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Etiquette for Sending Wine Back

C

cbuchach

Golden Member
I went out to dinner last Saturaday and ordered a bottle of Cona Sur Pinot Noir. It was brought to the table, decanted, and I tasted it. I could tell when she was pouring it that the color was a bit off. I tasted it and it had a good flavor but had a slight bite after swallowing. I was expecting something smoother and the thought crossed my mind of sending it back for another selection (probably more expensive). But I didn't want to look like a snob. I know a bit about wine and have sampled many many different types, but of course restaurants usually serve many that I have never heard of and it is a bit of a crap shoot.

Has anyone ever sent a bottle back? What does the restaurant do with the opened bottle? What is the etiquette?
 
The conditions you described were NOT justification for sending a wine bottle back. A "slight bite" can be a positive attribute in many wines, and even if it were unpleasant (e.g. too tannic perhaps), that's not justification for sending it back. You can (or at least should) only send it back if it shows a fault in the wine itself. This could include being madeirized, oxidized, corked, etc.
 
If it has turned and you do not accept then simply send it back.

If it does not have the flavor you wish then you drink it if it was corked at your table.

I've turned bottles back because they were complete crap and just not right. You tongue will tell you. But because it isn't a good match is on your shoulders, not the restaurant.
 
Also, I should note that I've sent probably a dozen or more bottles back in my winedrinking history. The bottles were either corked or worse. In one case I had to send an Italian Nebbiolo back to the sommelier at a trendy restaurant in Atlanta only to be told, "That's how the Italians make it." The wine was distinctinly sulfuric, and having made a few hundred gallons of wine in my time I know when sulfur makes its way into a wine, and it's never on purpose.
 
OK, that does help. So don't send it back if I just don't care for it much (that is my fault) and only if it is damaged or faulty (their fault). That is good advice as I would have then looked like a complete ass if I had sent it back.
 
Originally posted by: Descartes
Also, I should note that I've sent probably a dozen or more bottles back in my winedrinking history. The bottles were either corked or worse. In one case I had to send an Italian Nebbiolo back to the sommelier at a trendy restaurant in Atlanta only to be told, "That's how the Italians make it." The wine was distinctinly sulfuric, and having made a few hundred gallons of wine in my time I know when sulfur makes its way into a wine, and it's never on purpose.
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Same here, I've probably sent back 6 wines.

Italians are tart, but sulfuric and crunchy is bad.
 
Originally posted by: cbuchach
OK, that does help. So don't send it back if I just don't care for it much (that is my fault) and only if it is damaged or faulty (their fault). That is good advice as I would have then looked like a complete ass if I had sent it back.
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That's correct.

The whole smelling of the cork crap is bogus. Take your sip, nose it, swash it, it it tastes like ass then send it back.

But that rarely happens.
 
This is why you should drink beer. You can check the born on date, if its not a good blend, 12 ozs and $3 later you get to start over.
 
Originally posted by: bctbct
This is why you should drink beer. You can check the born on date, if its not a good blend, 12 ozs and $3 later you get to start over.
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😀 :beer: :thumbsup:
 
Originally posted by: bctbct
This is why you should drink beer. You can check the born on date, if its not a good blend, 12 ozs and $3 later you get to start over.
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Real beer drinkers won't drink the sh!t A-B brews with RICE! Now I'm not saying only drink beer from European Abbeys, but Sam Adams is one of the best non-macro brew beer that you can get nearly everywhere. Local breweries FTW!
 
Originally posted by: Jawo
Originally posted by: bctbct
This is why you should drink beer. You can check the born on date, if its not a good blend, 12 ozs and $3 later you get to start over.
Click to expand...

Real beer drinkers won't drink the sh!t A-B brews with RICE! Now I'm not saying only drink beer from European Abbeys, but Sam Adams is one of the best non-macro brew beer that you can get nearly everywhere. Local breweries FTW!
Click to expand...

Just checking out Sam Adams Summer Ale right now 🙂

Good info from Descartes, as always :thumbsup:
 
Originally posted by: Mo0o
That's why you gotta check the date on your box of wine before drinking!
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Watch out. You can now get good wines for cheap from a box.

Sure they aren't great wines, but they are decent due to the glut of grapes. There are really good wines out there for cheap, and they are in a box.
 
Originally posted by: bctbct
This is why you should drink beer. You can check the born on date, if its not a good blend, 12 ozs and $3 later you get to start over.
Click to expand...

born on date, are you serious? try some real beer and get back to us.
 
