While I try to avoid mediocre wine, sometimes we make contact. This is more likely to happen in places where diners have limited options - or at restaurants that have an incredible view. My restaurant critic ex-husband who made many a trenchant observation in his day, contended that restaurants with views were more likely to be mediocre since customers could be distracted or pacified by scenery.
I thought of his assertion this past weekend on a quick trip during which I visited two restaurants where wine was clearly an afterthought. The first restaurant, located in New York’s Hudson Valley, was billed as the locals’ favorite while the second, in Litchfield, Connecticut, had a lovely lake view.
The wines by the glass at the Hudson River Valley establishment were not on a list but delivered verbally by the server: “Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Rosé and Cabernet.” I chose the Pinot Grigio - which turned out to be the 2025 Le Rime Toscana Pinot Grigio ($10 a glass) - to accompany my surprisingly good plate of fried fish. Soft and simple, it was the ultimate expression of an innocuous wine.
At the Litchfield, Connecticut restaurant, located in a lakeside hotel, I opted for a glass of Aichenberg Grüner Veltliner Niederösterreich ($8) which my server said was a particularly popular choice (there was no vintage listed and my server did not know the year). It was drinkable but also so neutral that I briefly forgot it was wine.
These wines served as a reminder that there are many mediocre wines produced and sold - and regularly poured - in restaurants all over the world. They are wines that fill a certain (fiscal?) niche but are forgettable at best. And yet, with just a bit more effort on the part of restaurateurs, their customers might enjoy better versions of both.
For example, instead of Le Rime Pinot Grigio, the restaurant owner might have chosen the similarly-priced Elena Walch Pinot Grigio from Alto Adige –a lovely crisp version of the grape. Instead of the Aichenberg Grüner, the hotel owners might have poured an excellent Schloss Gobelsburg Kamptal Grüner Veltliner for just a few dollars more.
But when such superior options aren’t exercised, I have a piece of advice should you happen to dine at a restaurant featuring less than thrilling wines by the glass: go for the most popular wine since the bottle has probably been opened recently and therefore, it’s more likely to be fresh. But if the restaurant has a particularly spectacular view, all bets are off.
The view from that lakeside restaurant is lovely; the wine not so much.
On a more upbeat note: Here’s my new favorite summer red
2024 Domaine Fontaine-Gagnard Bourgogne Passetoutgrains ($30)
This vivid blend of Pinot Noir and Gamay from star Burgundian winemaker Céline Fontaine is produced from a parcel planted in the 1970s by Ms. Fontaine’s grandfather in a vineyard just inside Chassagne-Montrachet. It’s a lithe and decidedly savory delight that’s pleasantly low in alcohol too. I bought as many bottles as I could find.
(Stay tuned Paid Subscribers for my new favorite summer white!)
I usually thn, opt for a beer
Τhe concept of "mediocre" wine is an interesting one. Let us assume that we are talking about wines that are enologically flawless but "uninteresting" (to the cognoscenti). Do these wines deserve to exist? To most wine critics from non-wine-producing countries, the answer would be no. They see wine and wine consumption only through the prism of "price-quality ratio". Ideally, if you could buy a Château Margaux for $ 15, that would be perfect. However, when looking at mediocre wines from the perspective of a wine producing country, they need to exist not only because they are the foundation of the quality pyramid (fine wine cannot exist without mediocre wine next to it), but also, and perhaps most importantly, because they ensure the livelihood of thousands of families in regions that often cannot grow anything else --not to mention the fact that these grape-growers are keeping alive the viticultural landscape. So it kind of irks me when thoughtful wine writers are so easily dismissive of these "everyday" wines that certainly have a role to play in the overall scheme of wine things. One example is Gros Plant du Pays Nantais, a relatively obscure white ("mediocre") wine consumed locally with oysters in the Nantes region as an inexpensive alternative to Muscadet. Wouldn't the wine world be poorer without it? (Which is happening anyway since production has gone from 80.000 hl in 2008 to 20.000 hl in 2023 and vineyard area from 1.372 ha to 328 ha --what a pity!). Also, why can't we accept that, just as some restaurants pay little attention to the quality of the coffee they serve, or indeed the meat they grill, others aren't wine-oriented and will serve whatever their supplier suggests? Not all restaurants are or should be "wine restaurants". Restaurants succeed for many different reasons, and wine isn't necessarily one of them. If a restaurant is successful, it means it is popular; do we, wine lovers, have the right to look down on other people having a good time, even if they're drinking mediocre wines?