This is an overview or written list of the alcoholic products offered, the services and the prices of a gastronomic establishment. However, a wine list usually includes not only wines, but also spirits, beers, cocktails and non-alcoholic drinks. In some cases, the conditions for the consumption of wines brought to closed parties, for example, are also listed in the wine list (see corkage fee). In most cases, the wine list is included in the menu and is only listed separately in more upscale restaurants with a larger range of wines. In most cases, printed matter in bound or stapled form is used for this purpose, but information can also be provided by means of inscriptions on notice boards and posters.
Wine lists in antiquity
Information about the food and drink on offer in a restaurant, including prices, was already available in antiquity, as findings show, especially among the Romans and Greeks. The Roman poet Petronius (+66) describes a colourful picture of the eating and drinking culture of the Roman upper class in the first century in his famous work Satyricon. In the city of Pompeii, destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79, price lists for wines were found painted on the walls of taverns during excavations. Among other things, the famous Falernian was offered: For one ace you get wine, for two aces the best and for four aces Falernian. Wine lists have also been found in Egyptian tombs, such as those of the pharaoh Tut-Ench-Amun, but they probably corresponded more to inventories.
Wine list culture today
Food and beverage lists in today's form only emerged in Europe with the rise of better dining establishments in the 17th century and were initially reserved for such establishments. In simple inns, guests were informed about the menu in oral form, because the menu was usually not very extensive and most people could not read. Later, it was customary to hang capitalised boards on the wall of the inns informing about the food and drinks available. Today, the wine list (menu) is the business card for an establishment.
Only if there is a larger selection, and not just four or five wines or perhaps only "red wine or white wine" at all, can one assume that wine culture is cultivated in this establishment. The gourmet guide A la Carte awards one to three bottles for the wine culture (wine selection, glass culture, service) of a restaurant. In top restaurants there are wine lists with often several hundred labels. To "read" these correctly and choose the right wine to go with the food requires good knowledge. There is no shame in seeking advice from a sommelier.
Wine list "Alte Burg" in Dreieich-Dreieichenhain
The "Alte Burg" restaurant in the municipality of Dreieich-Dreieichenhain in the district of Offenbach south of Frankfurt am Main (Hesse) has an incredibly original wine list. In it, a very hearty, erotic story is told in the form of single vineyard designations: After a young man had drunk the "Klüsserather Bruderschaft" with the "Hallgartener Jungfrau", he walked with her over the "Wawerner Ritterpfad", lifted up her "Trabener Brautrock" and removed the "Wachenheimer Gerümpel" with his "Oestricher Hand", grabbed her "Naumburger Engelgrube" and became intoxicated with her "Liebfrauenmilch". Then he laid her with the "Kröver Nacktarsch" on a low, mossy "Zeltinger Steinmauer", which for him was an "Ockfener Bockstein", where in earlier years the "Brauneberger Juffer (Jungfer)" received her first tap.
Now the youngster took out his "Nackenheimer Stiel" and put it with an elegant "Thörnischer Ritsch" into her "Zeller Schwarze Katz", on which hung a "Piesporter Goldtröpfchen". Both were now in the "Graacher Himmelreich". But after a few days he had a "Brauneberger Hasenläufer" and with her the "Zeltinger Rotlay" stayed away. She therefore had to go to the "Bernkasteler Doctor". The father had got wind of this and kicked the young man into his "Rüdesheim back house" with the force of an "Oppenheim sack bearer". You damned "Eschendorfer Lump", you "Kallstadter Saumagen" he shouted at him, go to the "Merder Hell" and threw the youth down the "Erdener Treppchen".
Record list
Now a small list of restaurants that can compete for first place in the league "most extensive or most original wine list in the world". The "Bremer Ratskeller" was founded as early as 1405, making it one of the oldest wine cellars in Germany. In the 14th and 15th centuries, one could only choose between two varieties of "Rhenish wine", these were the "Gemeine" and the "Bessere". Today, the wine list includes 650 names, all of which are German wines. In the restaurant "Gasthof Schwarzer Adler" in the municipality of Vogtsburg-Oberbergen in Baden-Württemberg (Weingut Franz Keller), the wine list comprises 2,000 items, with the main focus on Bordeaux wines.
In Austria, one of the top candidates is the "Berghotel Tulbingerkogel" near Vienna. The hotel's wine list includes a total of 1,450 labels from all over the world. In the Wine Spectator restaurant guide, which rates the wine lists of over 400 restaurants worldwide, this restaurant has already received the "Best of Award of Excellence" 22 times.
The "Harveys Restaurant" in Bristol (England) of the wine trading company Harvey's has one of the most extensive wine ranges in the world. The German Wine Museum in Oppenheim has a wine list collection with 50 exhibits from the 19th and 20th centuries that are significant in terms of history, scope, design as well as the position of restaurants. The record holder is clearly the world-famous restaurant La Tour d'Argent in Paris, in whose cellar 450,000 wines are stored.
Further information
For "Wine and Food Culture", see also Decanting, Cooking Wine, Most Expensive Wines in the World, Wine Talk, Wine Rating, Wine Enjoyment, Wine Glasses, Wine Cellar, Wine Temperature and Wine with Food.
Cork grape (left): bought from 123RF
Wine list (right): by Norbert F. J. Tischelmayer
