers about not attending.

[bigwillq]

39. On or off campus

I'm sure my sis will attend church on a regular basis. I will pass this info. along to her. Thanks!

[Parrcrow]

4. ask for a dry house wine.

[Kellanved]

8. I second that

Without knowing the bar and the available wines it is impossible to say.

But honestly: it is his job! (at least it would be considered to be his job on this side of the big pond ;-) ).

[daligirrl]

40. I hope he will learn. . .

But I like to take these things in hand, so to speak. Control freak, anyone?

[disgruntled_goat]

5. welll....

deliberatly order something embarrasing and get it out of the way.
my suggestions include:

Boone's farm Strawberry Hill, chilled.
Thunderbird on the rocks
Mogen David in a highball glass with a crazy straw

I used to work in a liquor store as the wine guy. dont take any crap if someone tries to get all pretentious!

[daligirrl]

15. That's so funny. . .

I have noticed at my local liquor store that we now have MD 2020 in all types of fruity flavors. Apparently, the college students love that stuff!

[Spinzonner]

7. grape suzettes

It's a French Wine,

Oh, wait ...

[kevinam]

11. Night-Train or Mad Dog 20/20

Those are my two favorite "wines". Make sure to tell them you want it straight out of the bottle, none of those fancy pants glasses, that you stick your pinky out. UHG!!!!

As a suggestion, don't drink a red wine, like a merlot. It tends to make teeth and tongue kinda purple. I am not going in a bad direction, but from the respect that chatting on a date with funky looking teeth may not be a great idea.

I wish I thought of that, taking a woman to a "wine" bar. She is bound to get drunk :) Have fun...Kevin.

[Champ]

17. Mad Dog 20/20

:puke:

Sorry bad experience, first thing I ever drank and I drank a whole bottle of it and ever since then the smell of it makes me gag. Night Train is good though.

[daligirrl]

18. LOL. .. see above post. . .

It seems to be the thing!

[mzmolly]

32. Or, your finest Ripple! Er uhm, Boones *burp* farm.

:hi:

[tainted_chimp]

12. are you a red or white wine person?

if you're going to be tasting everything, start with the whites. Maybe a nice Prosecco (sparkling Italian wine) to begin with.

Find out what the evenings specials are. It's best for the taste buds to start off with the whites, and gradually move onto the red's. (You can get mouth burnout otherwise)

But there shouldn't be any rules.... Wine is an adventure...have fun! Top off the evening with a glass of port!

Oh, and eat food with all of it. Wine and food make each other come alive.

[daligirrl]

21. Thank you. . .

I know the basics of wine, but have never been to an establishment that is wine-oriented. They have a large assortment of horse divers (reference Fred Sanford), so I don't want to order the wrong wines. I'm so freaking anal. But I heard the food there is really good. .. that's what I'm in it for.

[tainted_chimp]

25. my pleasure!

You're gonna love it...wine bars are alotta fun. :hi:

and, :toast: to the Fred Sanford reference!

[King Of Paperboys]

13. In any situation,

The best thing to do about your own ignorance is to admit it up front. It puts everybody at ease, and it opens the door to learning.

"I'm sorry, I've forgotten your name..."
(Instead of trying to bluff with "Hey! Buddy!")

"Excuse me, I'm terribly lost..."
(Instead of wasting time protecting your ego.)

"This is my first time in a wine bar, and I don't know what the procedure is. Can you recommend anything?"
(Instead of ending up with some Chateau Crap 2003)

[tainted_chimp]

19. mmmmmmmmmmm.....

Chateau Crap 2003!

lol..

[daligirrl]

37. Thank you much

for the advice. . . I'm just really, freaking anal about things like this. I hate going into a situation uninformed.

[Taverner]

14. Sam Adams

Show you're REAL mettle :)

[supernova]

16. I love wine bars

the point of them is to try different wines by the glass -- ones that usually come in very expensive bottles. Or they may also have a local winery which isn't available in the stores.

Like everywhere else, the wine list is usually divided between reds, whites, and rosés. If it's a really great place, they'll break them down even further between the drier and sweeter wines.

