Wine Lists

BUZZ: Hey, Marnie, a friend offered me a glass of German riesling over the weekend. I looked at the bottle and the alcohol was only 8 percent! I can get more of a kick from a glass of German beer. Marnie: Well, Buzz, there are plenty of people who drink wine more for its delicious flavor than for its alcoholic strength. Low-alcohol wines feel light, sheer and refreshing in the mouth. We call them "light-bodied" wines. Buzz: I'd rather feel light-headed.

WELCOME TO Cheap Buzz, where we eavesdrop as sommelier Marnie Old attempts to teach the joys of wine and fine spirits to Buzz, a guy with no sophistication and not much money. Here's their latest conversation: BUZZ: My brother and I were at a wine tasting. He swirls the glass of wine, looks at our server, then tells her, "Nice legs. " He's married! MARNIE: Don't be silly. He was talking about the wine's "legs. " That's the slow-moving drips or "tears" that form on the glass after we swirl a full-bodied wine.

Some of them are no more than gussied-up coffee shops, while others feature world-class wine lists. They are the hotel restaurants of the Philadelphia region, and they are a diverse lot. Here's a listing of some more that are worth a visit - even if you're not from out of town. PHILADELPHIA Between Friends The restaurant off the lobby of the Wyndham Franklin Plaza provides elegant dining and good service in a quiet and comfortable room that would especially appeal to the hotel's clientele of weary business travelers.

WELCOME to Cheap Buzz, where we eavesdrop as sommelier Marnie Old attempts to teach the joys of wine and fine spirits to Buzz, a guy with no sophistication and not much money. Here's their latest conversation: BUZZ: Hey, Marnie, my brother-in-law invited me to his house for Christmas. MARNIE: Will you help him trim the tree? BUZZ: Naw, he just decorates his pool table. We hang those silvery icicles from the pockets. MARNIE: Sounds festive.

Welcome to Cheap Buzz, where we eavesdrop as sommelier Marnie Old attempts to teach the joys of wine and fine spirits to Buzz, a guy with no sophistication and not much money. Here's their latest conversation: BUZZ : My brother stopped by with a bottle of Chianti. I served it in a bathroom glass. He had a fit. What's the big deal about the glass? It's not as if my teeth were in it. MARNIE : You and your brother both have it right - to a point. Does wine taste better in wine glasses?

WELCOME TO Cheap Buzz, where we eavesdrop as sommelier Marnie Old attempts to teach the joys of wine and fine spirits to Buzz, a guy with no sophistication and not much money. Here's their latest conversation: Buzz: I was reading the notes on the wine signs at the State Store and, boy, are they crazy! Marnie: You mean the tasting notes? Buzz: Yes. One wine tasted like "leather. " Another was "grassy. " The worst was the one that was "chalky. " though. Who the heck would drink a wine with chalk in it?

Buzz : When did they start making a special wine for little ladies? Marnie: I've never heard of such a thing, Buzz. What do you mean? Buzz: I saw a red wine at the state store called "Petite Sirah. " My mom always told my sister she should shop in the petites section because she was so short, but I thought that was just for clothes. Marnie: The answer is both yes and no, Buzz. Yes, we use the word "petite," which means small in French, to designate clothes made for ladies of smaller stature.

Popularized during Prohibition, BYOBs have evolved from the simple, casual, inexpensive and, usually, ethnic joints that kept the tradition alive in recent decades. Now they are enjoying something of a revival. Increasingly, white-linen-tablecloth restaurants are opting to concern themselves exclusively with food - no liquor licenses, insurance or wine lists. They prefer to let the customers fret about which wines to drink. Some are incredibly reasonable. Food prices at others may be a little higher than restaurants with liquor licenses to make up the loss of income (corkage fees are illegal in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and BYOBs are outlawed entirely in Delaware)

The wine list is wonderful at ECCO . . . lovely whites at reasonable prices, asterisks alongside the reds that will flourish with a half-hour's breathing, evidence that someone cares. The food is fine, too, and if it doesn't yet match the sophistication and imagination of the wine cellar, it is not too far behind. After a slightly awkward beginning, the young folks pirouetting in the open kitchen seem to have found their stride. This was Russell's before that restaurant relocated.

In the Technicolor glow of stained-glass poultry, Rose Parrotta is stomping her feet to Johnny Cash, reliving her wilder days in the apple orchards of New York and filling her Happy Rooster with an infectious energy boost. She welcomes friends to her little restaurant in a playful headlock, leading them around the thick brass bar pole. Even diners unknown to this diamond-studded dynamo get a blast of her charisma. She preens like Vanna White beside her ambitious chalkboard menu, discoursing on everything from her hand-scribbled boutique wine list ("people want forward fruit, but I won't give it to them!"