The Wine Knows

A guy in our office endured a faux pas a couple of weeks ago that I'm certain will make you squirm.

This guy - we'll call him "Joe" - doesn't know a lot about wine. He was in a very nice Thai restaurant with his girlfriend. This particular restaurant has a reputation for its great wine list.

He walked over to a wall where many of the wines are displayed and picked out one he thought was priced at $12.50.

Let's stop right here: Most folks who drink a fair bit of wine know they will never find a bottle on a wine list - even in some greasy spoon on a lonely highway - for $12.50. Joe, as I said, is rather naive in the ways of wine.

Turns out that bottle was an older bottle of Leonetti Cellar's Cabernet Sauvignon. No, it wasn't priced for $12.50, but rather $125. Joe didn't catch his mistake until the cork was pulled, so he was stuck with the bottle. Horrified, Joe tried to figure a way out of this predicament. He was looking for something to go with his pad Thai, not prime rib.

Here's where the difference between an OK restaurant and a great one comes into play. The owner stopped by the table and said there wasn't a lot she could do, though she did offer to reduce the price of the wine by $25, a nice gesture. Joe said he appreciated the offer but the error was his and he should pay for his own mistake. He couldn't really afford it, so it would be an expensive lesson. When he got the bill, the owner chose to comp the meal.

That's class.

Meanwhile, Joe still had a half-bottle of Leonetti Cab. He asked me what to do, so I suggested he stop at the grocery on the way home from work, buy some thick ribeyes and grill 'em up. Unfortunately, Joe doesn't have a grill, so the person sitting next to him offered to make him a nice dinner if he'd bring the Leonetti with him. Everyone ended up happy. Well, except for Joe, who still had to pay for his mistake.

He should be happy it wasn't a bottle of Petrus, which would have set him back more than $1,000 at a restaurant.