Long wine lists can be daunting. Beyond the hard-to-pronounce names and esoteric grape varieties, the hefty price tags on restaurant bottle menus add extra pressure to make the right choice. So when you spend extensive time and effort selecting a $100 bottle that ends up disappointing, it hurts a little more than picking a $10 appetizer that didn’t quite hit.
If you find yourself saddled with a wine that really isn’t for you, what can you do? After the bottle hits your table, is it a sunk cost or can you ask to try something different? VinePair tapped Patrick Kattner, head sommelier at NYC Italian restaurant Foul Witch, to share some advice on how to handle this tricky situation.
Technically, once you order a bottle, you’re committed to it. When a somm brings it over for you to taste it, that’s actually to check for flaws, not delectability. But if you’re really not enjoying what you ordered, Kattner suggests speaking to the somm or server helping you. That way, you can figure out the best solution together.
“Honesty is always the best policy here,” he says. “The server is on your side. At the end of the day, we want you to have a good time and drink something you’ll actually enjoy.”
If you do decide to bring the issue up, it’s important to do it with respect. “Be clear about what it is you don’t like about the bottle you ordered, and as long as you’re gracious and open to suggestions, they’ll [likely] facilitate getting a bottle more to your liking,” Kattner adds. He also suggests that if it’s proving difficult to find a bottle that suits the whole table, it might be best to switch to the by-the-glass options instead.
“These programs are often built to fulfill all the different wine styles, so pivoting from a bottle you didn’t like to something you can try first is always a great move,” he says.
The situation can also differ based on the selection process. If the sommelier strongly recommended the bottle and influenced your final decision, it’s more likely that they’ll help you pick out something else. On the other hand, if you were adamant about a certain bottle but complained about it upon opening, that might be a different story. In some cases, a server might be able to take the bottle away and sell it by the glass to other guests for the rest of the evening so it doesn’t hurt the establishment’s bottom line. But for some restaurants, that might not be an option, whether it’s based on policy or resources.
So, while the final answer might be “tough luck,” it’s still worth checking to see if a switch might be possible. Wine-focused spots with expansive programs and dedicated sommeliers will likely be more than happy — if asked politely — to help you find something new.
*Image retrieved from nicoletaionescu via stock.adobe.com
