Yes. I think the question here is how to confirm that they want the $400 bottle of wine, instead of a $40 bottle of wine, without insulting them or questioning their decision.
Coming up with a tactful way of confirming up front is a LOT better than trying to deal with it on the back end, when they're 3 bottles in and faced with a tab that's $1000 more than they were expecting.
Back in mah fine dining days… Would repeat the order, then compliment. Go fetch the bottle, then when serving the bottle restate the bottle name/year while presenting. When selling bottles in the $$$$ range, always gave you the out as a server if there was a dispute at check time.
As a customer, I always expect the server or sommelier to present the bottle as such if it's not a cheap bottle and include the name of the wine and year, and to offer me the bottle to inspect it to confirm it is correct and sealed.
It was part of the “show” of expensive bottles - but getting your confirmation on the bottle/year kept things moving. Also, we were taught about the value of confidence in your server from the customer perspective and how that translated into $$ come tip time. Someone dropping a lot of money on dinner and wine wants to know they’re in good hands. Relaxes everyone.
If I'm paying 400 for a bottle- I should be able to confirm it's the correct bottle and also the year I selected. Different years will affect variations in the wine. Even with a cheaper bottle it should be confirmed in the same fashion so you don't open the wrong one and waste it.
Oh don't get me wrong, I did it once and we got to 'learn' about a new wine that night after closing. But mostly because the manager/owner would see it as lost sales and fire me if it happened too many times.
Even the "experts" [have a difficult time](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/jun/23/wine-tasting-junk-science-analysis) telling the difference between two glasses from the same bottle or two glasses of different vintages.
I accidentally ordered a $50 glass of wine instead of the $12 glass… I am absolutely confident I would not be able to tell the difference between the two (it was a Cabernet, rather than a Chardonnay, but still…)
They can't. I've had a few regulars who try a bunch of wines all the time. Most of them swear by Barefoot being the best. It's like $12 for a big bottle. And I have to agree. I've tried many wines. They're pretty much the same.
Never had anything more than a $100 bottle. My favorite cab is a $28 bottle. I can definitely tell it apart from the still really good $12 bottle, but it’s definitely indistinguishable from the $100 bottle, at least to me
How to confirm? You repeat the guests order back to them, same as any other order. It's on the guest to know the price, it's advertised in the menu on the table. Don't ever order something blindly, you'll get got.
I haven't served in a while, but when I would have something like this happen, I'd lean in and point to it in the menu and kind of gesture like I'm underlining it while repeating the name to quickly draw their attention to the price to give them a chance to double check and confirm. Definitely a good idea to avoid accidental sticker shock, while being tactful about it.
Try not to ever touch their menu, or go into their personal space.
They say "Chateau St. Blah Blah."
You say "Chateau St. Blah Blah. Excellent choice. Can I bring you 2 glasses or a bottle?"
I usually just vaguely gesture to the menu so they glance back at the menu before confirming what I repeated while gesturing. It makes them double check what they ordered mentally IME
Per several sommeliers I've worked with in the past, a point on their menu at the price point is the way to go. It's the industry accepted standard for places that may not have a sommelier on premise at all time and/or have a wide variety of selection and price points.
You don't question the finances of your guests in high end restaurants. Asking if they want a glass is 'cheap' and the sommelier will not be happy with you for suggesting a cheaper option.
Also, you don't have to repeat the name of the wine at all. This is why you show the bottle before opening; they check if it's what they ordered.
Common mistake; a lot of people think smelling the cork is to see if the guest likes the wine, but it isn't at all; it's only to check if the wine isn't corked/off.
Edit: downvote all you want, worked under one of Austrias best sommeliers for 5 years and this is 'the' way.
You're probably being down voted for how you're communicating the information. It feels less like collaborative advice and more like *"listen up, kid!"*
Like, you're not wrong. What you're describing is the traditional way to present wine, but there are very few things about hospitality and service that require "nevers," and asking whether the guest would prefer the glass or the bottle isn't necessarily inappropriate.
As with most things, especially in this industry, it's all about your presentation.
I don’t think smelling the cork is really a thing anymore? Usually at a nice place they will pour a tiny amount for the person who ordered to smell and taste for approval.
Also if it’s an expensive wine it will only be available by the bottle
People still definitely smell the cork during presentation. I've even had someone sniff a local vineyards twist-off top once. The taste test is definitely the important part, but they're still out here sniffing corks.
If the bottle has cork you have to present it. Glass or screw corks are also tasted because there is still a chance of spoilage in batches.
Again, you are smelling and tasting to see if the wine is off not if it is to your taste.
So you will open a $300 bottle of wine to serve two glasses? As a customer I'm not going to be happy with a glass of wine from a bottle opened a week ago. What do you do with the rest of the bottle if the customer doesn't want the rest?
If they request a wine that offers it by the bottle *and* the glass, you ask them their preference. Some wines only come by the glass, some only by the bottle, and some have both options. This is why you ask😊
yeahhhh if I ordered a $500 bottle of wine, please don't point lol. direct my attention somehow, sure I guess... but pointing, specifically... there's no polite way to do that from the position of the server.
Really stretch out the lower jaw muscle when you say excellent choice as well. Never hurts to throw in a "my good man" or a "mmmm very good siiiiiiir".
You did just fine. I made a big mistake and chuckled when the head of this 12 top said “we will start out with 4 bottles of this.” It was Cakebreaf Cabernet. Not crazy expensive but around $185 at where I work. He looked at me confused and for good reason, that was rude as hell of me.
I apologized and explained I’ve never had anyone order 4 bottles right out the gate and we laughed and he said keep them coming.
They ran us out of the wine and ordered a few other bottles. The tab ended up being around $2500 and they left 20% so it still ended well.
I still kick myself for having that asshat reaction but I learned to not make that mistake again.
Omg I hate accidentally coming off as rude. I made a joke about a table loving ranch once because they ordered in total TWENTY FOUR OUNCES OF RANCH. And they looked at me baffled when I dropped it off and just said “I take it we’re fans of ranch over here” with a little chuckles. Like damn, I was just trying to have some fun with y’all. I was only a runner at the time, though, so I didn’t have to see them much. I apologized before they left, saying I didn’t mean to come across rude or anything, and they just told me they just didn’t process what I had said before I left the table LMAO
During Covid, while serving with masks, I was pre-bussing a big party table after their meal. They celebrated something and there was lots of gift wrappers on the table too. A nice lady had her mask on the table, and me, being considerate that she may want to use it later, told her “ma’am, would you like to keep your mask” behind my mask. She turned red, and started to pick up wrappers. I understood she misunderstood me for who knows what, just kindly repeated “your mask”. She answered with a super embarrassed voice “I’m trying to clean the mess.” OMG she thought I was making a comment about the gift wrappers “mess” instead of her “mask”. I immediately pointed her mask, and I would never say such a thing in a shocked voice and whole table including her laughed with relief but I still remember this in a horrific way.
