BYOB question

My husband and I found a restaurant in St. Petersburgh that allowed BYOB for a $10.00 corkage fee. We brought a bottle of CdP to drink. Our waitress was really having a terrible time with the cork. In fact she only pulled the top half out initially and then went back for the bottom half. Fortunately none of the cork broke off into the bottle…but what if it had? How does this work, as the BYOB is a fairly new thing for me and I am learning the etiquette. Thanks!

Ally… whenever we go to a BYOB, we open the bottle(s) at home, and decant if necessary.
That way, the wait staff at the restaurant isn’t on the hook.

That’s a good idea Bud. We were actually on vacation though, but next time I am bringing my own corkscrew…just not in my carry on!

I will usually let them open my younger bottles but I like to open my older bottles. I just bring an ah so with me. Most of the time I bring a variety of bottles as I’m not sure what I’m ordering so I don’t open at home but that’s a good idea if you know what you are matching.

Usually the wait staff does a fine job with wine service at most of the restaurants that have a corkage policy. I do remember one particular time where the waitress obviously had no idea how to use her waiter’s friend. I watched her struggle for a bit on the first bottle (I had brought 3) and courteously asked if she would mind if I opened the rest. She gladly accepted the offer. Some wait staff might feel insulted, but I don’t care, it’s my bottle and I hate when the cork is crumbled into the bottle. Luckily the cork being pushed into the bottle has never happened to me at a restaurant. I don’t know what I would do. Probably ask for a careful decant through a strainer or something.

The better the bottle the lesser the place that I am at is known for handling bottles the more I will make sure someone at the table or myself pop the bottle, and, if its a younger bottle, it was opened at home to breathe.

BYOC - Bring Your Own Corkscrew

IT’s the only way to be sure, unless you are going to a very upscale place.

I eat at BYOB’s quite frequently and usually have already opened the bottle at home and double decanted by the time I get to the restaurant but if not, I always open them myself. I had a rare bottle of wine broken by a waiter at a BYOB once and since then I never let any restaurant employees touch my wine.

Well dang Tom, I’m not surprised. When I lived in Waco, a waitress we had first tried to find the pull tab on a bottle we brought. All of a sudden her eyes lit up as she figured it out. After about a minute of trying to unscrew and pull of the capsule, she apologized and said she didn’t have the strength to open the bottle.

One word of caution here, because I had a problem bringing an opened and re-corked (still full) bottle into a nicer restaurant in Portland, OR. I was told, apologetically, by the hostess that you can’t legally bring an “open container” into a restaurant in Oregon.

I didn’t bother arguing because it wasn’t a super-special bottle, just one that would benefit with air. And fortunately I had a second, unopened, bottle with me that we decanted at the table.

I haven’t had a definitive source confirm the hostess’s interpretation of Oregon’s open-container law (or lack thereof), but I would advise that you check with the restaurant ahead of time regarding their policy, especially if you’re considering opening or decanting a really special bottle yourself, before you arrive.

Every time I don’t open my own bottle, I am reminded why I should. Often I will double decant and VacuVin, bringing it to the restaurant. Last night I let the (alleged) sommelier open the bottle. He tipped it almost on its side to study the label, then turned it on its side to insert the corkscrew, turned the bottle several times while pulling the cork and thoroughly dispersed the sediment. It is almost as if they purposely try to f*** it up.
alan

In many States, you also can’t legally drive to the resto with an open container

I have wondered at what point does a wine bottle with a cork in it count as an “open container”?

You bought it with a cork in it and brought it home. Surely it wasn’t an “open container” then. What’s the difference if I put the cork in it myself?

The notion of “open container” is pretty obvious with a can of beer, perhaps even with a screwtop bottle of wine, but what is the legal definition with a cork?

Being neither an attorney nor a law enforcement office, i’ll wade in anyway. I suspect that a recorked bottle of wine is an open container if the officer that stops you decides that it is. So, probably very little risk if you’re a sober, considerate driver. I am the former and try to be the latter, but I’m still worried that the risk isn’t worth it for the reward. I’ll drink my bottles that require a long decant at home.

I thought I read once that in PA it was OK if it was in the trunk of your car.

I don’t know the law, but that seems correct from a pragmatic point of view. No one is going to look in the trunk unless you do something really crazy or are wearing a hoodie.

I think PA now has a ‘doggie bag’ law, so I suppose that re-corked and sealed in a plastic bag is not ‘open’.

Of course, the bottle must have been purchased from the PLCB to be legal.

But once you’re in the restaurant, who gives a shit? They are not responsible for what you did driving around before you got there. I am not a lawyer, but that is what I would think. My guess is that waitress was totally misinterpreting what her responsibilities are.

I would be astounded if the police worried where you bought the bottle. If they wanted to pay attention to illegal imports into the state, there are a few places in DE and NJ they would be staking out.

I travel with an Ah-So … fine for carry on.

Jason