Wines by the Glass: How Some Restaurants Do It Right, and Why

New York Times

08-05-2025

The typical restaurant wine-by-the-glass selection is overpriced and predictable. Many people can recite it by memory.
There's a glass of Champagne at $30, with a cheaper sparkler like Prosecco at $17. Then a pinot grigio, a sauvignon blanc and a chardonnay, for, say, $17 to $25. A rosé if the weather's warm, and reds, maybe a malbec, a pinot noir and a cabernet sauvignon, all in that same price range, all from nondescript, widely available producers. If the restaurant is cultivating a youthful clientele, add in an orange wine and a chilled red.
With variations depending on local tastes and a restaurant's cuisine, this is by-the-glass standard issue. It's a bore, it's a shame and it's a colossal missed opportunity, now more than ever.
At a time when wine consumption is falling worldwide and the wine community worries that millennials and Gen Z will never consume as much as their parents did, wines by the glass ought to be a big, generous embrace to young people. The selection should provide a warm welcome, demonstrating the beauty and wonder to be found in a good glass of wine.
A great selection of wines by the glass is in the long-term interests of the teetering restaurant and wine industries. It ought to be a restaurant's calling card, a way to broadcast its approach to wine while conveying a restaurant's personality and vibe. Instead, it's too often an emphatic turnoff, encouraging people to make the rational decision to order cocktails or craft beers rather than expensive mediocrities.
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