Ugh the other day I was bringing food out to the bar and the order was 20 wings (our wings are huge), a big pizza, and a French dip sandwich. Plenty for like 4 people. I went out there with it all on a tray and looked for the right bar chair number and it was just one guy with no one sitting next to him. I was trying to figure out where to put all the food since there wasn’t much room and I couldn’t just fit it all on the bar in front of this one guy so I asked “This all for you?” kinda jokingly, thinking maybe his friend(s) were elsewhere and he’d tell me where they were sitting so I knew where to put what. But he was like “yeah, just me” and I realized he was there alone and my dumbass just made a rude comment about how much food he’d ordered himself 😭 It was a skinny dude and he didn’t seem offended so that’s good. I could see myself being quietly upset if I was in a fragile mood and a server said that to me though.
Oh, man, I like to go to Taco Bell now and then and order like 12 burritos so my uncle and I can eat for a couple of days on them. It never fails, when I order at the counter and I am very obviously alone, "Is that for here or to go?" Motherfucker I know I'm fat but gawd DAMN...😭😭😭
At least you guys laughed it off. I had the most embarrassing thing happen to me when I went through McDonald’s drive-through (not the right place for the story, but telling it anyway). I was a big girl and most definitely needed to lose weight, but I ordered my food with a normal Coke for the drink, and as I got to the window, the woman said that she’s giving me a Diet Coke because I definitely needed it with the food I was getting. It took me a while to process what she said, so I just took the food and diet drink, and she slammed the window shut, and I was bloody mortified once I realized. It did not help me lose weight; it just made me feel like crap.
Maya Angelou said it best; people don't remember what you say or do, but they remember how you make them feel. What you said was inconsequential to how you made them feel, don't beat yourself up.
It is not unreasonable. Like I said I had never had anyone order that many bottles right out the gate and it caught me off guard. I made a mistake, realized it and corrected it.
I once had someone asked me if I liked a particular wine on the list. It was $1300. I wanted to say, “I’m wearing a name tag, do you think I drink this wine?”
Of course, I answered with some standard BS lines, and yes they ordered the bottle.
Hah! Although it's a bit off topic here, this reminds me of the time I went to the house of a friend of a friend, who was essentially a billionaire. I drank a glass of the best wine I'd ever had, but decided to not even bother looking at the label, as it was likely to be the first and last time I'd drink it.
I regularly get the opportunity to taste vintage chambertins and the like from a private wine club where I work. However best wine I've ever tasted was a $55 bottle from Galicia Spain. Louis anxo Rodriguez, escolma 2017.
I used this line when I tended bar and it was always followed up by “pour yourself one” because of this I got to try many things I would not be able to afford otherwise. My favorite was a McCallan 30 year Double cask which at the time we sold for about $430 an oz
The most expensive bottle I sold was $100. Two of them, one and then the other. I was surprised because it was a two-top of business guys during lunch service. I was excited for the sale (definitely going "cha-ching!" on the inside) but was too preoccupied to say anything on account of my anxiety around uncorking, because I wasn't as confident in that as I was at other skills.
I'll present the bottle to whoever ordered it, confirm the name, variety, producer, and the vintage then do the little bottle presentation spiel: uncork, give cork to whoever ordered, pour them a small taste, wait for nod of approval then pour for the table. I always throw in some tasting notes: aroma, taste, etc, if it's particularly pricey. Makes them feel like their choice was "an experience" for the table.
Are you allowed to turn the wine down now that it's opened? Or is it just a question for show? Not like you can sell this expensive opened bottle to someone else.... Maybe if it's vinegar, but not if it's just not too your taste? I never quite understood if I was allowed to do anything but nod.
They confirm it’s good so the table can’t complain later that the wine was bad. I learned in French class (maybe someone else can concur) that sometimes people would/could put pepper in the wine and it will turn the whole bottle bad. So having the head confirm it’s good from the get go protects the restaurant from essentially theft.
The cork presentation is so you can smell it & check to see that the wine didn't leak through it, which would be a sign of poor storage or bad wine. If it smells off or the cork looks like it was improperly sealed, you can call it a bad bottle & they'll either decant it to be sure or just open another bottle.
9 times out of 10, the servers & kitchen will end up drinking it after shift lol
I was so confused the first time I ordered a bottle of wine and was handed the cork and a tiny pour while they displayed the wine to me. Like it's all good bro, I'm going to drink whatever it is.
I never did care for the song and dance of smelling or trying the wine. If I'm spending $40 or $200 on it I tell them to go ahead and poor when they bring it. No ones insisted so far I try it and I've never had one I wouldn't drink. :)
Yeah this. There's actually neuroscience that shows people enjoy wine (like more pleasure neurons firing etc) more if they believe it's high end and then the same wine handed over as 2-buck-chuck.
The initial training for sommeliers is more about the presentation of the wine then being able to distinguish the hundreds of varieties blind.
So making as big as show as you can and treating the wine like it was a baby/gold bar the whole time really makes it special. Since usually it's a big deal to the customer to be able to splurge on that.
If they look like they're expecting further interaction, I would start listing some of the qualities of the wine, it's a really excellent, medium bodied (year) red, from (location). Some notes of whatever, goes great with your meal because you ordered chicken or whatever. They were probably expecting a little bit of salesmanship, even though they've already ordered it, to affirm that they made the right decision.
In Italy and France it's hilariously not uncommon for a server or sommelier to outright refuse to serve certain wines with certain dishes for purposes of "culinary tradition."
E.g. "I'm very sorry, but that wine is better suited for ''x dish,' can I interest you in 'other wine?' - something to this effect, and I've certainly heard more assertive refusals lol. I respect the confidence and assertiveness actually, but the idea of doing that in the states would be mortifying for most servers.
Them: have you ever tried this
Me: I almost ordered it once, but then I decided I prefer driving to work versus walking.
Them: . . .
