Does Everyone Really Order the Second-Cheapest Wine?

Author: Alex Mayyasi / Source: Atlas Obscura

It takes a village to sell a glass of wine. A winemaker carefully monitors weather patterns and directs the harvest, a designer creates an avant-garde pattern for the label, and a restaurateur writes tasting notes on a tasteful menu.

But, in the end, the wine that someone chooses with dinner may be influenced most by a single factor: price.

In April, we wrote about the second-cheapest wine phenomenon. The idea is that many diners—feeling unsure about the difference between wines, or skeptical that they’d really notice the difference—want to just order the cheapest one. But since that seems stingy, they choose the second-cheapest choice instead. It’s not a universally known idea, but plenty of people joke about choosing wine this way.

We recently asked Gastro Obscura readers for help investigating this phenomenon. We wanted to know how many people actually order wine this way, and whether it leads bar and restaurant managers to choose their second-cheapest wine with extra care. And the results are in: Over half of the 304 readers we heard from have ordered wine by choosing the second cheapest. It’s definitely a thing.

During this investigation, we heard about many rules of thumb for choosing a wine. Plenty of people look for a favorite variety (pick the Riesling!) or ask the waitstaff for suggestions. Some strategies are more unorthodox. “If there’s a horsie guy (rider on a horse) on the wine label, then I get it,” writes Jackie Benton of Austin, Texas.

“If there are no riders on horseback, no horses, and no ladies to be found on any of the wine labels, then I embrace being my father’s daughter and switch to whiskey.”

Despite wine’s romantic image, though, price proved to be a bigger priority for many readers. “I go for cheap, thinking that any decent restaurant would not serve up a truly bad wine,” writes David from Milwaukee. Others committed to a price point that feels right. “I love Malbecs,” writes Cecilia from Los Angeles. “I wouldn’t want to pay $18 a glass, and $9 feels too cheap. But $11 somehow feels right.”

In an example of how much we can psych ourselves out over wine, Jennifer Tharp, of San Francisco, writes about why she picks higher-priced wines recommended by the sommelier or waitstaff:

I usually want to convince myself that I have ordered the best wine I could. I know I probably would like the second-cheapest wine just fine. But if I order a cheaper wine and hate it, I would blame myself for being cheap. If I order an expensive wine and hate it, then it feels like it wasn’t my fault.

And then, of course, there’s the classic second-cheapest wine approach:

I have to admit that the rationale you mapped out is correct. I am self-shamed into getting one a step above the cheapest. And yes, I know absolutely nothing about wine. Except that I tried a good Pinot noir once and am very fond of it. —Mark Strouthes, Arnold,…

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