VINO

Another tourist season has come to an end and we can (and should) once again patronize all the restaurants we were afraid to visit during the winter onslaught.

One way for wine lovers to reward themselves for having survived yet another season might be to seek out establishments with more than the usual number of wines by the glass.

That's not to say wine bars and retail outlets don't afford some good opportunities, but being able to sample wines with food is by far the best way to experiment. Another advantage is that restaurants often feature wines not available at the retail level.

Wine by the glass offers flexibility - everyone doesn't drink wine, and not everyone at the table will always agree on the selection.

"We find a lot of times that at a table one or two customers will want wine, and the other guests want a mixed drink," says Becky Grabos, a manager at Rumrunners restaurant at Cape Harbour in Cape Coral. "We try to appeal to everyone and we want to stimulate and broaden people's horizons."

The restaurant offers more than 20 selections ranging from $6 to $9 per glass. All of these can be purchased by the bottle for $25 each.

PHOTO JIM MCCRACKEN Cindie Barker pouring wine at Bistro 41. "Customers usually do not order the exact same dishes," says Bob Mulroy, managing partner of The Joint, Rumrunners' sister restaurant at Cape Harbour. "Wine by the glass makes it easier to pair with each individual meal. We sell a lot more wine in glasses than in bottles, and we try to change our selections every couple of weeks."

Roughly 80 percent of wine sales at Bistro 41 in the Bell Tower Shops are by the glass.

"We feature 10 reds, 10 whites and eight half-bottle selections" says Cindie Barker, general manager. "Prices have to be reasonable. I don't like to sell glasses over $10, and we also feature nightly glass specials."

At Delicious Things on First Street in downtown Fort Myers, the new wine list offers almost every selection by the glass, priced from $6 to $15. Expanding the overall offerings and making more available by the glass has proven to be a hit.

"Some customers don't want to buy a bottle but still like to order expensive wine," says owner Torsten Josupeit. "We are selling about 20 percent more wine now."

At Bacchus (formerly Toro) in the Bell Tower Shops, Shannon Yates makes a conscious effort to broaden customers' wine horizons.

"We put a lot of effort in selecting our wines by the glass, and like to go with lesser-known wines to differentiate ourselves from other restaurants," he says. "Glass wine sales are a great way to expose customers to new things. Our best seller by the glass is an old vines grenache from Spain, Garnacha de Fuego. It outsells our other selections four to one."

Naples Tomato, just north of Immokalee Road in north Naples, has made wines by the glass part of its formula for success, offering 23 by-the-glass selections in the dining room and 48 in one-, three- and six-ounce pours in the adjoining wine room.

There are a few chain restaurants that have taken the by-the-glass trend to an even higher level. The heavyweight is Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, which has a branch on U.S. 41 in Naples. This upscale establishment offers 100 wines by the glass and also offers wine flights, allowing customers to choose three small glasses of three varieties so that they can taste them against one another. This affords tasters a chance to discern differences in what they might otherwise view as relatively similar wines.

The Grape at Coconut Point in Bonita Springs provides 120 selections by the splash, glass or flight as well, and Bonefish Grill, with U.S. 41 locations in Bonita Springs and Fort Myers (and soon in Cape Coral) offers 48 wines by the glass.

Wondering what happens to the leftover wines?

"To keep the selections fresh we send the open bottles to the kitchen for the chef to use for cooking," says Josupeit.

Barker says what's left at Bistro 41 at the end of the night goes to the staff.

So get out there and start sipping. It will be tourist season again before you know it.

Wine picks of the week

>>Jose Ordonez Garnacha de Fuego 2006: An old vines grenache from Spain with a silky, smooth texture, warm black raspberry, black cherry and plum notes with a touch of spice. About $10.

>>Remhoogte Aigle Noir 2006: Good flavors of cherries and plums with a clean spicy nose and a long finish. A blend of mostly merlot and cabernet sauvignon, with some pinotage, a South African grape that is a cross between pinot noir and cinsault, which provides a deep richness to the wine. About $15.

>>Posthouse Blueish Black 2006: Another South African gem, this a blend of shiraz, pinotage, cabernet and merlot. This wine is named for its color, and has a big nose of berries, red currant and ripe strawberries with a hint of pepper and spice. Full-bodied rich wine with soft tannins. About $15.