KatieLoeb

Absolutely correct, Chris! The kitchen gets to be touchy feely with their product before it goes to the table. If there dirt in your leeks then the prep cook was asleep at the wheel. But until sommeliers are gifted with clairvoyance, the scenario suggested is patently absurd and likelier to cause ugly scenes and bad experiences for both customers and restaurant staff than it is to __________ (fill in the blank). Gee, it occurs to me that I can't fill in that blank. I don't exactly understand what the writer's point was. He doesn't ever make it clear what he's trying to achieve other than rewarding diners for bad luck and costing the restaurants a whole lot of money that they have no mean of re-couping. The reason the first bad bottle isn't charged for is because the restaurant returns it to the distributor for a replacement. They're the ones that actually take the bath on the bad bottle. If the restaurant gives away the next bottle they might as well hang a sign outside that says "Upscale Soup Kitchen" rather than the name of the establishment. If this prevailing practice were not in place, and the restaurant were stuck with the cost of the FIRST bad bottle, I assure you that wine markups would have to be even higher to cover that risk.

The suggestion in the article is that the customer shouldn't have to pay for the REPLACEMENT bottle either. X is a Y.

Or what about the high maintenance customer (and we know who they are, even if they don't themselves) that now believe they have license to "go fishing" on my Reserve List, to see how many bottles they can have opened for their pleasure, merely to be sent back with the dismissive wave of a hand saying "Oh - that wine is FLAWED (not that I actually understand what that means). I want a free bottle!" Let's give the scam artists a big INCENTIVE to come to our restaurants, shall we? I know all the other professionals out there will agree with me, that what we all need is a NEW DRAW for the freeloaders, don't we? A dear friend of mine that runs a very fine restaurant recently had a guest that called for directions prior to their arrival. The direction were given to her by one of the waitstaff that was a native of that city and had lived there all of their lives. The customers GOT LOST on the way to the restaurant and were a few minutes late for their reservation. They were accomodated without any delay or comment from the staff. The customer then explained that she expected her meal to be comped because she'd received "bad directions" to the restaurant. Excuuuuussse me? You want WHAT? That was a new twist that even I had never imagined. This makes about as much sense to me as giving the customer a free bottle because they won at "Corked Bottle Roulette".

Ah yes...but, if we are what we eat, then are we not what we write? Just teasing you a bit as you do make a valid point. Yeah if he eats donkey. Let me make myself clearer, without the ad hominem attack. The very idea that the restaurant should give out a free bottle to the customer that was second unlucky recipient (the restaurant being the FIRST "victim" in this scenario) of the flawed merchandise is patently absurd. It would drive costs through the roof and make it prohibitively expensive for any restaurant to continue to provide their customer base with a decent wine selection. The fact that this "writer" lists his e-mail at the end of the article for restaurateurs to contact him when they adopt this idiotic suggestion of his, is truly telling of just how out of touch with reality this fellow really is. And when the top kitchens in the country start giving away free meals because it rained, or the customer at the next table sneezed, or whatever other occasionally occuring natural phenomena happened to occur during the Freeloader's meal, I'll call this guy up personally and let him know he's my hero. Better now?

As opposed to whom? The dishwashers??? It seems self evident that this is part of the chef's job, does it not? "You can lead a whore to culture, but you can't make her think.."

I was thinking this more worthy of whatever the free doorstep throw-away bird cage liner local paper is down there. This man is an idiot. A dangerous idiot that lesser fools consider an "expert". :shudder:

The Lazy Creek Gewurztraminer is the best domestic gewurz I've tried. LOVE it! I suspect that you will too. Navarro is also an excellent choice and their entire line of wines is fantastic. Husch as well. I'm jealous! Have fun!

I always thought brett smells/tastes like Band-Aids. I thought "barnyard" was it's own thing. Are these assumptions not correct? edited for embarrassingly heinous grammar

Along the lines of the coffee beans, a nice (not necessarily expensive) teapot, tea strainer and a selection of loose teas from the best tea shop you can find. If you want to upgrade, a pretty porcelain cup/saucer set or two is a nice addition. Single antique cup/saucer sets can often be found for next to nothing at garage sales, in the back of antique shops or on eBay because the others in their orignal set broke. But it's nice to have different cups to suit one's mood, isn't it?

Katie, your response is perfect (and much more gracious than mine)! While there have been some well-written articles on emerging women winemakers, and the challenges they have overcome, so many of these pieces are merely fluff, and focus solely on a woman's sensitive palate, as if that alone accounts for their success. Since I see first hand how hard these women work, and the insults, sarcasm and condescension they often endure, I'm afraid I get a burr under my saddle easily on this topic. ::sigh:: My feeling is that anyone in the wine industry has to be nuts. It's a given considering the sheer multitude of variables that could wipe you out financially at any given nanosecond of the space-time continuum in any given vintage or harvest. So it has to be driven by passion and a desire to pass along one's "personal Palate" to the masses. Women are undeniably more passionate than men. Women have better olfactory senses. Quod Erat Faciendum.

