Montreal Restaurants

Food Wine Guide

Sommeliers or Wine Experts

When eating out at one of the Montreal Quebec restaurants (MBK), diners with no proper food wine guide tend to find the pairing of wine and food most perplexing. Yet, this part of a dinner should be simple and agreeable.

First, you should remember that you are not expected to be a wine expert. Most Montreal restaurants have waiters that understand wine lists, or they have wine experts or sommeliers (F&E).

The best sommeliers are down-to-earth, dedicated to making your dining and wining experience joyful, and ready to food wine guide you to the best values lurking on their lists. Make use of these people. Experts love being asked for their advice and show their wine knowledge.

If you have a particular price in mind you might point out an example on the wine list and ask if it seems like a good choice. The waiter or the sommelier will immediately get your drift and find a selection in your range.

Don't order the most expensive wines on the list or the cheapest. In good Montreal restaurants, all the wines have been selected with care and you can be certain that most of them will be decent. Price is never a guarantee of quality.

Types of Wine

The basic concept of pairing wine and food is to compliment and enhance the aroma and flavours of both the food and the wine.

Reds go with heavier meals, whites with lighter meals, red wine with red meat, and white wine with white meat.

Another concept of pairing wine with food is selecting a light-bodied wine with lighter food and a full-bodied wine with heartier, flavourful dishes.

You may look for the usual grape varieties like chardonnay (F&E), merlot (E), and cabernet sauvignon (F&E) or check out the wine lists in Greek, Italian, Spanish or Portuguese restaurants where you can encounter terrific wines.

Watch out for old whites. Even the finest chardonnays get tired and begin to oxidize after four years, which means they begin to taste a bit like sherry (F) and lose their fresh fruitiness.

In general, avoid whites dated 2005 or earlier. Sure, a few rieslings (E) can go longer, as well as sweet dessert wines, but avoid older dry whites unless you want to flirt with disappoinment.

The same goes for reds in general, which have a slightly longer shelf life, as many have seen more oak, perhaps adding a few years to their longevity. The vast majority of reds before vintage 2005 are beginning to dry out now. The fruity power is beginning to fade, and the tannins and acidity growing more evident at the expense of their fresh fruit.

Young and fresh Portuguese whites are not only thirst-quenching, but also highly food versatile.

Southern Italy and Sicily are putting out magnificent value wines, and there are still good finds from Spain.

Austria's gruner veltliner (E) is gaining some acceptance, Greece is coming on strong, and Argentina's malbec (F&E) is very appealing.

Food wine paring suggestions can be used as general guidelines, but there is only one important rule. When dining at one of your favourite Montreal restaurants, choose a wine you know and like.

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