Demi delicious
Half bottles of wine are great, at least in principal. They are a perfect way to prevent having to deal with left over wine. I am delighted to find them in restaurants, as it gives me a chance to sample more than one wine through a meal.
All life it seems is a compromise. With half bottles you get great benefits, but there is the inevitable downside. A half bottle of wine is more prone to environmental circumstance. In other words, it goes bad more easily.
I have been in a position of late to try many half bottles in a row (I am temporarily single). These have been bottles of my favorite wines, and I was delighted to find them in 375s. The delight turned to disappointment, repeatedly, as one after the other was in some way less than I expected.
The smaller size means that any heat or vibration damage has a greater impact. It is the inverse of why Magnums are the perfect sized bottles for aging wine. Small bottles also tend to not fit well in wine racks, unless you plan for them in advance.
I am not saying that all half bottles are likely to be bad, far from it. My spate of bad luck can be attributed to the fact that I bought all of the wines from the same place. Whatever ruined the first bottle, probably was responsible for the downfall of the others as well.
I have had better luck in the past, and I am far from swearing off half bottles. I just thought it was important to point out that a bad half bottle or two is no reason to swear off the size in general.
Ask for half bottles in restaurants, let them know you are interested. This will help propagate them in the industry, so if your favorite restaurant doesn't have any half bottles now, perhaps they will in the future.
Wine by the glass in a restaurant is a great concept, but too often poorly implemented. If the bottle has been open too long the wine will be much worse than the little variation a half bottle may be prone to.
Speaking of restaurants, I love starting with a half bottle of Champagne. Then a half bottle of white wine followed by a half bottle of red, and perhaps even a half bottle of dessert wine to finish it off. This is ideal for two, but even for the solo diner 2 or more half bottles can still be ideal. Remember, no one said you have to finish all of the wine! By the way, I send my left over wine to the Chef - the kitchen rarely gets a tip.
All life it seems is a compromise. With half bottles you get great benefits, but there is the inevitable downside. A half bottle of wine is more prone to environmental circumstance. In other words, it goes bad more easily.
I have been in a position of late to try many half bottles in a row (I am temporarily single). These have been bottles of my favorite wines, and I was delighted to find them in 375s. The delight turned to disappointment, repeatedly, as one after the other was in some way less than I expected.
The smaller size means that any heat or vibration damage has a greater impact. It is the inverse of why Magnums are the perfect sized bottles for aging wine. Small bottles also tend to not fit well in wine racks, unless you plan for them in advance.
I am not saying that all half bottles are likely to be bad, far from it. My spate of bad luck can be attributed to the fact that I bought all of the wines from the same place. Whatever ruined the first bottle, probably was responsible for the downfall of the others as well.
I have had better luck in the past, and I am far from swearing off half bottles. I just thought it was important to point out that a bad half bottle or two is no reason to swear off the size in general.
Ask for half bottles in restaurants, let them know you are interested. This will help propagate them in the industry, so if your favorite restaurant doesn't have any half bottles now, perhaps they will in the future.
Wine by the glass in a restaurant is a great concept, but too often poorly implemented. If the bottle has been open too long the wine will be much worse than the little variation a half bottle may be prone to.
Speaking of restaurants, I love starting with a half bottle of Champagne. Then a half bottle of white wine followed by a half bottle of red, and perhaps even a half bottle of dessert wine to finish it off. This is ideal for two, but even for the solo diner 2 or more half bottles can still be ideal. Remember, no one said you have to finish all of the wine! By the way, I send my left over wine to the Chef - the kitchen rarely gets a tip.
posted by Wineguy at 5:07 PM
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