{{short description|Typically cheap wine on a restaurant menu}} [[File:House wine in A Pendoa (3799768809).jpg|thumb|A bottle of the house red at a restaurant in Sintra, Portugal ]] '''House wine''' generally refers to an inexpensive drinking wine served in restaurants. Restaurant menus often omit detailed descriptions of a house wine's country of origin, winery or grape varietal, listing it simply as "house red" or "house white", depending on the wine's style.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bonappetit.com/drinks/wine/article/what-is-house-wine|title=House Wine: What Is It, Exactly?|last=Ross|first=Marissa A.|website=Bon Appetit|date=12 September 2016|language=en|access-date=2019-06-12}}</ref> Some restaurants offer more specific categories of house wines, such as a "house chardonnay",<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.tennessean.com/story/life/food/2015/07/09/alternatives-chardonnay/29785681/|title=3 Alternatives to Chardonnay|first=Lou|last=Vargo|newspaper=The Tennessean|date=July 9, 2015}}</ref> or a "house merlot".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.southportvisiter.co.uk/whats-on/dining-out-bold-hotel-bar-11093605|title=Dining Out: The Bold Hotel Bar and Grill, Southport|first=Andrew|last=Edwards|publisher=South Port Visiter|date=April 1, 2016}}</ref>
==Production and sale== House wines generally rotate, with restaurants typically transitioning from one kind to another based on availability or season.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.foodandwine.com/articles/why-it-pays-to-order-the-house-wine|title=Why It Pays to Order the House Wine|last=Teague|first=Lettie|date=16 June 2017|website=Food & Wine|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-06-12}}</ref> House wines are typically wines that a restaurant feels will appeal to a large proportion of its clientele, determined either by its past success as a normal entry on the wine list or because the wine is easy to drink and pairs well with a significant amount of menu items.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://vinepair.com/wine-blog/defense-house-wine-house-wine/|title=In Defense Of "House Wine" - And Why You Should Have A House Wine Too|last=Teeter|first=Adam|date=19 October 2014|website=VinePair|language=en-US|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-06-12}}</ref>
House wines are often bought in bulk by restaurants, enabling the restaurants to further lower their prices.<ref name=":1" /> While house wines are still usually offered by the glass, many restaurants also offer them by the carafe or bottle.<ref name=":0" />
== Historical trends == Historically, house wine was usually poor quality, possibly "jug wine" derived from a second pressing of the grapes,<ref name="Front">Henry Front, "[https://books.google.com/books?id=CBIEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA94 Grapes & Grain]", ''Orange Coast Magazine'' (January 1979), p. 95.</ref> and sold by the glass, promoted by a restaurant primarily on the basis of the wine's low cost. A 1979 article asserted that "so called 'fine' restaurants, those serving the ''haute cuisine'' or those considered posh or plush, will not carry a house wine".<ref name="Front"/> In the 21st century, due to a general rise in the availability of high quality wine, house wines have improved in quality in restaurants in the United States, and frequently may be produced by or for a specific restaurant, although house wines will still usually be on the cheaper end of the wine list for any given restaurant.<ref name=":0" />
== See also == {{portal|Wine}} * Table wine
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{Wines}}
Category:Wine Category:Drinks Category:Restaurant terminology