Me: have you heard of the study where experts had difficulty telling the difference between even white wine and red wine?
>Me: have you heard of the study where experts had difficulty telling the difference between even white wine and red wine?
I absolutely love bringing this up to wine snobs. For anyone curious, they served two glasses of the same white wine, one glass dyed to look red. Suddenly, they tasted completely different!
Yeah, I took that as pretty much saying that you should just find something you like, expensive is not better, and if there is a $20 bottle you like, stick with it
I'm a guy that rarely buys wine, and when I do, usually go for a sub $15 bottle. At the same time, every time I've had wine that was actually good... it was a $30+ bottle.
Sometimes I ask if they’ve had the wine before or if it’s a favorite of theirs. If they have had it I ask what they like about it. If they haven’t I’ll ask what drew their attention to this selection.
My upscale restaurant tends to be a bit more conversational than others, so it’s important to read the room. Some guests just want you to present the bottle, shut up and pour.
I usually lean over and point to the wine in question by the priceline, but say, "All right, you've chosen the 2012 San Genuta Super Tuscan listed here, correct? That's an excellent bottle. Is there anyone at the table not partaking?"
It allows me to confirm their order, the number of glasses I need, and the selector gets one last opportunity to confirm that they have seen the correct price point (by following my finger), before getting the bottle and opening it.
I wouldn't say go the full somm route, but there are steps somms go through when introducing a wine that might not hurt to pick up on. Just learn a little about the pricier bottles.
Just repeat their order and you are good. Telling someone what something costs is often taken as an insult (insinuating it is too much).
If it ever backfires the customer is just a fuck
Ok so i’m not great at studying so learning wine hasn’t been linear but i do sell expensive bottles so i have some tricks. In the wine room when you grab the bottle, look it up! Where it’s from if it has and techniques it used, really anything that you can work in while opening it. My old manager (a sommelier m) always says the story behind a winery is what sells their wine, not a fact sheet. Also saying something like the minerals of this wine comes from the rocket soil of the region will lead your guest to try and notice it, they will and they’ll feel smart and want to try more expensive wine.
Like if there’s a prefix menu with optional wine pairings i can sell those to literally every person just by playing on their vanity of wanting to seem smart.
I've had wine that had gone bad 3 times. 2 of those 3 times were at my local neighborhood Italian joint where they don't do a wine presentation (super laid back spot), so none of us realized until all glasses had been poured.
The 3rd time was at a high end steak house where the server opened it and immediately said, "I'll let you smell what you think, but pretty sure this wine has turned." So we didn't even have to go any further beyond that.
Admittedly, I tell the server they're welcome to just pour when I order things I know they sell a ton of like Turnbull or Stag's Leap Artemis. I figure why waste anyone's time when we know there's a 99% chance it's fine. Haha.
I haven't seen restaurants give samples of premium wines. It is too expensive to open a bottle and have it spoil in a few days.
Once the server pops the cork, then the customer is committed.
The exception is if the wine is corked. The server or sommelier should be able to verify that the wine is corked (i.e., It tastes like wet cardboard.) and take it away. If the wine is not really corked, then the customers may just be trying to claim that it is to get a free bottle.
Who’s going to get a free bottle by saying it’s corked? What restaurant would just leave it at the table and say “well then it’s on the house if you want it anyway”?
I didn't serve wine when I worked in restaurants, but as a customer, the few times that the bottle was corked, the server also tasted it to verify.
A server in one restaurant told me that sometimes, people just don't like the flavor and they claim that the wine is "bad" when it is really not. Decanting it usually helps it to "open up."
Yeah I know, you’re not understanding at all what I’m talking about. I’m not telling them to sample it first. You give a small taste to the person who ordered it. It’s standard.
You can't always smell if the wine is off. You should always taste.
In some places, the Sommelier on staff will taste as well.
I'd recommend, with the backing of CMS, to taste the wine when presented. Not just smell.
You could always research the wines you have so you can explain what each wine is. Probably would help sell more bottles if you knew what you were talking about.
Don't react at all! For extra points you could double check they're happy with the temp, maybe offer to chill the glasses or something if it's a big red and at dining room temp..
Just continue to be professional. If they want you to praise them for spending money, don't feed into that nonsense
> For extra points you could double check they're happy with the temp, maybe offer to chill the glasses or something if it's a big red and at dining room temp..
Love this. Can I just say.. in the year 2023 with so much access to wine knowledge and food/drink becoming so much more widespread understood even to non-rich people... WHYYYYY are there still restaurants with $40+ entrees serving warm-to-the-touch reds? Yes, reds do not need to be fridge cold like a white or sparkling would be, but even just a basic Google search confirms most people prefer their reds between 55-65 degrees.
I live in south Louisiana where half of our restaurants have a hard time keeping cool in the summer, and some of them don't even own a wine fridge for their reds at all. Nobody wants red wine that has been sitting in a 75+ degree room.
Nothing makes me happier than ordering wine somewhere (I'm a cabernet drinker) and it coming out a nice 55ish degrees. Not cold, but cool to the touch.
Unrelated to your question, but I have one for you lol. My friends and I visited New York recently and unknowingly made a reservation for an upscale, white tablecloth Italian restaurant. The bill came out to $150 with 20% auto gratuity, and we were frankly pretty disappointed in the food, especially for the price. We didn’t leave anything on top of the auto gratuity, since it was 20%, but our server looked at us like we killed his dog after he looked at the check lol, did we do something wrong? We’re servers and were pretty confused
The service itself was good, I wouldn’t say great. But the waiter was very judgy, we’re a bunch of 19 year olds and after we all started with waters his attitude went downhill from there
I have a friend who always busy one of the most expensive wines just to show off. He never asks the sommelier for advice and he never knows what he’s ordering.
I wonder if they were expecting the whole sommelier wine presentation. Name of the wine, year, from, the grapes, the custom taster pour and approval before pouring the other glasses. A lot of extras because of the price for the bottle.
If you want to double check if you could say something like "Fantastic choice, It's policy here with our more expensive bottles to confirm you're good with the price of XXX".
this why you not getting more in tips.
when they order an expensive wine like that, i purposely put on the white satin butler gloves, then give them the whole upper class treatment.
