Am curious the group POV on opening your BYO ahead of time, to decant and /or check that prize bottle yourself ahead of time or does this offend the Somm? If you do, do you replace orig cork or use a stopper?
Depends but most of the time I open in advance to make sure it’s not corked and decant it off the sediment, rinse the bottle out, return the wine to bottle, and replace the original cork.
If I’ve ever offended anyone by doing so, they’ve hidden it well, though most of them wouldn’t be considered somms, certainly not full-time somms.
In less common situations, I’ve brought bottles unopened, dropped them off the day before for the house to open the next day, or even shown up early to open bottles myself with the staff alongside.
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I normally open ahead of time. Depends on the condition of the cork on how I recork. Most of what I open is quite mature so the cork isn’t always in great shape. If not opened ahead then I bring a back-up.
No somm has ever complained that I gave them less work to do.
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I’ve never had a problem with double decanting or even just popping the cork ahead of time. It’s pretty much standard for Rhone-varietals.
One flag for you - make sure that you’re transporting the opened bottle in the trunk of your car and/or some place out of reach of the driver. Once you pull the cork, it’s considered an open container (at least that’s what I was told here in WA state).
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for the first time ever, i got the “we can’t let you bring an open bottle in here” at rustic canyon in LA a few weeks ago. (decanted at home and recorked it)
i was giddy with excitement because i’ve only heard about this happening but never experienced in personally.
his explanation is that while not a hard-and-fast rule it’s at the managers discretion. so i asked if he could make an exception, given his discretion, and he agreed.
it was all rather entertaining / fascinating
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Unless the bottle is pop and pour, I will open the bottle at home to check for defects. I generally use the original cork but if that’s not possible I will use a stopper or different cork. I have never had a restaurant refuse to let me reopen the bottle. If I do want to pop and pour, I generally bring a backup as a matter of etiquette and wanting to drink good wine.
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I live in Orange County, CA (very friendly for BYO). I always ask whether I can bring a recorked/double decanted bottle if I am considering doing so. No one has said no (I assume a main reason is that those restaurants have a somm and are pretty wine-savvy). Find it safer to ask first, especially with an older nicer bottle that you may need to end up drinking at home after dinner when I would rather have nothing or a night cap.
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I nearly always open the wine at home unless I’m bringing a couple of options and not sure which will be opened. But if I know it’s going to be opened, I always open and double decant if applicable. But it’s not really to check if corked, mostly because any proper bottle is going to need air to show and I want to give it proper due.
People always talk about issues with the restaurant, but I’ve had no issues bringing open bottles anywhere I frequent in GA and didn’t have issues in NYC either.
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In CA, it’s illegal to bring an open container into a restaurant. Most restaurants don’t enforce this.
that’s really interesting. can you point me to the source for this info?
Common knowledge for me, since I was ITB. I’m sure it’s somewhere on the ABC website.
are you actually sure?
There is no code section or regulation that prohibits a patron from bringing a previously opened bottle of wine into a restaurant in California.
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todd really needs to start charging people to post here.
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I was trained with this info, but perhaps the law has changed? It had something to do with open containers. I really don’t care to look this up, but if you know the ABC regulations, I’ll defer.
There’s no reason for you to be a smart ass when someone is trying to help you. Welcome to my ignore button.
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The open container law applies to having an open container in the passenger compartment in an automobile. During the pandemic, California legalized the ability of patrons to take opened bottles out of restaurants. Those anecdotal stories you quote are more indicative of (1) poor training or (2) more likely a restaurant policy. Restaurants are free to make their own byo policies that comply with laws. They should just state that it is against their policy.
I’ve researched it and found nothing, which I confirmed with the lawyer who handled licensing and CUPs for Amazon when we built an Amazon Fresh.
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correct. no one should feel bad about being wrong on this issue (or any issue for that matter).
given the ubiquity of the practice by diners, and especially those on this wine board, it’s certainly worth having the actual facts out there.
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Yes. At least gives you a fighting chance to retort. But usually the establishment will double down with either:
That is what they were told.
It’s their policy.
It’s a health code violation (that’s a new one)
It’s not allowed in (insert state name here). Sometimes this is correct depending on the state
Bring a mallet with you in your trunk and tamp it down if all else fails. Some folks do this at home ahead of time to avoid issues.
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exactly! calling in advance def makes things easier, but not a guarantee.
btw, it’s not illegal in NY either.
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