Some restaurants change their wine lists once or twice a year to match the changing seasons and latest trends.

Deano Wilson, the energetic owner of Deano’s Vino in Fountain Square, jumbles his list almost every week. For example, in a recent swap, Wilson dropped 13 wines from one week’s list of 40 bottles and replaced them with 14 new ones for the next week.

“We used to have a wine list of 150 wines, including 44 by the glass, but with this economy we thought, ‘What the heck are we doing?,’ " said Wilson, who was a wine steward at Milano Inn and helped build the wine list at Kona Jack’s before opening his own place in 2002. “So, we streamlined our wine list with some great offerings, and if people don’t like them, to heck with them.”

Wilson tests the revisions every Wednesday at the restaurant’s 6 p.m. wine tasting ($5).

“What we are trying to do is show people in Indianapolis something different than grocery store wines and keeping it fresh and keeping it seasonal,” he said. "It’s an education process. I’m always telling people, ‘Taste, taste, taste.’ "

Question: How do you determine what wines to include on your wine list?

Answer:I go by what my palate tells me and by the seasons. Come summertime we’re getting into lighter whites — more pinot grigios, more sauvignon blancs, drier-style Rieslings, plus some lighter-style reds like Spanish riojas, some pinot noirs. Come falltime, we’ll get into the bigger, heavier reds.

Q: No heavy reds for summer?

A:There’s a place for big, heavy reds in the summer when you’re outside grilling.

Q: What about Indiana wines?

A:Hoosiers know soybeans and corn, but, when it comes to grapes, it’s California, Oregon and Washington or across the world. The French call itterroir(pronounced ter-WHAH) — knowing the climate, elevation and soil complexities and the character a vineyard site gives to its wines as a result. I applaud Indiana vintners for doing what they are doing, but at the same token, they need to be realistic. The conditions just aren’t right.

Q: What do most Hoosiers seem to like in wine?

A:Soft reds and soft whites. But I am noticing more Hoosiers gradually going to the drier styles. All they need to do is taste a quality dry red wine.

Q: How important are wine and food pairings?

A:Totally. Our menu actually has suggestions on what to try with what. For example, we have tilapia meunire, with lemon-butter sauce and capers, so I suggest a buttery, oaky chardonnay, because it contrasts that acidity and citrusy very nicely.

bQ: What are your best-sellers?/b

bA:/b What’s really hot across the board with every restaurant that I’m hearing, and it’s really hot with us, too, are the malbecs from Argentina. I’ve been a malbec fan for a long time. There’s a lot of quality juice coming out of there at a real good price. Most of them are $10 to $15 with the higher-end ones at $18 to $22b./b

bQ: What do you like?/b

bA:/b I’m a big cab (cabernet) head, but basically I love a good wine that represents its region . . . its iterroir/i, regardless of if it’s a white or red. I like the differences and subtleties in wine. I like the cabernet from St-milion. One of my favorites is the Burgess cabernet, which is great wine at a great price. It’s Howell Mountain, California fruit at $35 a bottle. Where can you get that? The Napa Valley floor is just so overpriced. I also like the Rafanelli zins (zinfandels).