How to Choose the Best Wines for Your Restaurant

What white and red wines and fizz should you offer to your customers and when? There’s no cast in stone rule as to what wines should be on your customers’ tables, but fizz and white wines are often perfect if it’s summertime and your customer wants to pair it with BBQ halibut fillet. Red wines, on the other hand, are perfect for winter nights when your customer may want to snuggle up with a friend or loved one and have a good conversation.

Much of the choosing process has to do with the temperatures at which the wines should be served. Red wines need to be kept below room temperature which is too warm for white wines which are often best when chilled as well as fizz which should always be served chilled. Here’s a season-wise list of some of the best white and red wine varietals to consider for your restaurant.

Winter

It’s not so much that certain red wines taste better in the wintertime – but rather they taste better with what your customers eat during the cold seasons.

Winter foods are best complemented with:

1. Full-bodied wines
2. Champagne
3. Syrah red wines
4. Spicy Shiraz

The first on the list is actually the ‘New World’ blend from Australia and Africa, Champagne, in fact, is sparkling wine from the Champagne region of France while the last two are usually grown in the Rhone region of France. Most of these wine beverages work best with delicious stews and soups eaten for wintertime meals.

Summer

Pairing white wines or red wines with smoked food offers easy success (if your customer likes it).  Summer meals with such meats as pork, hamburgers and sausages all taste better with red wine beverages. Chicken, fish and artichokes usually taste better with white wines or fizz.

Right after you break it down to white wines or red wines, think about the hot sauce recipe. For example, if you are serving chicken breast and it is marinated in habanero-barbecue spices, your customer may want to pick a heartier red wine like a Cabernet.

You can even serve rosé wines during the summer months. They’re made by allowing the grapes’ skins to soak for a few days and then the grapes are fermented and crushed. You can also serve rosé Champagne.

Fall

Richer, fuller-bodied, wines go perfectly with the heavy ingredients of fall food and game meat like venison especially.

Syrahs and Malbecs are usually good reds to choose for your restaurant but do not underestimate the whites. A crispy, heavy Chardonnay does wonders as it does not have to be nippy to bring out its tastes. Rieslings are yet another good autumn match since they’re sweeter and can easily be enjoyed outside if you’re running a street restaurant. Another daring white is the Viognier – which has a bit more viscosity than the average Chardonnay.

Spring

Herbaceous and grassy white wines such as Sauvignon blanc are best for when you’re expecting customers in warmer temperatures. You can find fruitier versions of this particular wine from South America and New Zealand. Properly chill these wine beverages between temperatures of 40 and 45 degrees before serving. Don’t forget to also offer sparkling wine, like Prosecco for your customers.

These are just some of the suggestions to choose wines for your restaurants which are given by Cheetah – Food Distribution Company. The best thing about wine tasting is that you have the freedom to serve whatever you want and experiment with what works best for your customers.