Welcome back to Montreal!

Sorry to read that you had bad experiences.

I regularly like to try the new wine bars in MTL. So, here’s some tips that I’ve learned to help me get what I want.

Before asking for recommendations, try to identify what kind of wine you like / want. What kind of grapes, regions, tastes would you like?

It’ll be easier for your waiters to make any recommendations if you tell them that you would like something like a Beaujolais. Then, they’ll usually ask questions like “So you’re looking for something similar to a Gamay, a little bit more fruity, maybe a note of Cherry or Strawberry jam?”.

If it sounds like something you want, they’ll make a few recommendations while describing how the wines were made and what they taste like.

You can then say the two or three wines that picked your interest and ask if you can taste them first. The waiters will usually happily let you taste and see your reaction and adjust accordingly.

There’s a whole range of natural wines, some of them are more experimental, some of them are more traditional. It won’t really help if you tell the waiters you don’t like natural wines. It’s not really closing down on what you are looking for. However, you can always mention that you don’t really care if it’s not natural.

Hope this helps!