How do you decide on a wine list for a wine bar?

The other day, I was in Old Brennan’s on Oliver Plunkett Street with Mr T, one of our favourite spots.

Frank Schiltkamp was on duty, and it is always great to see him. He’s easily one of the top sommeliers around. He mentioned he was planning to tweak the wine list again, which is already pretty excellent, in the next few days.

That got me thinking. How do you even go about putting together a wine list for a wine bar? Frank was kind enough to talk me through some of his thinking. First, he said you need to tick some boxes. And by tick the box, he meant the staples of wine that everybody knows. That is different everywhere in Europe but in Ireland you have the likes of your Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, Malbec, Rioja, Prosecco and other easy identifiable wines.

“It's something that you just have to have to ensure that people who do not know that much about wine are still happy to come in without being intimidated or anything like that,” he tells me.

That will make up probably about 20 wines on the list, give or take. And after that, you start adding different interesting styles. In Frank’s case that means Old World Wines.

He starts adding certain wines and grape varieties people might know or might not know but adding and bulking up to different flavour profiles. Obviously, you need to keep your main mix. So, it needs to be from different countries, different regions, different grape varieties, different flavour profiles, and most certainly not unimportant, the price.

Where does it start? Where does it end? Do I have a reasonable selection of wines that are in a slightly lower segment from a price point, middle segment, higher segment?

Frank has to keep all those factors in mind constantly. I asked then in what price range would we find the most interesting wines: “Nobody wants to hear this, but the higher you go in price, the more interesting it gets. But it doesn't mean that you must start at €50”.

He continues: “That doesn't mean the lower value wines aren't any good. But they're probably wines that you've had before but they're not necessarily awfully interesting or awfully exciting”.

One of the more interesting additions will be Kinsale Mead, a fermented honey wine made in small batches using traditional methods. When asked how much personal taste and preferences come in, he laughed and said, of course, it plays a role, but he still needs to cater for his guests before concentrating on his own favourites.

A few weeks back, I asked him to choose a wine for me that makes me feel fabulous and he gave me a glass of Muscadet Sevre & Maine. It was spot on. So, I had to ask him how he chose that particular wine. He knows me quite well as he said, you like Old World Wine, particular European and it was a warm day, so white was the perfect choice. The wine was light, yet full of complexity with a long finish. Not too sweet, not too dry – it was the perfect choice. I will be back to feel even more fabulous.