Clarification on 'house wine'

I%26#39;ve read up on a few past queries on ordering house wine. Came up with a few questions:

From what I understand, you order house wine and they%26#39;ll ask you which region -- Bordeaux, Cotes du Rhone, etc. -- and you pick one. Is that it? Does it come in a carafe? Bottle? (if we don%26#39;t want it by the glass) Do you have to choose the amount or is it a standard container?

And would the following be a proper starting request?

Une carafe du vin du patron, s%26#39;il vous plait.

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The choices I%26#39;ve seen are:

Verre -- glass

Demi-bouteille -- half-bottle (typically the smaller bottle size)

Bouteille -- full bottle

Pichet -- small pitcher (about 2 glasses but size could vary)

A normal glass would be about 12cl., so a pichet might be 25cl or 50 cl.

After you decide how much wine you want, then it%26#39;s %26quot;rouge%26quot; for red and %26quot;blanc%26quot; for white.

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Here are some examples of %26#39;menus%26#39;:

http://www.restaurant-toque.com/fr/vin.php

www.lavantgout.com/resto/vinsCarte.html

(this one gives the bottle price, then a glass price in parentheses)

http://www.flottes.fr/vins_hiver.pdf

(this one has bottles and some also have 1/2 bottle priced)

I think the house wine is whatever they want to %26#39;feature%26#39; at the time...

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thank you, travelnutty

Is it safe to assume some places will serve house wine by bottle (perhaps the featured wine on the menu) and some less formally, perhaps in a carafe or pitcher like the one you mentioned that varies in size?

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also, many restaurants are regional and the house wine would be wine of that region.

another size option is pronounced like %26quot;un kar%26quot; - for a quarter bottle. Not always available.

%26quot;pichet%26quot; is more for wine, %26quot;carafe%26quot; is for water, but using %26quot;carafe%26quot; is fine.

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what is vin Au verre???

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vin au verre = wine by the glass.

Note that pichets come in different capacities:--

25 cl sometimes called un quart, gives 2 glasses.

50 cl sometimes called un demi, gives 4 glasses.

Some waiters will assume you mean the small one if you are eating alone, but it is best to specify.

Our friend from Oz should note that what they call Shiraz, the French call Syrah

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FWIW if you order a bottle of wine and it comes to the table already opened you should send it back as you will not really know what is in the bottle. A bottle of wine should be brought to your table and presented to you so that you can look at the label, then it should be opened in front of you, and the traditional sip poured so that you can taste it.

Pjk

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Wow, very interesting stuff. Thanks

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Hi folk -

One thing to remember is that a restaurant in North America or Oz, or where ever probably won%26#39;t be harmed by serving a not good house wine. A restaurant or cafe or brasserie in France will be destroyed by it.

So don%26#39;t think that you have to order by the bottle to get a drinkable wine in Paris. If there is one (some up scale establishments sell only by the bottle with an outstanding mark-up, I might add), anyway, back to the original thought, if there is one, the house wine will be drinkable at least, and often much better than that.

Bon Voyage to you all.

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I was amazed at how wonderful the house wine was in Paris. Their house wine is far superior to most here in the States.

We enjoyed some %26quot;special%26quot; wines but were pleased with the house wines we also enjoyed.

Have a wonderful trip!