How To Ask For Wine You’ll Love At A Restaurant

Ever feel like you’re stuck in a wine rut?

It happens. Despite the fact that there’s essentially an infinite number of grape varietals and styles from regions all over the world, the vast majority of us stick to the same bottle or, at best, the same tried-and-true formula of varietal + region (i.e. Italian pinot grigio, please).

For many of us, the problem is largely about a failure to communicate. We know what we like (and what we don’t), but words fail us when we’re at the wine bar or bottle shop. To fix that shortcoming, we asked sommeliers for tips on wine lingo and some terms we can use to order the wine we want.

Fruity

“Fruity,” which can be used for red or white wines, is often confused with “sweet,” and people hesitate to use the F-word for that reason, says Christina Hartigan, wine director at Vancouver’s AnnaLena restaurant. It’s actually a very useful term that she loves hearing from guests, though. “If someone tells me they like fruity whites, I know they want something that’s not sweet, bolder in the glass, and has pretty notes on the nose.”

For example, this essentially describes many sauvignon blancs from New Zealand. If that’s already your go-to wine and you’re yearning to try something new, albariño is a great option, but if you wanted to try something a little richer and rounder but still fruity, Hartigan says viognier just might turn into your next big wine crush.

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Salty

I think asking for “salty” wine is a new way of saying you want something that’s mineral-driven,” says Lexi Wolkowski, sommelier at Parquet in Toronto. “Minerality is one of those really elusive terms when it comes to winemaking but saltiness is something tangible that you can taste in a wine like, say, a muscadet.”

Other salty wines include manzanilla sherry, assyrtiko from Greece and almost any unoaked white from the Canary Islands and other volcanic or marine regions. SEE ALSO: Earthy.

Spicy

On the other end of the spectrum, we have spicy wines, such as malbec or shiraz. If either (or both) of these is your fallback wine, you might take a French grenache or a zinfandel from California out for a spin. Hartigan explains: “Usually, oak-aging is associated with notes like cinnamon, clove and vanilla, so we’re probably talking about an oak-aged red wine.”

Earthy

Wolkowski says there’s a little overlap with salty wines here, since earthy wines are also often from volcanic regions. “We’re circling back to the mineral argument now, because earthy is about terroir and signaling the place that it comes from. They’re also often really good food wines.” SEE ALSO: Salty

Chewy

“At Parquet, we sell a ton of steak frites so I’m always looking for wines that are going to stand up to a meat protein,” explains Wolkowski. “Chewy wines are good for that because they have a robust, muscular profile to them.”

Described as a texture that cues your mouth to start chewing, this muscular profile is found in high-tannin wines, such as sangiovese from Italy, Spanish tempranillo and tannat from Uruguay.

Hartigan adds that, despite the fact that tannins are a naturally occurring compound in grapes, people often mistakenly think tannins are additives.

Crunchy

“Crunchy is a funny word because it can mean a few different things at once,” Wolkowski says. “It’s bright fruit, high-acid and usually aromatic. And all of that also says ‘no oak’ to me.”

The term, which can be used for whites and reds, describes a youthful wine with a lot of fresh taste that somehow reminds you of biting into an ever-so-slightly underripe pear. Often cool-climate reds, such as blaufränkisch or a Canadian pinot noir can be crunchy. SEE ALSO: Juicy and Crispy

Juicy

Hartigan says juicy wines (red or white) are often low in tannins, fruit-forward and have a nice bright acidity to them. “I think of a gamay or a Beaujolais that’s lighter in style and less structured than, say, a cabernet sauvignon.”

Crispy

“A crispy wine [white] is something bright and refreshing in style and it usually means it has a fair bit of acidity and is probably great with rich food,” Hartigan adds. SEE ALSO: Juicy and Crunchy

Creamy

“If someone asks for a creamy white, the first thing I think of is a chardonnay that’s been aged in oak,” said Hartigan. “It’s hard to describe but it’s a white with a little more body and texture to it.” Love an oaked chardonnay but looking for something new? Semillon (white Bordeaux) has some similarities to the chard but offers a fresh perspective. SEE ALSO: Velvety

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Velvety

Hartigan says this term is pretty similar to creamy, but usually applied to reds.

“When I say velvety, I think about a big, bold red wine with really plush fruit and lots of texture to it,” Hartigan notes. “It’s got a rich mouthfeel and it could be a cab from California or, a little more under the radar, would be something like a monastrell from a really hot region in Spain, like Jumilla.” SEE ALSO: Creamy

Funky

The past few years have seen a lot of winemakers bring out the funk. Although it sometimes refers to a slightly sour note, it could also be barnyardy, or even a hint of day-old green bin.

“It’s something that’s made in a low-additive and low-intervention style,” explains Wolkowski. “It’s a wine that hasn’t had too much manipulation and sometimes it’s unfiltered and hazy as a result. It’s also often a little lower in alcohol than most wines.”

When in doubt

Hartigan says she loves it when customers simply tell her what they normally drink and express a desire to try something new, but similar. Somms have the same goal you do—to help you get a glass of wine that you love.