Recently at lunch at wine-famous 300k cellar (now 1 star) in Paris. Ordered a gorgeous 2000 Dujac CSD that was seriously in the zone. I also ordered a half bottle of Chateau Leflaive 2010 Puligny-Montrachet village to start. Leflaive was premoxed and told Somm this - he then launches into a long discussion of how “[we] have come to accept wines for what they are - and appreciate and enjoy the oxidative notes, butterscotch and other elements as what the wine has become.” I’m not making this up. He also was like [add Gallic shrug], “you ordered a half bottle of 2010 village white Burgundy, what did you expect?” Given that it was Leflaive, he was not wrong. LOL.
Several years ago at a fish restaurant in DC known for being wine friendly and which often hosts wino dinners in the back room. Four of us at dinner and I brought two wines for corkage: a) 2014 Caroline Morey Chassagne, and b) a Rhys 2010 Horseshoe Chardonnay. Sommelier seems slightly annoyed at the fact that I brought wines for corkage, frowns and grabs the Rhys to open and says, “A 2010 California Chardonnay? This is going to be over the hill. What else did you bring?” See the Burgundy and gives us his approval for the Morey. “At least this one will be good.”
He pulls out a Durand and tries to use it to open the Rhys. He is struggling. This goes on for a while. I then notice that he is trying to put the tines of the “ah-so” into the slots on the top of the separate worm (now inserted into the cork) - which is the “storage” position and not the cork extraction position (where the “ah-so” is perpendicular.
I gently (I swear!) suggested he rotate the “ah-so” - I said something like, “I have one of those and I think that you need to rotate the ‘ah-so’ from the corkscrew piece.” Outrage ensued.
“SIR, I HAVE BEEN A SOMMELIER FOR 20 YEARS. i KNOW HOW TO OPEN A BOTTLE OF WINE. MAYBE YOU SHOULD OPEN YOUR OWN WINE.”
I ensured him that I meant no offense, that many of my Durand-owning friends (including me) had tried to put the tines in the storage holes. None of this went well.
“THAT IS NOT HOW IT WORKS! IT GOES THROUGH THE HOLES.”
I felt like we were about to get booted so I apologized. Told him he was right. He struggled and finally got the bottles open, then left. Our friends, who were a non-wino couple were somewhat shocked.
BTW, the 14 Caroline Morey was fine. The 2010 Rhys, however, was fantastic.
There have been threads on here where a person swears he uses it that way. I think probably all or most of us assumed that’s how it worked the first time we tried one, but I don’t really understand how you actually end up sticking with they approach.
I always bring my Durand to any restaurant if I am going to order a late vintage bottle. I recently ordered my birth year wine and the Sommelier, whom I know well and has been doing it for a very long time, made the same mistake with the Durand they had. He was really pleased when I told him I think he needs to try it by going perpendicular to the corkscrew.
You were way, way too nice. I would have asked to see the manager, and told him that you don’t come to a restaurant to be yelled at by someone who has no idea what he is doing despite working twenty years in the industry.
With all the Galloni crap, that seems a minor sin compared to this guy.
Rudely snapping at you like that suggests his skills as a somm have probably been brought into question before so he feels the needs to qualify himself. I am surprised you were so polite about it. I think the instructions you displayed here are actually included when you purchase the durand IIRC.
Another fun little story to share, but actually happened on our way to the restaurant rather than at it. About 15 years ago I was going to vegas with some friends and it was my friend Daves first time going. During the flight I made a comment about how you can buy alcohol at CVS in vegas. He was shocked because we are from NY and you cannot do that in NY.
So I made him a bet. If I am right, you buy a bottle of wine of my choice to bring to dinner, if you’re right i’ll give you a couple hundred bucks (basically equal to what I was going to have him spend on wine).
Strangely, he took the bet despite knowing I have been to vegas before… We drop off our things at our hotel then immediately proceed to CVS. Color me shocked, I was right. I made him buy a bottle of Dom P and said lets open it at the restaurant. We head back to the hotel and connect with the rest of the guys and I tell Dave to go put the Dom in the fridge for now and we’ll grab it later as it is about 11am.
We all go out and gamble etc… It is around 7pm and we are getting ready for dinner. I tell Dave, go grab the Dom. Turns out, Dave put the Dom in the FREEZER not the fridge. The Dom had exploded. There was glass everywhere inside of the freezer. We all got a good laugh out of it as Dave not only lost the bet, but then had the bottle explode.
There used to be a high end steakhouse in Bloomington Minnesota called GREGORY’S - they had a decent wine list, but a very pompous wine steward. The 1978 Heitz Martha’s Vineyard had just been released, and ‘Gregory’s’ had the regular 1978 Heitz Cabernet on their list (this was mid 1980s) for $28.00 The first time I ordered the '78 Heitz Cabernet, they brought us the ‘Martha’s Vineyard’ by mistake. We ended up drinking it - loving it, but the next day I called my sales person from the company that sold Heitz and told him of what happened, and the Wine Stewart swore that they only had the regular bottling. Lets just say I went there 1-2 times a week until we emptied the bin. Pretty sure I drank the whole case over the next couple of months.
I don’t really have much by comparison, but to celebrate our first anniversary (April 2000), we went to France to spend a couple of days in Paris and a couple of days in Provence. Our first night of the trip was in Paris and we ate at Willi’s Wine Bar. We had been a few times and knew it was a great way to ease into a trip to France. Staff speaks English, great wines, food is solid, etc. Looking through the list, I see 91 Chave for some really reasonable price and order a bottle. About 30-40 minutes into our meal, an American couple sits down at the table next to us and at some point we start chatting. He’s clearly not a wine guy, and asks about the wine we have on the table. I offer him a glass and he accepts and proceeds to oooh and ahhh over the wine. He then asked the server to bring a bottle of the 91 Chave for he and his wife and another bottle for my wife and I.
I could go on for days on this issue, but here’s one that comes to mind. For a while, there was a BLT Restaurant in White Plains. I went there with my wife mixed in with the standard steakhouse fare - Jordan, Caymus, The Prisoner, Rombauer, Kistler Les Noissetiers - there was an item that caught my eye. Outpost Grenache. I called the wine waiter over and said that I was surprised that it was on the list. I asked him why they had it. His response was, “To identify people like you.”
Then he walked over to the next table where they ordered Caymus and he said “I knew we had some good wine people at this table!” He got 35% tips from Jay and the other table.
Nah. That would have been insulting to the wine - which was just trying to be understood as a butterscotchy mess. Fortunately, the sommelier was very accepting of the way it was. It was at the Silver Tower.
If it was just the wife….was trying to be polite in front of “company.” Plus, I did bring my own wine. LOL.
But yes, it was pretty rude. That said, every time someone (in my extended DC wino circle) suggests having a wine dinner there, I say “no” or tell them this story. So?
Mike’s story reminds me of one of my father. He was around 80 at the time, probably around 2001, when he went to Paris, and stopped at Willi’s Wine Bar, sitting at the bar, A much younger American couple was at the bar and asked him if he had been to Paris before. He answered yes, in 1945. Recognizing his service, they immediately asked the bartender to give him a glass of the best wine they open by the glass (I think it turned out to be a Pomerol). I hope I can one day pass on the generosity of the American couple.
! I should have asked for two full glasses of Chartreuse in Annecy then 
!