How to Order and Enjoy Wine at a French Restaurant

Once you sit down, a staff member will naturally bring you the drinks menu, which usually includes the wine list. If it doesn't, just ask for it. If you can't decide, always ask for a recommendation, especially at a restaurant with a sommelier. Tell them your budget and taste, and they will suggest the best option within that range.

When you can't decide, try the house wine. This applies more to wine regions outside Paris, but local house wines are often good value and reflect the regional style, so they rarely disappoint. Keep it in mind if you plan to visit wine country.

On quantity: with three or more people, ordering a bottle is the more economical choice. If everyone is having just one glass, a half bottle (37.5 cl) or a pichet (50 cl) will do. Otherwise, go for a bottle, which offers far more choice. If you want to try different wines or only a small amount, order by the glass (12 cl).

After you order, the server or sommelier will bring the bottle and show you the label. Check the name and vintage carefully to make sure it's what you ordered. If it isn't, say so now, because once the wine is poured it's hard to change.

Next comes the tasting. Our guide remembers being puzzled the first time they ordered a bottle in France and the server asked who would be tasting it. It turns out one person checks the wine for faults. Usually the person who chose the wine does it. The server pours a small amount; swirl the glass and check that the color isn't odd or overly cloudy, then smell and take a sip. The goal is simply to confirm the wine is sound: look for a musty or stale smell from a faulty cork, or a vinegary taste from oxidation. If a wine isn't meant to be oxidatively aged but smells strongly of rancid nuts, that's a fault too.

If everything is fine, say "C'est bon, merci." If the wine is oxidized or corked and undrinkable, say so right away, and the sommelier will taste it and replace it.

Once you approve, the server fills your companions' glasses first and yours last. At finer restaurants, waiters and sommeliers keep an eye on the table and top up empty glasses; at casual places the bottle is left on the table and you pour for yourselves. To order another bottle, repeat the process. If plenty of wine is left at the end of the meal, you can ask your server to let you take the bottle with you.

In short, ordering wine in a French restaurant means choosing from the list by region and taste, then taking one sip to check its condition. There's no need to be formal, and it's fine to ask the sommelier questions. Just as nobody needs expertise to drink a beer, the French see wine simply as something to enjoy. Nobody orders like an expert, so relax and enjoy it.