Wine advice for the weekend

There aren’t many more daunting things for diners than a restaurant wine list, so we are told. Diners don’t want to seem cheap and order the least pricey bottle but they also don’t usually want to splash out on the top end, usually picking a bottle somewhere around the second or third cheapest.
However, in the last week we’ve read some advice from top restaurant critic Jay Rayner saying that you should protest the exorbitant wine markups and choose the cheapest bottle.
This maybe paints the restaurants in a poor light but Michael Sager of wine bar Sager + Wilde admits that some restaurants will try and push the expensive stuff on you but he gives some really good tips to avoid getting bogged down choosing the best wine to compliment your meal.
He even suggests doing your homework. Look at the wine list on the restaurants website, and google the wines. see what sounds good, see what the markup really is, and if in doubt, hit the new world wine section and look for something unique. It was probably chosen by someone who cared.