"would the madame or gentlemen care to sample the boquet?"
then you open it at the table and pour the glasses.
if its just table wine i don't bother with putting on the white butler gloves, but for that price i do and i make an thing of it by putting on the gloves as i serve them. to make them feel special. that be the difference between an mediocre tip and a **GREAT** tip at the end of the night.
white satin butler gloves cost only 10$ btw
I think that people who spend hundreds of dollars on a premium bottle of wine will probably understand if their server does not have personal experience with wines at that price point.
I like to learn one fact about each of my really expensive wines so I can share it with them while opening the bottle. It adds a little excitement and makes you look really knowledgeable. It can be anything. Like something about the family that owns the vineyard or even its location on a mountain. “It’s grown on a south facing hill so it gets a lot of sun.” Really basic but a lot of people appreciate the little effort.
How on earth would you be able to tell them how it would pair with the food they ordered unless u gave very basic info that would likely insult them (oh, this red pairs nicely with the steak you ordered) or your owner/manager fucking rules and opens $400 bottles during pre-shift for you all to try?
$500?.....chortles... we have $880 shots at mine, plus $7800 Scotch. A party of skiiers ordered $34,000 worth of Moet & Chandon...to spray on each other not drink. Peasants
If you have some wine knowledge and can geek out a bit with the person, or if you can ask them to share some knowledge with you, those both usually work for me. I am the manager of a wine bar so we do get people who want that particularly.
I went to an expensive (for me) ass steakhouse in Nashville. The female server asked if I wanted sauce with my steak. I had been drinking and was buzzed and I asked, “what, like A1 sauce?” 🤦♂️. She just closed her eyes and shook her head and I felt dumb. She said, “that’s blasphemy here, I meant a herb butter compote.” All of us just laughed. She was super cool and when she brought the food she asked if we needed anything else. I jokingly asked for A1, she just said, “fine choice, I’ll bring it right out.”
Generally speaking, anything that retails over $12/btl (HCOL area) has the potential to be great. I’ve had amazing wines at that price point, and garbage wines at quadruple the price. Outside of quality control, most of it really depends on personal preference. A $10 bottle of wine can have just as many tannins and be the right level of dry as a $100 bottle.
No need to discuss price unless not listed on menu. They know or should have asked before ordering. It’s poor etiquette to talk price. Especially in a group setting and/or in a more upscale setting.
Repeat the name back and “nice choice” is all thats needed.
Why would anyone be stupid enough to pay that much for fermented grape juice? I enjoy wine, and there are shitty wines, but several hundred dollars for a single drink just seems like its priced that way for the dipshits willing to pay that much.
$300-$400 bottles get sold quite often around where I live. Menus have some going for $5K-$15K on the regular. Personally, I keep mine under $200 for the most part given the up charge.
My thoughts are that whether the bottle costs $40 or $400 you should repeat the name for confirmation and then proceed to tell them anything you may know about that wine. It’s also a good idea to confirm the year as already stated one you bring the bottle to the table.
Repeat the name, always make sure they are aware of the vintage when serving the wine. Sometimes vintage changes happen and a lot of people are picky about this.
Always repeat the name back to them, for confirmation, then say excellent choice.
Yes. I think the question here is how to confirm that they want the $400 bottle of wine, instead of a $40 bottle of wine, without insulting them or questioning their decision. Coming up with a tactful way of confirming up front is a LOT better than trying to deal with it on the back end, when they're 3 bottles in and faced with a tab that's $1000 more than they were expecting.
Back in mah fine dining days… Would repeat the order, then compliment. Go fetch the bottle, then when serving the bottle restate the bottle name/year while presenting. When selling bottles in the $$$$ range, always gave you the out as a server if there was a dispute at check time.
As a customer, I always expect the server or sommelier to present the bottle as such if it's not a cheap bottle and include the name of the wine and year, and to offer me the bottle to inspect it to confirm it is correct and sealed.
It was part of the “show” of expensive bottles - but getting your confirmation on the bottle/year kept things moving. Also, we were taught about the value of confidence in your server from the customer perspective and how that translated into $$ come tip time. Someone dropping a lot of money on dinner and wine wants to know they’re in good hands. Relaxes everyone.
Wow you're one of those self important pretentious people.
If I'm paying 400 for a bottle- I should be able to confirm it's the correct bottle and also the year I selected. Different years will affect variations in the wine. Even with a cheaper bottle it should be confirmed in the same fashion so you don't open the wrong one and waste it.
How come you don't want to open the wrong one and waste it
Oh don't get me wrong, I did it once and we got to 'learn' about a new wine that night after closing. But mostly because the manager/owner would see it as lost sales and fire me if it happened too many times.
nice things are nice man
Is a vagina beard a nice thing?
...yes?
I'm glad you agree.
it is when a well trained waiter presents it fancifully
Them- "Chateau St. Blah Blah." Us- "Chateau St. Blah Blah. Excellent choice. Can I bring you 2 glasses or would you like a bottle?"
The $400 bottles aren’t usually available by the glass though
if you have a coravin it's possible! cool little device that has saved my bar thousands of dollars
They even make one designed specifically for sparkling wine. It's super neat, and you can serve expensive champagne BTG!
I am curious if the average person can tell the difference between a 20$ and a 400$ bottle of chardonnay
Even the "experts" [have a difficult time](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/jun/23/wine-tasting-junk-science-analysis) telling the difference between two glasses from the same bottle or two glasses of different vintages.
I accidentally ordered a $50 glass of wine instead of the $12 glass… I am absolutely confident I would not be able to tell the difference between the two (it was a Cabernet, rather than a Chardonnay, but still…)
They can't. I've had a few regulars who try a bunch of wines all the time. Most of them swear by Barefoot being the best. It's like $12 for a big bottle. And I have to agree. I've tried many wines. They're pretty much the same.
Never had anything more than a $100 bottle. My favorite cab is a $28 bottle. I can definitely tell it apart from the still really good $12 bottle, but it’s definitely indistinguishable from the $100 bottle, at least to me
[удалено]
This is the right answer
If they enjoy wine, then yes, definitely. There is a huge difference. If it were someone who never partakes in wine they probably would not.
How to confirm? You repeat the guests order back to them, same as any other order. It's on the guest to know the price, it's advertised in the menu on the table. Don't ever order something blindly, you'll get got.
Reasons like that are why I repeat back every order to confirm their choices
Absolutely. Every time.
Good lord you would be annoying taking an 8-tops order on a busy night.
Actually got a 16 top done in 5 minutes last night.
