Wine list

Overview or written list of the alcoholic products, services and prices offered by a gastronomic establishment. This usually includes not only wines, but also spirits, beers and non-alcoholic beverages. In some cases, the wine list also includes the conditions for drinking wines brought to closed parties, for example (see corkage fee). In most cases, the wine list is included in the menu and is only listed separately in more upscale restaurants with a larger range of wines. In most cases, printed matter in bound or stapled form is used for this purpose, but information can also be provided by means of inscriptions on notice boards and posters.

Wine lists in antiquity

Information about the food and drink on offer in a restaurant, including prices, was already available in antiquity, as findings show, especially among the Romans and Greeks. The Roman poet Petronius (+66) describes a colourful picture of the eating and drinking culture of the Roman upper class in the first century in his famous work Satyricon. In the city of Pompeii, destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79, price lists for wines were found painted on the walls of taverns during excavations. Among other things, the famous Falernian was offered: For one ace you get wine, for two aces the best and for four aces Falernian. Wine lists have also been found in Egyptian tombs, such as those of the pharaoh Tut-Ench-Amun, but they probably corresponded more to inventories.