Wine Pairings

[sand]

When driving after dinner is not a concern, my wife and I like to order tasting menus and wine pairings, if the menu and matching suggestions look interesting. One problem--my wife does not normally like to drink five or seven full servings of wine at dinner (sometimes more). She will stop drinking at a certain point during each course, thereby leaving many partially filled glasses. I, of course, finish everything before me, but my body doesn’t recover as quickly as it used to, and my liver gets enough work with the fattening food ingredients already.

Something interesting happened recently, however, which I hope is the start of a trend in the restaurant business. On our last trip to Las Vegas, the sommelier in Le Cirque, Frederic Montandon, made a great suggestion. When Frederic saw me perusing the wine list, he inquired about my dinner order. After informing him about our choice of the tasting menu, he suggested we order his wine pairing menu. I then politely informed him of our concern about the voluminous quantity of wine in two orders. He then offered to split a single order. It was a great and considerate idea, and really enhanced a wonderful dinner.

Hence my question. Is it O.K. to ask for a split of the wine pairings at other “fine dining” restaurants? I could periodically continue to order a bottle, half bottle(s), and/or single glasses, but I like letting a sommelier demonstrate his/her skill and knowledge, and enjoying the specifically tailored course match ups. I realize a restaurant counts on a certain wine profit margin, but if we’re ordering aperitifs, and a tasting menu, I figure I’m spending some pretty good money in the place already.

Call me names (cheapskate, light weight drinker, troglodyte), but I like the idea of not paying for an underutilized extra wine pairing, and/or enjoying the experience by drinking more “manageable” amounts of wine. I’m going to ask at other restaurants, regardless, but I just wanted to get some feedback. The worse they can say is “no,” and then I can contemplate ordering from the wine list, or determine whether the menu and wine pairings are worth a potential hangover.

Are there some restaurants one shouldn’t ask under any circumstances (fx: Gary Danko, Charlie Trotter, etc.)?

Thanks in advance.

[paul mitchell]

I serve a five to six course dinner every evening and pair wines to it. Our guests will have a glass of champagne or cocktail before dinner and a cognac, port etc.. to finish. Even the most conservative guest is going to have 7 glasses of wine / liquor in front of them. That's why we do 2 ounce pours of wine for our pairing. I think any more than that in a restaurant is too much. Restaurants should also drop the cost if there's a smaller pour. I feel limited sometimes in restaurants to take the flights at $30 - $40. Also say if I'm going to have a beer and a apertif before dinner and the flight and then port / icewine to finish your loaded by that time.

A nice gesture I use is to top glasses up. Say the first course has been cleared, the 2nd wine comes out, guests have a taste and talk about the wine, they wait a few minutes for the 2nd course and half the wine is gone. When the course goes down I give another ounce pour. Especially with whites it is nice to get a bit of a cool refreshment to the glass. Also the guest has the option of saying no. It's all about thinking of ways to make it a more fluid experience for the guest as well as them feeling that they're being doted upon.

[sand]

Thank you for your response Brad. You hit the nail right on the head for me.

I like to start a nice dinner with a kir royale or other aperitif, but I will definitely forego the after dinner options, if I’m already pushing my comfortable inebriation and satiation levels from the food and wine pairings.

I think I’ll start asking about the amount of each pour, and go from there.

[Brad Ballinger]

Of course, it depends on the establishment and their priority on customer service. Personally, I don't see a problem with it. I've ordered the wine pariing with tasting dinners before, and have been successful in asking for "half-pours" because I don't want to be juiced by the end of dinner. Before asking for halves or splits, though, you may want to first ask how many ounces in a pour.

[tammylc]

On my last visit to Trio I split the pairing with one of my dinner companions. Our waiter didn't even bat an eye.

[Niall]

Tetsuya's in Sydney explicitly offers a half glass tasting course with the meal. And I believe that it is in high end restaurants where you are more likely to find the staff more receptive to the idea of splitting a wine course.