Bad Wine Etiquette

[robin]

Originally Posted by grunhauser

Don't send it back, the host will hold it against you and you will never be invited again. You will likely be saying goodbye to "order whatever you want" forever. I think a sip or two of the spoiled wine is a small price to pay for such generous set up. And how "bad" can that bad wine be anyway? Consider larger bites of food to mask whatever deficiencies the wine might exhibit and follow up with ice tea mouth rinses when the host is not watching.
I'm guessing you've never tried wine from a corked bottle.

 

[Piobaire]

Why not simply drop a crumb of food in it when no one is looking and send it back for that? Or just "accidentally" spill the damn glass? Or excuse yourself from the table and walk off with the wine, to simply return without it? Or say you meant another wine or that this is not the wine you ordered?

Also:

A) What did you do?
B) Interesting choice for a first post.

 

[robin]

Originally Posted by Piobaire

Why not simply drop a crumb of food in it when no one is looking and send it back for that? Or just "accidentally" spill the damn glass? Or excuse yourself from the table and walk off with the wine, to simply return without it? Or say you meant another wine or that this is not the wine you ordered?
Those are all bad choices in my opinion.

 

[hossoso]

Bad wine etiquette = straws. Yes, even crazy straws.

 

[romafan]

Originally Posted by grunhauser

You can't just send the wine back nowadays, you must sell it to the waiter why you chose to do so. In this particular case, assuming all were drinking the same wine, the invitee could not have sent the wine back. ( and I am not even getting in the ridiculousnesses of ordering by the glass; everyone knows this section on the list is for special people and the wines really have no names or vintages, just color; you send it back, it ends up at the table next to you, and vice versa) Once the person who orders and pays for the beverage started to enjoy the said beverage, you can't send it back, it's just too late. You don't have to drink it, but it's too late to voice your opinion and announce the wine is rotten.

Originally Posted by grunhauser

Don't send it back, the host will hold it against you and you will never be invited again. You will likely be saying goodbye to "order whatever you want" forever. I think a sip or two of the spoiled wine is a small price to pay for such generous set up. And how "bad" can that bad wine be anyway? Consider larger bites of food to mask whatever deficiencies the wine might exhibit and follow up with ice tea mouth rinses when the host is not watching.

Good answers. Whenever my mother-in-law complains that "the wine has turned", my father-in-law says "that's OK, just drink it fast".

Seriously, if everyone is drinking wine by the glass chances are your host isn't even drinking your wine, let alone wine from the same bottle. Just discreetly tell the wine steward and ask for another glass. Or claim you've decided to switch to white.

 

[Piobaire]

Originally Posted by robin

Those are all bad choices in my opinion.

Okay, I'm back to the spit-take then.

 

[grunhauser]

Originally Posted by robin

I'm guessing you've never tried wine from a corked bottle.


You are correct, I don't drink corked wines. I've sat through dinner once though, with straight face, when people refused to dump the wine even though it was obviously corked. I felt bad they were drinking it and took back my initial "corked" verdict, then apologized, authorizing consumption under "100% Mexican Oak" umbrella instead.

 

[carlhuber]

As a host the only thing that would offend me is finding out later that a guest of mine suffered through either:
1) drinking turned wine because they didn't want to hurt my feelings
2) not drinking any wine at all because they didn't want to hurt my feelings

The host paid plenty for wine and your choice. It's obvious that if they're a geniune person their only concern is your satisfaction. On the other hand, if they're showing off their money then screw 'em and get a good glass of wine out of the deal. In any case, never suffer spoiled food. As others said, if you brought it up with class then there's no reason for anyone to be offended. It's not like it was his personal wine cellar. Now if you were a real jerk about it the fault would be on your head...some people are just scum about things like that.

 

[Brian278]

Originally Posted by grunhauser

You are correct, I don't drink corked wines. I've sat through dinner once though, with straight face, when people refused to dump the wine even though it was obviously corked. I felt bad they were drinking it and took back my initial "corked" verdict, then apologized, authorizing consumption under "100% Mexican Oak" umbrella instead.

Does anybody know what this means?

 

[Dewey]

If one is an older, mature man, there should be no trouble sending the wine back. I was puzzled by the question, but then realized that I might be afraid to send the wine back if I was 24 and my host was, say, my girlfriend's father. It's possible that you could upstage the older men with a display of wine sensibility that they would find unbecoming in a young man.

That's about the only scenario when I think it might be prudent to conceal one's dissatisfaction with the wine.

Even then, I still think the young man could ask for another glass in a manner that was unobtrusive and invisible to the older men ... perhaps rising from the table, with the wine in hand, and requesting the exchange at the bar ?

 

[carlhuber]

Originally Posted by Brian278

Does anybody know what this means?


Maybe "corked" is being used as slang for, um, bad? "Oh man that tuna sandwich that was left out in the sun for five hours is totally corked!"

 

[robin]

Wikipedia to the rescue! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cork_taint

 

[grunhauser]

http://forums.winespectator.com/eve/...eqWords=corked

 

[Concordia]

A corked wine is pretty easy to spot even without tasting. If the server looks even slightly knowledgeable, call him/her over quietly and ask if he/she could check out the glass because it might be corked.

If it's the sort of place where the servers wouldn't have a clue, then there's not much hope. After all, the replacement glass might be just as bad.

 

[Piobaire]

Originally Posted by Brian278

Does anybody know what this means?
I'm with Brian on this. I think most of us know what "corked" means (a mouldy, musty scent in the wine that is obnoxious but harmless, from a fungi on the cork, which also imparts a bad taste), but the post Brian refers to does not make much sense. Why would people stare at wine vs. getting it returned and then suddenly decide to drink it because someone makes a mildly offensive comment regarding the nature of the off smell of the wine?