What if a restaurant serves fine wine in a tumbler?

WINE TALK
1

Campo is a new restaurant that opened in Reno. The food is good, although the portions of pasta are tiny. That’s another issue.
The problem I want to discuss about Campo here is that they serve wine in a tumbler. Here’s the wine by the glass I got alongside a water glass.

It’s like I said in my Yelp review of the place. If someone spends $60 on a Giacosa arneis, they are going to want a decent stem to enjoy it. They will serve wine with wine glasses if you buy something off the reserve wine list.
I wouldn’t normally give a rat’s ass about this, except Campo has one of Reno’s better wine list. Honest-to-good fine wine instead of industrial crap with some ties to Gallo or Constellation like so many other restaurants.
Any thoughts about a restaurant that serves wine this way? Suggestions to get them to use stems? Or just bring your own?

2

I would say something (nicely) if you actually care about the place. Otherwise, just BYO stems, which is probably the better option as you would surely provide nicer stems than they would ultimately buy (if they did any at all).

3

OK, I’m a sucker for the faux bistro wine in a tumbler thing. However, I’m only a sucker for it when the wine is a cheaper bistro-fare type of thing (Cotes du Rhone, inexpensive Spanish Garnacha, southern French blends, etc.). Expensive wine in a tumbler (and an overfilled tumbler to boot)? That’s when tumblers lose their charm.

I would politely suggest better glassware for better wines. If they balk, mention you might not be so keen on ordering a $60 arneis in bad glassware and will stick to the house wines until they upgrade. But I’d be polite about it (even though it is your money and you’re the customer).

4

I think that’s ridiculous. I would probably bring my own glasses with the hope that it would embarrass them into providing wine glasses. If it didn’t, I would probably either keep bringing my own or stop going, depending on how much I liked the place.

5

I would say it’s a place to order a $20 bottle of wine not a $60. You could even mention that’s why you’re doing that.

6

This. I’ve had wine served this way in France and Italy, but it’s always a dcent, inexpensive house wine, not something like a Giacosa. Oh and that Arneis looks a bit dark…

[snort.gif]

7

I agree with Brian and Doug. We have 2, 3 and 6 bottle bags for when we BYOB. We’ve carried a stem ware carrier for a year and thought it was for picnics or travelling. Holds 4 or 6 glasses depending on size.

Steve,

PM me with your address and I’ll ship you an early Christmas present. But, you must report the response you get from Campo.

8

Exactly.

Oh and that Arneis looks a bit dark…

[snort.gif]

I believe that’s the fine Reno tap water on the right, the Arneis is on the left.

9

Definitely BYOSW. It is definitely sad and depressing to think about. We have the same general situation at my workplace, although they are wine glasses, not tumblers. Just very crappy wine glasses. And we serve some really great wine, but no matter how hard I try I can’t convince my owner or GM to invest in better glassware.

10

I’ve never been but I recall WS (I think Laube’s column) making a similar complaint about Ad Hoc’s use of tumblers. bad glassware for wine deserving better is a major turnoff. for quaffing I can deal with a tumbler.

11

I called a new restaurant to ask about corkage, and was told that the fee was $25 and warned that all they had was tumblers like this. I appreciate the honesty, but still . . . .

12

Well… if they’re too trendy and hip to provide me with a decent glass I’m probably not cool enough to eat there. Good luck to them.

13

Seriously? You’ve got to be kidding.

Sad? Depressing? Is your life so sheltered that wine in a tumbler is sad or depressing?

I’m sorry folks, but I think you may be overstating your argument a bit. Sure, these tumblers are more appropriate for the lower end wines, but I’d be willing to bet that they could find you some stems if you asked for them. Hell, their website even has a picture of a nice stem standing next to a bottle of wine: http://www.camporeno.com/2011/09/salumi/

But even if they don’t, I think you should resist your temptation to let your inner wine snob rise to the surface. It seems to me like they’re going for the “genuine rustic” experience. Leave the Giacoso at home and order some table wine.

14

I wonder when people will have to BYOF.

15

This happens all the time in many restaurants in France. Especially true where the young local wine is the available drink. If you want stems in a restaurant like you described, you just have to bring your own. We do it all the time at ethnic restaurants that don’t provide stemware.

16

I think many here obsess far too much about stemware in general, however I do agree that tumblers are for house wines.

17

If clean, clear glassware with ample room for aeration, that is fine.

18

they do that at a spanish tapas place here in Dallas that has a nice list of rioja and riberos. It drives me insane. Restaurants should have a reserve of stems for finer wines. It’s really, really easy to identify wine drinkers if you have an educated staff.

For instance, at a great BYO place here in Dallas called Urbano Cafe, the owner/manager seats most folks. As he does, he eyes your wine. If you make his cut, he rolls out big bells on nice stems. If not, you get the smaller, nasty shaped thick glass chianti glasses. Cracks me up. Perhaps your Reno restaurant can do that too.

19

Except that you can’t swirl wine in a tumbler, which allows aeration and the release of phenols which better enable the taster to experience the aromas in the wine. That’s not romanticizing wine tasting, it’s scientific fact. Moreover, a wide open top does nothing to focus or concentrate the released aromatics, which further mitigates the wine’s bouquet. Again, not romanticizing, it’s simply a matter of fact.

Drinking wine out of a tumbler does not come close to maximizing the wine drinking experience. Let’s call it what it is…it’s uneducated and kitschy “look we’re a bistro!” bullshit.

20

Yes. It’s sad, because you can’t fully taste the wine in the tumbler, as there’s typically no room and no ability to swirl and get oxygen into the phenols. It’s depressing because these tumblers probably cost the same, or perhaps even more, than cheap wine glasses, and like the poster above said, for a “nice” restaurant in a city in America to do it, it’s not an authentic bistro experience. It’s uneducated and kitschy “look we’re at a bistro!” bullshit. If this was on a side street in Beaune, that’s a different story.