Veteran food writer Rita Erlich talks good sense in The Age over absurdly long wine lists. Giant wine tomes are best avoided:
“Even a speed-read list would help – say, a dozen whites and reds, chosen because they’re appropriate drinking and fairly priced. The longer the list, the higher the individual bottle prices, since stocking the cellar with thousands of bottles is expensive.
Neither do I have much time for the wine list full of big company wines, available at heavily discounted prices at the local shop.”
Nice one Rita (links to a dated profile).