With so many restaurateurs attempting to add wines to their establishment’s offerings, I am puzzled by the wine choices that they make. A Japanese restaurant ought NOT to have the same wines as a steakhouse, but an Indian restaurant might share some wines with a traditional Jamaican restaurant. Unfortunately, most of the wine lists around Jamaica are developed by the wine importers and not by the entrepreneur or restaurant owner, as most are intimidated by the topic of wine. So can you guess whose interest is the focus of the list?

Do your research

Wine-drinking Jamaicans have moved away from being satisfied with the mainstream wines like Merlot and Chardonnay. If restaurateurs researched their customers, they would realise that many are willing to try a wider range of wines, and most are in search of a great culinary experiences and not just a “bellyful” of food. Balance of flavours, styles, and price points are the key tenets of a good wine list.

Wine List Considerations

Wine Selections – A wine list for an establishment seriously thinking about offering wine should have a minimum offering of about 20 wines. These should include a simple and a more complex option of all the main wine varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Shiraz, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling and Moscato. Add a couple of pinks (a rosé and a White Zinfandel) and a few sparklers – Prosecco, Cava and Champagne if the budget can stretch. Themed restaurants will need to make adjustments according to their cuisine. A decent wine list needs to have between 40-60 selections. Offering anywhere between four to six wines by the glass (BTG) is a good start.

Layout – How do you want the list to appear and what image do you want to convey to your clientele? Listing wines in price order can give patrons the feeling they’ll be judged on what they spend. Specialising in obscure wines can come off as condescending or arrogant. Poor formatting can undermine confidence in the wine selections. Really great wine lists provide guidance and just enough relevant information to help patrons make a selection.

Pricing – Gone are the days of 200% profit on a bottle of wine. If that is still your plan, then be prepared to continue to enjoy slow wine sales. Be prepared to offer a sliding scale for margins on the bottles. You can sell much more wine at a lower margin, rather than sticking by the old high-margin plan.

Suppliers – There are about 10 wine importers in Jamaica. Do get copies of all their wine lists and make your high-level selections from those. Meet with their representatives to share your vision of your restaurant and what you would like to gain from the wine programme. Talk to him or her about protecting your allocations, especially for your BTG programme. If they’re unwilling to do that, you are talking to the wrong importers. If your wine list contains more than 50 selections, you should use at least three different distributors.

Training – Schedule training classes for all personnel who will be interacting with the customers. Share the vision about your new wine list and the new wines you’ve added, and let the staff taste the wines (I know this might be an issue since most might not drink wine, but we have to change that). Ask the chef to create menu pairings for the training sessions. Print information sheets with phonetic spellings of the wine names, and get everyone to repeat the pronunciation of each foreign name. The more familiar the staff is, the more successful the list will be.

Putting together a good wine list is not a quick task. It will take some time to get everything right, but it will be worth it in the end, and you will need to revise it annually. Remember, wine lovers are a restaurant’s best customers — once you offer good wines.

Christopher Reckord – Entrepreneur & Wine Enthusiast. Send your questions and comments to creckord@gmail.com. Instagram: @chrisreckord Twitter: @Reckord

Sample wine List – basic.jpg – While this sample list does the job of simply listing the wines, the patrons could be assisted with some basic descriptions of the wine.

Sebastiani Wine List.jpg – The sample list gives each wine’s name, vintage and some notes about each wine. it also shows the bottle image of the wine.

Vinoteca wine-bar-list contents page_Page_02 –

This sample list out of the UK lists the wines according to their style. Some very interesting and creative descriptions are used here. This type of list is sometimes referred to as “progressive”, as the style of wine gets heavier and fuller-bodied as you move down the list.