A child's snack sized box of raisins has more sufites than an entire case of wine.

Surely she will be using this as a sig. very soon. What a great moniker This ranks up there with a former suggestion - Aphrodite of Alcohol!

Aw shucks! I'm happy to play Wine Fairy. It's really no different than what I do every day, is it? Make sure there's good wine for guests to drink, yes? And the caterer damned well better want to bend over backward to please their client. It's not like they're asking for out of season fruit or something. It's just a better selection. I consider this a good deed. Perhaps it will bring me my next future ex-husband as karmic payback.

It's under control. The caterer has worked with my former employers in the past. They want to please their client. Good wine is now readily available. Now they just have to choose what they want that's within their budget. Problem solved.

Seth - you're killing me! You've snapped me right out of that soft focus, Vaseline-lensed interpretation of the most romantic story I've ever read.

Women, in fact, definitely have far better olfactory senses than men. This has been widely reported. In fact, pregnant women have even more finely tuned senses, and that led to an earlier discussion here about pregnant women being hired as wine tasters for some large wine conglomerate. I can't be bothered to find the original thread, but suffice to say the anecdotal evidence about pregnant women's senses of smell being very finely tuned has plenty of scientific backup. Many of the "noses" at the fragrance houses in Provence that provide the pure essences to the great perfume houses all over Europe are women. One of the industries where women can excel behind the scenes, as it were. See this for some backup. On the purely anecdotal level I will say that the other women in the wine industry that I know/have known certainly seem to have more well developed palates than the men I've worked with. And again, on the purely anecdotal level, the wines I've had the pleasure of tasting that were crafted by women winemakers remain amongst my favorites. Shelly Rafanelli (CA), Heidi Schrock (Austria), Merry Edwards (CA), Gina Gallo (CA) (whose influence cannot be underrated) are all stars in what used to be a "No Girl's Allowed" clubhouse. There are women winemakers emerging in every corner of the globe, including even some of the most macho outposts of Spain, Down Under and South Africa. Sooner or later I have to hope that the novelty of this will wear off and these ladies will be judged on an even playing field that they are well equipped to handle. Just try the wines and let me know if I'm wrong.

Sorry y'all. Sometimes I'm a little slow on the uptake... Now that I've caught up with this thread I'd suggest the Evan Williams or Heaven Hill for infusing. I used the Heaven Hill for my vanilla bourbon and it was just fine. You ought to be drinking that Eagle Rare either straight on the rocks, with a splash of water or in a Manhattan. Or a julep if you're feeling frisky.

Suzi's right. You could serve Prosecco instead of Champagne. I served Blanquette de Limoux at my wedding reception and it was very well received. There's a whole world of choices out there that don't have to involve serving something I'd be afraid to make Mimosas with for fear of spoiling the orange juice.

I'm trying to think of what you're talking about because I think I've been there too. Very old-school with some of the best mussels in red sauce I've ever eaten in my entire life. I'll check with the friend that took me there and report back. I've also heard that Scannicchio's is really good.

Yes!!! Life is too short too drink swill! Amen and much support from this corner. Unfortunately the caterer is doing their job, at least in terms of tryng to lower their cost of goods ratio on the wine and maximize their own profit. God help them if I find out who it is and they're nearby. I'm on a downswing of the lunar cycle and I can be awfully nasty about heinous wine... I'm lucky that I used to work at a very fine wine retailer that specializes in small production high quality wines. I still maintain an excellent relationship with my former co-workers and employer and would consider it a moral imperative to try and get the bride and the wine folks together.

Only according to Philadelphia Magazine. Have you checked the amount of high ticket advertising the Bass (and Steven Starr's entire empire) does in Philly Mag? Full back and inside front covers, as well as several pages in between.... The Best of Philly awards are a lot like The Wine Spectator awards in many cases. Rouge got "Best Burger", but we have many times in the past as well. Not doing much advertising in Philly Mag of late, but I wonder if they actually tried the Burgers at Good Dog, Abbaye or Ten Stone? I like all of them but am partial to ours because I eat them so often.

I'm suggesting spending the same thing and serving something potable and palatable.

For the love of God, then have your friend call me. I've worked for many of the caterers in the area at many of the venues and can definitely hook her up with something better than that swill. Egads! Please let me save your friend and her guests from this terrible fate!

The latest cocktail here at Rouge: Peachy Keen 2 oz. Stolichnaya Persik (peach) 1.5 oz. Licor 43 1.5 oz. Sour mix Splash of Grenadine Shake and strain into a sugar rimmed cocktail glass. Garnish with a Lime wedge. This tastes exactly like a Sour Patch Gummi Peach!

Perhpas she could ask to pay a flat corkage fee and provide her own wines. Sounds like their sommelier can't be bothered to serve anything even half decent. Most of that stuff I wouldn't even take the paint off my car with.