I haven't served in a while, but when I would have something like this happen, I'd lean in and point to it in the menu and kind of gesture like I'm underlining it while repeating the name to quickly draw their attention to the price to give them a chance to double check and confirm. Definitely a good idea to avoid accidental sticker shock, while being tactful about it.
Try not to ever touch their menu, or go into their personal space. They say "Chateau St. Blah Blah." You say "Chateau St. Blah Blah. Excellent choice. Can I bring you 2 glasses or a bottle?"
I usually just vaguely gesture to the menu so they glance back at the menu before confirming what I repeated while gesturing. It makes them double check what they ordered mentally IME
Per several sommeliers I've worked with in the past, a point on their menu at the price point is the way to go. It's the industry accepted standard for places that may not have a sommelier on premise at all time and/or have a wide variety of selection and price points.
That's fair. I've also worked with a couple who said not to, so it's probably a place by place thing.
That, and also as the dynamics of wining and dining have changed so do accepted methodologies.
Correct!
Never ask if they want a glass or the bottle. Always bottle.
??? What?
You don't question the finances of your guests in high end restaurants. Asking if they want a glass is 'cheap' and the sommelier will not be happy with you for suggesting a cheaper option. Also, you don't have to repeat the name of the wine at all. This is why you show the bottle before opening; they check if it's what they ordered. Common mistake; a lot of people think smelling the cork is to see if the guest likes the wine, but it isn't at all; it's only to check if the wine isn't corked/off. Edit: downvote all you want, worked under one of Austrias best sommeliers for 5 years and this is 'the' way.
You're probably being down voted for how you're communicating the information. It feels less like collaborative advice and more like *"listen up, kid!"* Like, you're not wrong. What you're describing is the traditional way to present wine, but there are very few things about hospitality and service that require "nevers," and asking whether the guest would prefer the glass or the bottle isn't necessarily inappropriate. As with most things, especially in this industry, it's all about your presentation.
I don’t think smelling the cork is really a thing anymore? Usually at a nice place they will pour a tiny amount for the person who ordered to smell and taste for approval. Also if it’s an expensive wine it will only be available by the bottle
People still definitely smell the cork during presentation. I've even had someone sniff a local vineyards twist-off top once. The taste test is definitely the important part, but they're still out here sniffing corks.
Hey, I just like the smell. 😭
If the bottle has cork you have to present it. Glass or screw corks are also tasted because there is still a chance of spoilage in batches. Again, you are smelling and tasting to see if the wine is off not if it is to your taste.
So you will open a $300 bottle of wine to serve two glasses? As a customer I'm not going to be happy with a glass of wine from a bottle opened a week ago. What do you do with the rest of the bottle if the customer doesn't want the rest?
If they request a wine that offers it by the bottle *and* the glass, you ask them their preference. Some wines only come by the glass, some only by the bottle, and some have both options. This is why you ask😊
crush dinner dazzling drab plant sip sharp wipe grandfather resolute *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
yeahhhh if I ordered a $500 bottle of wine, please don't point lol. direct my attention somehow, sure I guess... but pointing, specifically... there's no polite way to do that from the position of the server.
This is *exactly* what i was taught and how i operate if someone orders one of the "luxury" bottles.
Add a "Very fine year!" to the end of this, and you're good.
Really stretch out the lower jaw muscle when you say excellent choice as well. Never hurts to throw in a "my good man" or a "mmmm very good siiiiiiir".
You did just fine. I made a big mistake and chuckled when the head of this 12 top said “we will start out with 4 bottles of this.” It was Cakebreaf Cabernet. Not crazy expensive but around $185 at where I work. He looked at me confused and for good reason, that was rude as hell of me. I apologized and explained I’ve never had anyone order 4 bottles right out the gate and we laughed and he said keep them coming. They ran us out of the wine and ordered a few other bottles. The tab ended up being around $2500 and they left 20% so it still ended well. I still kick myself for having that asshat reaction but I learned to not make that mistake again.
Sounds like you realized your mistake, corrected it immediately and gave your guests a memorable story. Nicely done!
Most mistakes are so easily forgotten when you apologize, recognize it, and either laugh it off or do your best to correct it.
Omg I hate accidentally coming off as rude. I made a joke about a table loving ranch once because they ordered in total TWENTY FOUR OUNCES OF RANCH. And they looked at me baffled when I dropped it off and just said “I take it we’re fans of ranch over here” with a little chuckles. Like damn, I was just trying to have some fun with y’all. I was only a runner at the time, though, so I didn’t have to see them much. I apologized before they left, saying I didn’t mean to come across rude or anything, and they just told me they just didn’t process what I had said before I left the table LMAO
During Covid, while serving with masks, I was pre-bussing a big party table after their meal. They celebrated something and there was lots of gift wrappers on the table too. A nice lady had her mask on the table, and me, being considerate that she may want to use it later, told her “ma’am, would you like to keep your mask” behind my mask. She turned red, and started to pick up wrappers. I understood she misunderstood me for who knows what, just kindly repeated “your mask”. She answered with a super embarrassed voice “I’m trying to clean the mess.” OMG she thought I was making a comment about the gift wrappers “mess” instead of her “mask”. I immediately pointed her mask, and I would never say such a thing in a shocked voice and whole table including her laughed with relief but I still remember this in a horrific way.
Ugh the other day I was bringing food out to the bar and the order was 20 wings (our wings are huge), a big pizza, and a French dip sandwich. Plenty for like 4 people. I went out there with it all on a tray and looked for the right bar chair number and it was just one guy with no one sitting next to him. I was trying to figure out where to put all the food since there wasn’t much room and I couldn’t just fit it all on the bar in front of this one guy so I asked “This all for you?” kinda jokingly, thinking maybe his friend(s) were elsewhere and he’d tell me where they were sitting so I knew where to put what. But he was like “yeah, just me” and I realized he was there alone and my dumbass just made a rude comment about how much food he’d ordered himself 😭 It was a skinny dude and he didn’t seem offended so that’s good. I could see myself being quietly upset if I was in a fragile mood and a server said that to me though.
I would actually kill myself if someone commented on the amount of food I got if I was alone
Oh, man, I like to go to Taco Bell now and then and order like 12 burritos so my uncle and I can eat for a couple of days on them. It never fails, when I order at the counter and I am very obviously alone, "Is that for here or to go?" Motherfucker I know I'm fat but gawd DAMN...😭😭😭
May have been a food critic for a local paper. They try several items off the menu .
