So you’re out for a night of dinner and drinks. You get to the restaurant and settle in. The server hands you the wine menu, and you open it and think “Wow, look at all the stuff on here … hmm, I don’t know what they are, umm, I don’t want to look like I don’t know what I’m doing—I’ll just order the same wine as last time.” Does this sound like you? If so, you’re one of the many Nashvillians afflicted with “bored palate syndrome.”
BPA is an awful disorder rendering taste buds useless and keeping your fun-o-meter permanently near zero. The result is perpetual doldrums due to lack of new experiences. However, there’s a cure, free of those nasty side effects you hear about on TV. It involves a few moments of edu-tainment (provided by this article) and the desire to change your ways—because this is one of those “you have to want to change” situations. It’s no 12-step program, but there are a few things to take into consideration to save your palate.
First, you’ll need to find a wine menu worth browsing. Unfortunately, the economy has closed the doors of more than a few restaurants around town, and by the time this article prints, I fear we’ll have lost a few more. Sadly, the majority of the casualties are locally owned establishments, and that’s where you’re going to find most of your appealing wine menus.
These menus tend to have small production offerings you don’t find at the major chains. They also have wines selected by a Nashville native who knows what his/her guests are looking for. On these wine lists, you’ll find the best the market has to offer, though I understand this may be branching out of comfort zones more than some readers wish.
If that’s the case, you can find a quality selection at some of the higher-end chain restaurants. The wines on these menus are usually large production wines with names more likely to sound familiar. They may offer a Captain’s List of allocated wines—that is to say, wines in limited supply, which likewise come at a premium price. The places at which you absolutely don’t want to step out to try new things are run-of-the-mill chains with names like TGI Charlies, Chiligans, or any place ending with the word “Factory.” These wine lists are crammed full of what I call the “usual suspects.”
“Huh?” you say.
What I’m talking about are wines that appear on a zillion wine lists. You know, wines like Kenda-liberty-stone or Menage du Bois. It’s these wines that cause the affliction from which you suffer—a bored palate. However, you can use them as tools to lead you to the next wine destination.
Tell your server that you normally drink (insert favorite wine name here). Then tell the server you’d like to try something else and get his or her recommendation. An attentive server may ask which entrče you’re ordering, the chef may have a recommendation to pair with the dish, or the server might ask what qualities you like best about the wine you normally drink. If the server sounds confident about the recommendation, I suggest you give the wine a whirl. If you’re the kind of person that wants to go it alone or if you aren’t inclined to take your server’s word for it, then you’ll need to take a closer look at the offerings....