Get a couple from each group and see which ones you like best. And sure, ask the waiter what s/he likes best. Tasting for yourself is the only way to figure out what YOU like, as opposed to what you think all the wine snobs are telling you to like.

Have fun! :D

[daligirrl]

22. Thank you

I'm probably too worried about this, huh?

[eyesroll]

26. A lot of wine bars offer flights

Three or four tasting glasses of related wines. That way, you get to try a little of a few different wines. Usually, the menu will have printed descriptions of the wines in the flight -- "hearty reds," for instance. Just pick something that sounds good.

Or else ask the waiter/bartender for recommendations. Lots of wine neophytes (and experienced wine drinkers, too) go to wine bars to learn. There are no dumb questions -- if the wine bar has food (most have appetizers at least), ask what'll make a good pairing.

Good luck!

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

28. What color wine have you tried and liked in the past?

On edit: Saw Tainted Chimp's response...order a food and ask for the waiter's recommendation..if they are that snooty, then they think their shit doesn't stink and will be glad to order you around :D

BTW: TC is right..start with a white...I'd get something that is rare like a white bordeaux...then get a red....Syrah's are always nice ....then I heartily recommend an aged dessert wine ....makes for a nice headache the next day but a 10 year old chard aged in the barrel or a muscadet is fun to top off food.

[daligirrl]

36. Why is an aged dessert wine

different from a typical dessert wine?

[DoctorBombay]

34. Whatever you do, do NOT order white zinfandel

If this person is really into wine, he'll consider white zinfandel a bastard wine. Zinfandels are RED! (Don't say Red Zinfandel, either)

[Bonhomme Richard]

38. A beer and trust me..............................

He'll be impressed.

[daligirrl]

41. Maybe I'll just order

A nice Guiness Stout! Thats what I really want.

[Bonhomme Richard]

43. he'll be impressed and be.................

at ease and comfortable. You can't go wrong.

[ornotna]

42. "Two buck Chuck"

It won a double gold medal at the 28th Annual International Eastern Wine Competition. Heard it on NPR this morning.

http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=1963794

[daligirrl]

44. ROFLMBAO!!!!

I feel sooooooooooooo much better! Thank you, sweetie!

[tainted_chimp]

45. So?

How'dja like it?

Any favorites?

Get purple wine teeth?

Hella hangover today? (hope not!....egads.)

:hi:

[Commendatori]

46. 1976 Jordan Cabernet

It does exist, but no one has it. When the bartender tells you that there is none, look really disappointed and then order the beer you wanted all along.

(My local wine bar does serve beer, hope yours does too)

[LynneSin]

47. I love Australian & New Zealand wines

If you want a good white wine ask for a Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, you can never go wrong with that choice. I only drink Australian or South African Red wines since American Reds will make my face go beet red from allergic reactions. My favorite reds from South Africa would be the Pinotages (which only come from that country) and I love a good Shiraz blend from Australia.

But if you want American, you can never go wrong with a Kendall Jackson Chardonney!

Just don't ask for the Boone County Farm :P

[daligirrl]

49. The wine date went off swimmingly. . .

Thanks for all the suggestions. I had a good time and there were no embarrassments. Actually, the embarrassments only started when we progressed to the chicken wing place, where I consumed some Jack Daniels and got quite drunk.

[supernova]

50. Woah! Chuck Daniels

on top of wine?

Wow! I haven't done that since the early 90s.

edit: glad you enjoyed it. Heh. We had an NC DU meet up at a wine bar on Sat night and I thought about you, how things were going. Nice of you to give us an update. Do you think you'll see him again?

[daligirrl]

51. Thank you. . .

Yes. . .we will definitely be seeing each other again. He was as intimidated as I was. . . he wanted to impress me by taking me to a nice place, but admitted that he didn't know shit, either. The waiter we had (Evan) was very aggressive and very nice. He just brought us what he thought was good. I enjoyed it a lot. We left there after about 90 minutes and went to another bar. I then proceeded to get blotto. But not too bad, since we're going out again on Friday.