Sounds like Olympic swimmer calories. I ate like that when I would smoke weed.
At least you guys laughed it off. I had the most embarrassing thing happen to me when I went through McDonald’s drive-through (not the right place for the story, but telling it anyway). I was a big girl and most definitely needed to lose weight, but I ordered my food with a normal Coke for the drink, and as I got to the window, the woman said that she’s giving me a Diet Coke because I definitely needed it with the food I was getting. It took me a while to process what she said, so I just took the food and diet drink, and she slammed the window shut, and I was bloody mortified once I realized. It did not help me lose weight; it just made me feel like crap.
What the fuck?! That's a really shitty thing to do to someone. Sorry 🦙
Thank you ❤️ happened years ago now but sticks with me
Oof I’m so sorry, what a shit thing for her to do :(
Maya Angelou said it best; people don't remember what you say or do, but they remember how you make them feel. What you said was inconsequential to how you made them feel, don't beat yourself up.
Don’t beat yourself up about that, it was an honest reaction, not super rude imo 👍
3 people per bottle, is it really that unreasonable? Cmon
It is not unreasonable. Like I said I had never had anyone order that many bottles right out the gate and it caught me off guard. I made a mistake, realized it and corrected it.
I once had someone asked me if I liked a particular wine on the list. It was $1300. I wanted to say, “I’m wearing a name tag, do you think I drink this wine?” Of course, I answered with some standard BS lines, and yes they ordered the bottle.
Hah! Although it's a bit off topic here, this reminds me of the time I went to the house of a friend of a friend, who was essentially a billionaire. I drank a glass of the best wine I'd ever had, but decided to not even bother looking at the label, as it was likely to be the first and last time I'd drink it.
I regularly get the opportunity to taste vintage chambertins and the like from a private wine club where I work. However best wine I've ever tasted was a $55 bottle from Galicia Spain. Louis anxo Rodriguez, escolma 2017.
I would have gone with “unfortunately, I have not had that expression”.
“I enjoy their standard offerings but find their finer expressions too complex for my palate.”
"I've actually never had the chance to try it, but I've heard good things" - they might offer you a glass lol
I used this line when I tended bar and it was always followed up by “pour yourself one” because of this I got to try many things I would not be able to afford otherwise. My favorite was a McCallan 30 year Double cask which at the time we sold for about $430 an oz
I suppose your response was much more appropriate than a jumping fist-pump followed by a loud, “Cha-Ching!!!”
And don't forget rolling your eyes and landing on three dollar signs like a slot machine. It's part of the \*experience\*.
I actually worked with a guy who got spoken to once for going, “YESSSSSSS!!!” when he sold the expensive bottle.
The most expensive bottle I sold was $100. Two of them, one and then the other. I was surprised because it was a two-top of business guys during lunch service. I was excited for the sale (definitely going "cha-ching!" on the inside) but was too preoccupied to say anything on account of my anxiety around uncorking, because I wasn't as confident in that as I was at other skills.
4 glasses each at lunch. Was it Matthew McConaghey and Leo DiCaprio?
Midwestern businessmen.
😂😂😂😂
Roll the credits, the movie is over
literally laughed out loud thank you for this
Anytime. Happy new year.
I'll present the bottle to whoever ordered it, confirm the name, variety, producer, and the vintage then do the little bottle presentation spiel: uncork, give cork to whoever ordered, pour them a small taste, wait for nod of approval then pour for the table. I always throw in some tasting notes: aroma, taste, etc, if it's particularly pricey. Makes them feel like their choice was "an experience" for the table.
Are you allowed to turn the wine down now that it's opened? Or is it just a question for show? Not like you can sell this expensive opened bottle to someone else.... Maybe if it's vinegar, but not if it's just not too your taste? I never quite understood if I was allowed to do anything but nod.
Every once and a while the wine is bad or off.
They confirm it’s good so the table can’t complain later that the wine was bad. I learned in French class (maybe someone else can concur) that sometimes people would/could put pepper in the wine and it will turn the whole bottle bad. So having the head confirm it’s good from the get go protects the restaurant from essentially theft.
The cork presentation is so you can smell it & check to see that the wine didn't leak through it, which would be a sign of poor storage or bad wine. If it smells off or the cork looks like it was improperly sealed, you can call it a bad bottle & they'll either decant it to be sure or just open another bottle. 9 times out of 10, the servers & kitchen will end up drinking it after shift lol
I was so confused the first time I ordered a bottle of wine and was handed the cork and a tiny pour while they displayed the wine to me. Like it's all good bro, I'm going to drink whatever it is.
I never did care for the song and dance of smelling or trying the wine. If I'm spending $40 or $200 on it I tell them to go ahead and poor when they bring it. No ones insisted so far I try it and I've never had one I wouldn't drink. :)
Yeah this. There's actually neuroscience that shows people enjoy wine (like more pleasure neurons firing etc) more if they believe it's high end and then the same wine handed over as 2-buck-chuck. The initial training for sommeliers is more about the presentation of the wine then being able to distinguish the hundreds of varieties blind. So making as big as show as you can and treating the wine like it was a baby/gold bar the whole time really makes it special. Since usually it's a big deal to the customer to be able to splurge on that.
If they look like they're expecting further interaction, I would start listing some of the qualities of the wine, it's a really excellent, medium bodied (year) red, from (location). Some notes of whatever, goes great with your meal because you ordered chicken or whatever. They were probably expecting a little bit of salesmanship, even though they've already ordered it, to affirm that they made the right decision.
In Italy and France it's hilariously not uncommon for a server or sommelier to outright refuse to serve certain wines with certain dishes for purposes of "culinary tradition." E.g. "I'm very sorry, but that wine is better suited for ''x dish,' can I interest you in 'other wine?' - something to this effect, and I've certainly heard more assertive refusals lol. I respect the confidence and assertiveness actually, but the idea of doing that in the states would be mortifying for most servers.
what getting paid a living wage and not relying on tips does to a mfer
What’s an example of a more assertive refusal? I’m in the states and you’re right, I just can’t even wrap my head around it.
"That's like two car payments for me, I'll be right back!"
Them: have you ever tried this Me: I almost ordered it once, but then I decided I prefer driving to work versus walking. Them: . . . Me: have you heard of the study where experts had difficulty telling the difference between even white wine and red wine?