Normally I just spew out whatever I happened to pitch into my gaping maw, throw the remainder of the glass into the face of the closest waiter, and demand that they take back their "pig swill" and bring me something that wouldn't make a sailor vomit.
 
Not sure if this is what caused the "bite" but many pinot noir wines are better without decanting.
 
Originally posted by: spidey07
Originally posted by: Mo0o
That's why you gotta check the date on your box of wine before drinking!
Click to expand...

Watch out. You can now get good wines for cheap from a box.

Sure they aren't great wines, but they are decent due to the glut of grapes. There are really good wines out there for cheap, and they are in a box.
Click to expand...

Wine, good wine, never comes from a box, never.

As for the OP's question, I would simply return it. If the wine isn't to your tasting you have every right to send it back. Just let your server know it's not what you thought it would be. Since it's a trendy restaurant and not a smaller local type, the money they could possibly loose on the bottle won't make a difference. Now, if it was a smaller operation type, I would definitely keep the bottle.
 
The only time I would send wine back is if it was corked and I have yet to come across that in a restaurant. I often wish I would, even once.
 
Its just like food. If the entree you ordered just isn't the right match for your palate, you're stuck with it. If the entree you ordered is spoiled (overcooked, undercooked, cold, covered in arm hair) you send it back. You drink wine you don't like, you send back wine that is corked or otherwise spoiled. If its beer you send it back if its oxidized or light struck, not because its yucky. Mmmmm beer.
 
Originally posted by: Cdubneeddeal
Wine, good wine, never comes from a box, never.

As for the OP's question, I would simply return it. If the wine isn't to your tasting you have every right to send it back. Just let your server know it's not what you thought it would be. Since it's a trendy restaurant and not a smaller local type, the money they could possibly loose on the bottle won't make a difference. Now, if it was a smaller operation type, I would definitely keep the bottle.
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Maybe you didn't mean it that way, but your response comes across to me as incredibly snobby.

If you "have every right" to send back a bottle because you don't like the taste, why would it make any difference what kind of restaurant it is? Sounds like you feel that if you are at a trendy place, it's OK to act the wine snob because they expect it.

If the wine is bad, it's bad and has to go back no matter what type of place it is. If you don't like the taste, it's on you, no matter what type of place it is. I can't imagine ANY restaurant thinks it's appropriate to toss out a $30 bottle of wine simply because the customer thought it would taste different than it did.
 
Originally posted by: kranky
Originally posted by: Cdubneeddeal
Wine, good wine, never comes from a box, never.

As for the OP's question, I would simply return it. If the wine isn't to your tasting you have every right to send it back. Just let your server know it's not what you thought it would be. Since it's a trendy restaurant and not a smaller local type, the money they could possibly loose on the bottle won't make a difference. Now, if it was a smaller operation type, I would definitely keep the bottle.
Click to expand...

Maybe you didn't mean it that way, but your response comes across to me as incredibly snobby.

If you "have every right" to send back a bottle because you don't like the taste, why would it make any difference what kind of restaurant it is? Sounds like you feel that if you are at a trendy place, it's OK to act the wine snob because they expect it.

If the wine is bad, it's bad and has to go back no matter what type of place it is. If you don't like the taste, it's on you, no matter what type of place it is. I can't imagine ANY restaurant thinks it's appropriate to toss out a $30 bottle of wine simply because the customer thought it would taste different than it did.
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Not really snobby just that little restaurants cannot suffer the loss of an item as much as a larger restaurant can. Maybe I am a little snobby but if I'm paying $30 for a bottle of wine I expect it to be good.
 
Originally posted by: spidey07
Originally posted by: cbuchach
OK, that does help. So don't send it back if I just don't care for it much (that is my fault) and only if it is damaged or faulty (their fault). That is good advice as I would have then looked like a complete ass if I had sent it back.
Click to expand...

That's correct.

The whole smelling of the cork crap is bogus. Take your sip, nose it, swash it, it it tastes like ass then send it back.

But that rarely happens.
Click to expand...

Smelling the cork is bunk but inspecting the cork is not.
 
Originally posted by: Cdubneeddeal
Originally posted by: spidey07
Originally posted by: Mo0o
That's why you gotta check the date on your box of wine before drinking!
Click to expand...

Watch out. You can now get good wines for cheap from a box.

Sure they aren't great wines, but they are decent due to the glut of grapes. There are really good wines out there for cheap, and they are in a box.
Click to expand...

Wine, good wine, never comes from a box, never.
Click to expand...

The same thing could be said about screw top wines not too long ago. Spidey's right, they aren't great wines by any stretch of the imagination but there are some good wines available in boxes now.
 
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