Wine snobs, know-it-alls and bull-shitters walk amongst us. There's no need to fuel their fire with a 27 page wine list with a table of contents as an otherwise accessible establishment.
Unless you're a steakhouse catering to their clientele, your wine list does not need to be categorized by grape, region, style and attitude you should be in while you order it. By the time I hit page 14 I'd order anything to make it end.
As someone with at least amateur wine knowledge, I peruse wine lists hoping to find some famliar grapes and blends, a few classic regions they're known for and a couple unique varieties I can ask the server or bartender about. Not only was this particular list so overly organized that I couldn't compare the way I wished, the staff was also unable to explain it to me, even with vast beverage knowledge.
Pricing was all over the place with bottles jumping from $36 to $65, then $160 in the same category....and if you don't have a California Cabernet under $65, then you're just not playing the game. People want it....just give it to them.
Refusing to give patrons what they want, versus what they want to serve is usually reserved for Chefs, but the new breed of let-me-educate-you-even-if-you-don't-want-it Beverage Directors is upon us.