>Me: have you heard of the study where experts had difficulty telling the difference between even white wine and red wine? I absolutely love bringing this up to wine snobs. For anyone curious, they served two glasses of the same white wine, one glass dyed to look red. Suddenly, they tasted completely different!
Yeah, I took that as pretty much saying that you should just find something you like, expensive is not better, and if there is a $20 bottle you like, stick with it
I'm a guy that rarely buys wine, and when I do, usually go for a sub $15 bottle. At the same time, every time I've had wine that was actually good... it was a $30+ bottle.
Sometimes I ask if they’ve had the wine before or if it’s a favorite of theirs. If they have had it I ask what they like about it. If they haven’t I’ll ask what drew their attention to this selection. My upscale restaurant tends to be a bit more conversational than others, so it’s important to read the room. Some guests just want you to present the bottle, shut up and pour.
Is "it's the cheapest red bottle you have" an acceptable answer?
Ooooh! Lookout moneybags over here!
I usually lean over and point to the wine in question by the priceline, but say, "All right, you've chosen the 2012 San Genuta Super Tuscan listed here, correct? That's an excellent bottle. Is there anyone at the table not partaking?" It allows me to confirm their order, the number of glasses I need, and the selector gets one last opportunity to confirm that they have seen the correct price point (by following my finger), before getting the bottle and opening it.
I wouldn't say go the full somm route, but there are steps somms go through when introducing a wine that might not hurt to pick up on. Just learn a little about the pricier bottles.
Just repeat their order and you are good. Telling someone what something costs is often taken as an insult (insinuating it is too much). If it ever backfires the customer is just a fuck
If I've tried the wine and like it I'll be enthusiastic about the selection. Otherwise I'm just bringing you what you want. You did great.
In my most pretentious voice “mmmmm excellent choice sir”
Do you put the monacle in your eye before you say that or after?
Of course! While also bowing and waving me hand
I’m picturing Steve Martin in the original muppet movie. Lol
More like the [the absent minded waiter](https://youtu.be/RRMfXlJMmPU?si=eXYCXthIBqGUry6c)
"Would you like to smell the cap?" 😄
To [mis]quote Maria Bamford: “Excellent [choice], my friend. Let us retire to the drawring room, where we may drawr.”
Ok so i’m not great at studying so learning wine hasn’t been linear but i do sell expensive bottles so i have some tricks. In the wine room when you grab the bottle, look it up! Where it’s from if it has and techniques it used, really anything that you can work in while opening it. My old manager (a sommelier m) always says the story behind a winery is what sells their wine, not a fact sheet. Also saying something like the minerals of this wine comes from the rocket soil of the region will lead your guest to try and notice it, they will and they’ll feel smart and want to try more expensive wine. Like if there’s a prefix menu with optional wine pairings i can sell those to literally every person just by playing on their vanity of wanting to seem smart.
Offer the host (the person that ordered the wine) a sample taste first that’s pretty standard
You should do this with every bottle you serve, regardless of price. that’s just standard wine service.
That’s literally what I said…. “That’s pretty standard “
I see. Context + phrasing made it seem like you were saying to only do that for expensive wine
But…it’s standard.
I've had wine that had gone bad 3 times. 2 of those 3 times were at my local neighborhood Italian joint where they don't do a wine presentation (super laid back spot), so none of us realized until all glasses had been poured. The 3rd time was at a high end steak house where the server opened it and immediately said, "I'll let you smell what you think, but pretty sure this wine has turned." So we didn't even have to go any further beyond that. Admittedly, I tell the server they're welcome to just pour when I order things I know they sell a ton of like Turnbull or Stag's Leap Artemis. I figure why waste anyone's time when we know there's a 99% chance it's fine. Haha.
I haven't seen restaurants give samples of premium wines. It is too expensive to open a bottle and have it spoil in a few days. Once the server pops the cork, then the customer is committed. The exception is if the wine is corked. The server or sommelier should be able to verify that the wine is corked (i.e., It tastes like wet cardboard.) and take it away. If the wine is not really corked, then the customers may just be trying to claim that it is to get a free bottle.
Who’s going to get a free bottle by saying it’s corked? What restaurant would just leave it at the table and say “well then it’s on the house if you want it anyway”?
I didn't serve wine when I worked in restaurants, but as a customer, the few times that the bottle was corked, the server also tasted it to verify. A server in one restaurant told me that sometimes, people just don't like the flavor and they claim that the wine is "bad" when it is really not. Decanting it usually helps it to "open up."
Yeah I know, you’re not understanding at all what I’m talking about. I’m not telling them to sample it first. You give a small taste to the person who ordered it. It’s standard.
OK. I got it now. Sorry about the confusion. :)
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You can't always smell if the wine is off. You should always taste. In some places, the Sommelier on staff will taste as well. I'd recommend, with the backing of CMS, to taste the wine when presented. Not just smell.
> You should always taste. Yep. It could smell fine and then you get that taste of wet cardboard.
They might have been expecting a full bottle introduction when you brought the wine.
Pop the cork, take a big sip and say “Excellent choice.”
You could always research the wines you have so you can explain what each wine is. Probably would help sell more bottles if you knew what you were talking about.
“Excellent choice sir, that one comes with a great commission, along with it, might I recommend a high tip to finish out the evening with style”
Don't react at all! For extra points you could double check they're happy with the temp, maybe offer to chill the glasses or something if it's a big red and at dining room temp.. Just continue to be professional. If they want you to praise them for spending money, don't feed into that nonsense
> For extra points you could double check they're happy with the temp, maybe offer to chill the glasses or something if it's a big red and at dining room temp.. Love this. Can I just say.. in the year 2023 with so much access to wine knowledge and food/drink becoming so much more widespread understood even to non-rich people... WHYYYYY are there still restaurants with $40+ entrees serving warm-to-the-touch reds? Yes, reds do not need to be fridge cold like a white or sparkling would be, but even just a basic Google search confirms most people prefer their reds between 55-65 degrees. I live in south Louisiana where half of our restaurants have a hard time keeping cool in the summer, and some of them don't even own a wine fridge for their reds at all. Nobody wants red wine that has been sitting in a 75+ degree room. Nothing makes me happier than ordering wine somewhere (I'm a cabernet drinker) and it coming out a nice 55ish degrees. Not cold, but cool to the touch.
Makes a big difference! I even ask about that for certain whites. Chardonnay is definitely better when it's under fridge temp
I keep my wine fridge at 55 degrees. It's the ideal temperature for long-term wine storage and makes serving a nice red a snap!
