The Auswine Forum

#1 you ring the restaurant, you order the 2010 Barolo and ask it to be decanted and you arrive & it is a 2011..

michel wrote:#1 you ring the restaurant, you order the 2010 Barolo and ask it to be decanted and you arrive & it is a 2011..

Yeah, I had a long and highly frustrating argument with a waiter a few years back when I declined a bottle in the restaurant because the vintage on the bottle presented was not the same as the vintage on the wine list. Initially the waiter told me it was unreasonable to expect the restaurant to keep the wine list up to date when vintages rolled over and suppliers sent different stock through. She then told me at great length that there was really no difference between vintages, they are all the same and its just marketing that makes a big deal about vintages. At that point I just swapped to beer.

Mark

rooman wrote:

michel wrote:#1 you ring the restaurant, you order the 2010 Barolo and ask it to be decanted and you arrive & it is a 2011..

Yeah, I had a long and highly frustrating argument with a waiter a few years back when I declined a bottle in the restaurant because the vintage on the bottle presented was not the same as the vintage on the wine list. Initially the waiter told me it was unreasonable to expect the restaurant to keep the wine list up to date when vintages rolled over and suppliers sent different stock through. She then told me at great length that there was really no difference between vintages, they are all the same and its just marketing that makes a big deal about vintages. At that point I just swapped to beer.

Mark

I didn't realise all vintages were the same!

#2 you take two bottles of the same wine to a restaurant & the 'sommelier ' decides to blend the non corked wine with the corked wine.....

#3 we all take wine to a restaurant double blind - the mystery sparkling tastes like a New World wine and not Champagne- the waiter freaks and takes our Champagne from the table next door and gives us a little taste as most has already been consumed
True story

michel wrote:#2 you take two bottles of the same wine to a restaurant & the 'sommelier ' decides to blend the non corked wine with the corked wine.....

No way!
Sommelier you say?

michel wrote:#3 we all take wine to a restaurant double blind - the mystery sparkling tastes like a New World wine and not Champagne- the waiter freaks and takes our Champagne from the table next door and gives us a little taste as most has already been consumed
True story

No words could describe the frustration.

michel wrote:#3 we all take wine to a restaurant double blind - the mystery sparkling tastes like a New World wine and not Champagne- the waiter freaks and takes our Champagne from the table next door and gives us a little taste as most has already been consumed
True story

So what was the champagne they gave you for compensation?

Surely....

catchnrelease wrote:

michel wrote:#3 we all take wine to a restaurant double blind - the mystery sparkling tastes like a New World wine and not Champagne- the waiter freaks and takes our Champagne from the table next door and gives us a little taste as most has already been consumed
True story

So what was the champagne they gave you for compensation?

Surely....

No compensation
We were drinking another tables Hunter Sparkling as they drank our vintage Krug.....
We had a sip of our Krug

michel wrote:#3 we all take wine to a restaurant double blind - the mystery sparkling tastes like a New World wine and not Champagne- the waiter freaks and takes our Champagne from the table next door and gives us a little taste as most has already been consumed
True story

Arrgghhh. So I assume the bottles were all being looked after by the somm, i.e no bottles on the table? Or from a decanter? Weird how such a mixup could happen, I assume all bottles were handed to somm and he/she was pouring everything?

You go to a dinner with a few mates, they all take 2 bottles each and you take a magnum and you are told "we will not open the magnum" citing "responsible drinking" rules.

#4

crusty2 wrote:You go to a dinner with a few mates, they all take 2 bottles each and you take a magnum and you are told "we will not open the magnum" citing "responsible drinking" rules.

Crusty
Tell them to feck off!

michel wrote:#1 you ring the restaurant, you order the 2010 Barolo and ask it to be decanted and you arrive & it is a 2011..

I'd just get up and leave.

JamieBahrain wrote:

michel wrote:#1 you ring the restaurant, you order the 2010 Barolo and ask it to be decanted and you arrive & it is a 2011..

I'd just get up and leave.

It was a Monday
It was a Brovia
It was my 'surprise ' birthday
The staff were gracious
The wine was ok
I went with the flow
BUT WTF!!

michel wrote:#2 you take two bottles of the same wine to a restaurant & the 'sommelier ' decides to blend the non corked wine with the corked wine.....

geezus man, you're cursed!!!

#5 you take an old irreplaceable Hunter semillon to a restaurant- you hear a crash and a scream from the kitchen
Sheepishly the waiter approaches the table and tells us the bottle was defective and broke as they pulled the cork

michel wrote:#5 you take an old irreplaceable Hunter semillon to a restaurant- you hear a crash and a scream from the kitchen
Sheepishly the waiter approaches the table and tells us the bottle was defective and broke as they pulled the cork

Always handle, open,and decant your own wine, that's my motto.

Mahmoud.

