Last summer I went on a double date to a wood fire pizza joint which will remain unnamed. The owner sat us and he appeared to be a bit inebriated, but no judgement, I love the pizza and you do you if you own the place.
I ordered a Vietti Barolo. It took a while to be delivered to our 4 top. Naturally, I ordered another bottle 20 minutes later after we had emptied the bottle. Everyone’s glass still had wine in it, but I wanted to make sure we didn’t run out when the pizza dropped. This time he returned quickly, but failed to present the bottle before topping up our half filled glasses with the new bottle. I would have preferred him to ask first given that it was technically a different bottle, but ok not the end of the world, same wine. He sets the bottle on the table, and walks away. It’s then that I realize he had brought the Vietti Barbera… He had topped up what remained of our Barolo with Barbera…
I grab both bottles, get up from table, chase him down and explain what he had just done. He apologizes and says he will return with the wine we ordered. He returns 10 minutes later after the pizza had been delivered and sets the new bottle on the table, but does not offer to bring us new glassware. Of course I insisted that we get some empty glasses because I’m not going to chug the potion that is currently in front of me. Ok… Everything is right with the world we can enjoy our meal.
40 minutes later when he dropped the check, all three bottles of wine were on the check. I was flabbergasted… He was actually going to force me to make a scene and request that he remove the first two bottles that he had mixed in our glasses. I did and he looked at me like I was crazy but ultimately obliged. Let’s say I’ve never been back. I spent my college years in fine dining so I’ve made my fare share of mistakes, and I like to think it humbled me, but this was next level. That was the last time I had to send a wine back 