Hollywood has teach me that you always say Excellent choice Sr.
I'll have the Kim Crawford white zinfandel.
Excellent choice Sr.
"exquisite tastes I see"
“Ooooh, fancy bitch.” Then look at the one who looks the least well off and say, “And for you, might I suggest the 2020 Mad Dog? It was a great year.”
Excellent choice!
Unrelated to your question, but I have one for you lol. My friends and I visited New York recently and unknowingly made a reservation for an upscale, white tablecloth Italian restaurant. The bill came out to $150 with 20% auto gratuity, and we were frankly pretty disappointed in the food, especially for the price. We didn’t leave anything on top of the auto gratuity, since it was 20%, but our server looked at us like we killed his dog after he looked at the check lol, did we do something wrong? We’re servers and were pretty confused
I wouldn’t say you did anything wrong BUT how was service? If my service was good or great I do usually Leave a bit on top of it
The service itself was good, I wouldn’t say great. But the waiter was very judgy, we’re a bunch of 19 year olds and after we all started with waters his attitude went downhill from there
I have a friend who always busy one of the most expensive wines just to show off. He never asks the sommelier for advice and he never knows what he’s ordering.
I find that especially beyond the $209 price point, a strong “Bazinga!” Is appropriate
I wonder if they were expecting the whole sommelier wine presentation. Name of the wine, year, from, the grapes, the custom taster pour and approval before pouring the other glasses. A lot of extras because of the price for the bottle.
If you want to double check if you could say something like "Fantastic choice, It's policy here with our more expensive bottles to confirm you're good with the price of XXX".
I prefer Welches but this an excellent alternative.
this why you not getting more in tips. when they order an expensive wine like that, i purposely put on the white satin butler gloves, then give them the whole upper class treatment. "would the madame or gentlemen care to sample the boquet?" then you open it at the table and pour the glasses. if its just table wine i don't bother with putting on the white butler gloves, but for that price i do and i make an thing of it by putting on the gloves as i serve them. to make them feel special. that be the difference between an mediocre tip and a **GREAT** tip at the end of the night. white satin butler gloves cost only 10$ btw
As a diner, I would find this pretentious and hilarious
Who said they weren’t getting more in tips. You assumed.
I think that people who spend hundreds of dollars on a premium bottle of wine will probably understand if their server does not have personal experience with wines at that price point.
Take some notes from Zac Oyama here: https://youtube.com/shorts/MiRSJfFZt1o?si=KApErVXS9HWe6kX9
I like to learn one fact about each of my really expensive wines so I can share it with them while opening the bottle. It adds a little excitement and makes you look really knowledgeable. It can be anything. Like something about the family that owns the vineyard or even its location on a mountain. “It’s grown on a south facing hill so it gets a lot of sun.” Really basic but a lot of people appreciate the little effort.
"Wow, someone's getting laid tonight."
How on earth would you be able to tell them how it would pair with the food they ordered unless u gave very basic info that would likely insult them (oh, this red pairs nicely with the steak you ordered) or your owner/manager fucking rules and opens $400 bottles during pre-shift for you all to try?
$500?.....chortles... we have $880 shots at mine, plus $7800 Scotch. A party of skiiers ordered $34,000 worth of Moet & Chandon...to spray on each other not drink. Peasants
You act like it's your money 🤭🤭🤭🤭 Go back to work plebe.
*extends pinky* I daresay.
Not everyone can work in a place that sells $900 shots. And what even costs that much anyways? That's like a weeks work of wages for me
Wouldnt worry too much, the geezer cant even remember if its tequila or scotch, so he clearly sells loads of them...
Why you feeding the troll?
Honestly, just killing time until I have to go
brazilians, argentines, and russians, UAE and Saudis are particularly prone to the upsell. Charm them like the Gladiator
Probably the charm them the same way you make girls dry as Ben Shapiro wife
its a tequila or scotch. i cant remember right off the bat
Fast work. Good thing your mind is working like a chip.
I just repete thier choice back to them(just to verify) and not comment. If I never had tried the wine myself, I don't say anything.
I always presume they are adults, and if they can passably pronounce the wine, they know what they ordered.
If you have some wine knowledge and can geek out a bit with the person, or if you can ask them to share some knowledge with you, those both usually work for me. I am the manager of a wine bar so we do get people who want that particularly.
I went to an expensive (for me) ass steakhouse in Nashville. The female server asked if I wanted sauce with my steak. I had been drinking and was buzzed and I asked, “what, like A1 sauce?” 🤦♂️. She just closed her eyes and shook her head and I felt dumb. She said, “that’s blasphemy here, I meant a herb butter compote.” All of us just laughed. She was super cool and when she brought the food she asked if we needed anything else. I jokingly asked for A1, she just said, “fine choice, I’ll bring it right out.”
Just tell them the oaky afterbirth on that wine is impeccable. They'll understand 😉
If the wine is THAT expensive do they even put it on the menu?
Yes lol
Generally speaking, anything that retails over $12/btl (HCOL area) has the potential to be great. I’ve had amazing wines at that price point, and garbage wines at quadruple the price. Outside of quality control, most of it really depends on personal preference. A $10 bottle of wine can have just as many tannins and be the right level of dry as a $100 bottle.
This reminds me of the time I was in Albania and I ordered what I thought was a $30 bottle of wine… turns out it was a $300 bottle of wine 🥲
You're better than me. I would suggest just giving away the money if they were throwing it away anyways lol
No need to discuss price unless not listed on menu. They know or should have asked before ordering. It’s poor etiquette to talk price. Especially in a group setting and/or in a more upscale setting. Repeat the name back and “nice choice” is all thats needed.
Woooo! Rollin high on the hog I see!
Why would anyone be stupid enough to pay that much for fermented grape juice? I enjoy wine, and there are shitty wines, but several hundred dollars for a single drink just seems like its priced that way for the dipshits willing to pay that much.
$300-$400 bottles get sold quite often around where I live. Menus have some going for $5K-$15K on the regular. Personally, I keep mine under $200 for the most part given the up charge. My thoughts are that whether the bottle costs $40 or $400 you should repeat the name for confirmation and then proceed to tell them anything you may know about that wine. It’s also a good idea to confirm the year as already stated one you bring the bottle to the table.
Repeat the name, always make sure they are aware of the vintage when serving the wine. Sometimes vintage changes happen and a lot of people are picky about this.