I believe in Missouri, one must technically have the establishment open the bottle. Most restaurants are pretty confused by their own corkage policy here, and I’ve encountered the entire spectrum of “do whatever you like” to “we must open everything.”
I guess one could always say it’s homemade wine bottled in a used bottle, and you promise that’s what it looks like “unopened” 
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same in Utah
BTW, it is NOT legal to travel around with a bottle that has been previously opened. But I Uber to restaurants, so it’s not my problem since I’m not driving 
I called the restaurant I am going to on Saturday and they confirmed I can bring an “open” bottle as long as it “has a cork in it.” I doubt that means the cork needs to be completely re-inserted because most people cannot accomplish that. I think the issue here (South Florida) would be more restaurants being difficult and not a state law matter. I recall reading elsewhere on WB someone recommending using an ah-so type opener instead of a traditional corkscrew.
It is in many States as long as it is out of reach. Hence reps put winebags in back seat or trunk/bed of car/truck.
This has recently become a bigger issue at least I’m and around Portland from my experience. I’ve decanted a few wines earlier this year and I wasn’t allowed to open them at the restaurant (with OLCC regulations being cited). So, now, I just go with the flow and have it opened at the restaurant for better, for worse
I would be surprised. The liquid doesn’t move that much at the bottom when it’s mostly full. Maybe if he turned it upside down and shook it. If you drove over there that evening, it got rattled around enough to move the liquid somewhat also. Maybe it was slightly less than ideal, but I rather doubt it “ruined” your prep.
That said we frequent places that don’t touch our bottles unless requested. They still charge us full corkage for doing nothing, but I can live with that.
Turning a full bottle horizontal is absolutely enough to stir up sediment. And nebbiolo and pinot sediment seems to be particularly fine – in contrast to cabernet and syrah sediment.
But you’re right that driving it over can also stir up a lot of sediment. I’ve been to tastings and dinners where people brought old Burgundies upright on the subway that were very cloudy and astringent because of suspended sediment.
By the way, I would be OK with a waiter decanting out of sight, but I would definitely be uncomfortable if they took the bottle off site.
I keep thinking this too…like, how far away is the kitchen at this place?!
Sounds like Portland continues to maintain its focus on the most important quality of life issues.
There are several exceptions to New Jersey’s open container law. For example, open containers may be legally kept in the trunk of a vehicle or behind the backseat of a vehicle that does not have a trunk compartment. In addition, passengers may consume alcohol in legally authorized limousines and buses. Lastly, alcohol may be consumed in the living area of a motorhome or house trailer provided the vehicle is not in operation.
Ok, I’ll amend. Ruined is not the correct term.
The waiter further disturbed the prep that was already already compromised by the drive over to the restaurant.
The trunk is the safe spot.
Had the same thing happen to me at Sparks steakhouse in Manhattan. Learned my lesson. Never going back and now I always open myself.
I probably open way more wine than a server at a given restaurant. Why would I let a stranger open my prized bottle for me?
First, as I said explicitly, he was a waiter, not a somm. But, second and more importantly, I cannot believe that a somm’s ability to taste a range of wines is signicantly related the availability to him or her of wines brought in by customers. If so, I expect that they are all sadly narrow in their experience. Finally, if restaurants want their wait staff to be knowledgeable about their wine list, they need to have them taste their wines in some organized way. I once had an administrative aide who, before she started to work for the university, had worked at Restaurant Nora in DC–back when Nora Pouillon was still there. She describe dinners for the waitstaff before the restaurant opened at which one or two wines new to the list would be tasted and discussed. And, finally, I can definitely see why restaurants would not want their waitstaff–or their somms for that matter–to be perceived as hoping for tastes. And forbidding them to take them would be the easiest way to avoid that.
A few years ago, I brought bottles into a restaurant. I had already decanted it, and the restaurant and I had a $25 corkage agreement which I was fine with, and the owner always got to taste the wine.
One day the owner was out, and I brought in my bottle and gave a taste to the waiter. It was his birth year he later told me, and you could see the light going off as he drank it. Years later, he is a friend and a somm, and still talks about that first bottle, a Roumier Cras 2002.
I am sorry there are states/restaurants where you can’t share wine. It is a convivial hobby, and sharing and talking about wines with those who are interested, is one of its great pleasures.
in NY and NJ, there is a solicitor’s permit that you need to have a sales rep, which does allow for the transport of open bottles.
I didn’t think you could travel with it behind the backseat if it’s open.
So how old exactly was this waiter when he tasted the 2002 birth year wine some years ago? 