Mahmoud Ali wrote:

michel wrote:#5 you take an old irreplaceable Hunter semillon to a restaurant- you hear a crash and a scream from the kitchen
Sheepishly the waiter approaches the table and tells us the bottle was defective and broke as they pulled the cork

Always handle, open,and decant your own wine, that's my motto.

Mahmoud.

I know I know
But these are 'professional ' restaurants.....
Apparently

Fucking hell, I'm going to have nightmares

michel wrote:

catchnrelease wrote:

michel wrote:#3 we all take wine to a restaurant double blind - the mystery sparkling tastes like a New World wine and not Champagne- the waiter freaks and takes our Champagne from the table next door and gives us a little taste as most has already been consumed
True story

So what was the champagne they gave you for compensation?

Surely....

No compensation
We were drinking another tables Hunter Sparkling as they drank our vintage Krug.....
We had a sip of our Krug

That is taking the piss. I'm not sure I would have paid the food bill until that was resolved properly.

#6
You book a restaurant six months in advance
You ring a month out and confirm all is good
You fly to Adelaide to a famous Asian restaurant
You arrive at the restaurant
They deny you have a booking
But you can join a party for a set menu
We walk away
Our Anniversary....

#7 You turn up to a hipster restaurant with your wife beautifully dressed and then order your wine. When the waiter brings out the bottle of Pinot, you confirm that it is indeed the right bottle. The waiter grabs the bottle by the screw caps' collar with one hand and with a flick of the other spins the bottle on the collar. The screw cap pops off as expected, however the waiter did not expect the bottle to fall through the collar and hit the floor. The Waiter is stood there with screw cap collar in hand and my wife covered in the shower of pinot that flew in a radius of 5 metres. Lucky the only other couple in the restaurant were seated at the other end of the room because there would have been even more expensive outfits for the restaurateur to replace.

rens wrote:#7 You turn up to a hipster restaurant with your wife beautifully dressed and then order your wine. When the waiter brings out the bottle of Pinot, you confirm that it is indeed the right bottle. The waiter grabs the bottle by the screw caps' collar with one hand and with a flick of the other spins the bottle on the collar. The screw cap pops off as expected, however the waiter did not expect the bottle to fall through the collar and hit the floor. The Waiter is stood there with screw cap collar in hand and my wife covered in the shower of pinot that flew in a radius of 5 metres. Lucky the only other couple in the restaurant were seated at the other end of the room because there would have been even more expensive outfits for the restaurateur to replace.

Wow
Pure professional gold

I've experienced receiving the wrong vintage.
I ordered a 2011 BP over the bar and got a 2012.
I wasn't about to complain although it struck me as odd that the bar tender had the cork out in a flash
without so much as looking at the bottle.
I think there's certain wines and certain times when I would refuse the wrong vintage in a restaurant.
When you're the only one at the table that actually notices the wrong vintage showing up you've
really got to ask yourself whether it's worth the retribution from others who couldn't care less.

I had a case at a very reputable restaurant in Adelaide where my 96 BYO 389 was popped and poured
without a thought from the waiter. As the wine hit tasting level in the glass I stopped proceedings.
In a flash there was a quick apology, new glasses and a decanter on the table.

So much Wow here! I've never BYO'd before and after reading these moments (which would be rare), I don't think I would.

#8 you go to Sydney's most famous restaurant for a 13 course degustation & BYO a White burgundy followed by a 2001 Rousseau CSJ.
You leave over 1/2 a bottle of the Rousseau to share with friends for a taster prior to a concert & the waiter informs you that you drank the entire bottle....
The floor manager gives you his card and says next time we will give you a private room.
Allegedly allegedly allegedly this happened

michel wrote:#6
You book a restaurant six months in advance
You ring a month out and confirm all is good
You fly to Adelaide to a famous Asian restaurant
You arrive at the restaurant
They deny you have a booking
But you can join a party for a set menu
We walk away
Our Anniversary....

I didn't know we had any famous Asian restaurants in Adelaide.

-- George Krashos

T-Chow.

I come all the way from HKG to eat there with the ADL crew.

Redav wrote:So much Wow here! I've never BYO'd before and after reading these moments (which would be rare), I don't think I would.

You've never BYO'ed? That's Wow.

Don't let these anecdotes put you off, yes they are rare. I've BYO'd for 20 years and never had anything even remotely like any of this stuff. OK, maybe a different vintage from what's on the wine list, but never had the bottle opened.

michel, reckon you need to choose different restaurants, and keep more of an eye on your bottles! That's a bunch of horror stories.

cuttlefish wrote:Fucking hell, I'm going to have nightmares

My sentiments exactly.

Jeez Michel you seem to attract bad luck (and terrible servers). These stories are truly awful, my sympathies.

If I ever came to an offline with you, I am pretty sure I would clutch the bottles (very protectively) to my chest at all times and would not let any of the serving staff touch them! "These are my babies, keep away"

PS - are you actually from Rotorua??

Brodie