h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi there, this is a great article, but I would just point out a few things:

The Wine List, Sir?

Simply asking the waiter to bring over his best vintage is no guarantee of a good wine. Vintage means grapes harvested from a particular year, not on its own a standard of quality.

The wine list is usually presented to the oldest male or the person who asked for it.

House wines can be perfectly acceptable, what you wantto avoid are table wines (vin de table) as these are blended from several wines from several different regions/countries.

Just because a wine may be recognisable (Chianti or Chardonnay) has no bearing on its price.

Local wines can be a bit hit and miss? This is simply not the case - wine in general is hit or miss, but wine has to be produced somewhere - so you'll find good and bad Vouvrays while on holiday in the Loire and good and bad Riojas while in Logrono in Spain. Just because a wine is local does not mean it will be bad. The factthat it is local means you can get a cracking bottle of wine substantially cheaper.

The Grapes

Good advice on the grapes, but this is not going to help you when ordering wines from the Old World where wines are grouped by region, not grape variety.

Would you like to taste th wine?

The tasting of the wine is the responsibility of the person who choses it. A smidgen is poured in the glass and if approved the Sommelier (wine waiter) will pour wine for people around the table, starting with ladies first. The person who tasted the wine has his glass filled last.