A Bottle and a Half

Like music, wine is made in an almost limitless variety of styles to suit every meal, mood or occasion. Within any given bottle you might find an uplifting sparkling wine; a fresh and racy white; a lusty red, or a luscious dessert wine. The problem is, however, that because so many people are limited to drinking from a single bottle during dinner, they stick with what they’re used to, and don’t explore or venture into the different wines a restaurant might have.

Quattro on Fourth, in Vancouver BC, has decided that this is just not acceptable, and has introduced the “Bottle and a Half” program, to allow diners to mix and match flavours and varietals.

Depending on the occasion, the menu and their mood, guests choose from an often-changing wine list of 36 half bottles to make a bottle an a half. The list will always feature selections of sparkling wine, white wine, red wine, or after dinner choices.

“A great wine experience doesn’t have to be about a very expensive wine,” explains Patrick Corsi, managing partner and wine director for Quattro Restaurants. “Instead, it’s about the moment — the setting, the mood, and of course, the food. It’s about how well the wine works in that context.”

Mr. Corsi’s opinion about wines echoes that of Drinks After Dark. We want people to taste different wines, see how they work with different foods and flavours, even how they differ when in the proper wine glasses.

I can’t say it enough: Explore, try new things and don’t keep drinking the same thing, over and over again. Quattro’s bottle and a half program will help you do just that. Now, if only more restaurants would follow suit! (image source: Quattro Group of Restaurants)