How Good Is a Wine List’s Least Expensive Bottle?
Plus: Buying Guide: 5 Tips for Frugal Drinkers I try to observe proper restaurant protocol. I always wait to be seated; I never arrive barefoot; and I never, ever order the cheapest bottle on the wine list. And yet, in regard to that last item, I’m not really sure why. Perhaps it’s because of the universal perception that the only people who order from the very bottom of the list are cheapskates or people who don’t care what they’re drinking. But, I recently wondered, is that really true? In these less-than-flush times, might not wine directors be paying as much attention to the bottom of their lists as the top? After all, any wine professional can find great pricey bottles, but it takes a truly talented one to ferret out a great deal. I decided to take a tour of the low end of some very good wine lists, but first, I talked with the professionals who created them. I began with Joe Bastianich, the managing partner of 16 restaurants in New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, 12 of which he
