Boiling Point: Merlot to go

So here we are at a nice restaurant perusing the extensive wine list, searching for a stellar complement to our dinner.

The essential question facing all of us is: Should we order by the glass or by the bottle? By the glass is expensive, $7 each. A bottle, with five to six glasses, costs $20. Still, that's a lot of wine for two people. We rarely drink a whole bottle at one sitting. What a shame to leave some of it at the table.

"No problem," says our server. "Ohio is now Merlot to go."

A year has passed since our state lawmakers amended the open-container law to permit transport of partial bottles of wine in our vehicles. I asked around the restaurant circuit and discovered many customers are still in the dark ages on this.

A year ago, you'd face a violation if a police officer found an open alcoholic beverage container in your vehicle. Result: Folks often drink more wine than they wish in restaurants, chancing the DUI law.

The new law seems secretive. Many servers, like their customers, do not know it exists. I've never seen it explained on any wine list, the logical place for such advice.

By-the-glass in many establishments limits you to common house wines, and only a few varieties. That's yesteryear's marketing, back when most folks ordered wine by its color.

Today, many of you enjoy specific wine tastes, right down to the vintage year. Wine intelligence, thanks to the Internet, has created legions of consumers with highly honed preferences. The result is bottle sales are soaring in restaurants.

The Merlot-to-go law faced a gauntlet of anti-alcohol groups. It was carefully crafted to ensure that it still would be illegal to consume in your vehicle. It's a bit complicated, but at least you can get the partial bottle home.

The bottle must be recorked and resealed, usually with tape, to prove it has not been opened in the car. It must go in the trunk, or the back seat if you don't have one. It cannot be within reach of the driver.

It's handy to keep an insulated wine bag, or caddy, in the car. This will protect against the heat and cold of the trunk and keep the bottle from rolling around.

Remember: If you get stopped and your front-seat passenger is holding your wine, you're going to get a ticket and maybe a DUI test.

Send food questions to jim.hillibish@cantonrep.com.