When it comes to wine, I don’t make much of an academic study of it, but I do like a certain minimal quality and I do appreciate, at a very basic level, that “good” wine can be very good indeed. And, that it helps make a good meal potentially great.
So I’ve never been to one of those “wine dinners” where a nice restaurant offers a prix fixe dinner with some themed wine pairings. But, I’m getting an increasing number of ads for them (from the nice restaurant end, as I do sometimes sign up for their e-mail alerts). Specifically, one of them recently sent me a “Celebrate the 20th anniversary of the 1990 vintage with our Bourdeaux dinner.” Now, I have no idea if 1990 was considered a particularly epochal year for Bordeaux, and I am disinclined to shell out the hefty price they’re asking. But, the restaurant is reliably good, the menu looks great and – hey, maybe the 20 year old wine would make for a fantastic combination.
But the key question in my and my friends’ mind is – just how much wine do you get? Yes, yes, we were those guys on the college trips who would try to maximize the free beer at the end of the brewery tour. We don’t aim to do anything louche or be drunken idiots (we’re, uh, practiced imbibers), but if they’re pouring, we’re drinking pretty steadily.
So: are they pouring? If it turns out that standard practice is to pour one glass per course 2/3 full and then wait to the next course, we’ll pass. On the other extreme, I doubt they will be like the waitress I’ve gotten to know (and tipped) enough that she treats her employer’s wine stores like an IHOP bottomless coffee pot when I eat at the bar.
Where, anyone who’s patronized these things, does the liberality of the servers generally fall?
It all depends on the venue. I’ve been to some that are actual wine tasting/food pairing affairs, usually concentrating on a specific winery–they sometimes have a winemaker or spokesperson there. Those tend to be a little more liberal with the pours. They’re usually pretty fun–it starts out all quiet and by the end of the evening people are hollering across the dining room. We always call those “wine drinkin’s” rather than wine tastings, and make jokes on who will dare to drink the spit bucket. On the other hand, a restaurant with a prix fixe menu with wine pairings tends not to overdo the wine. There are all exceptions, and I’d maybe check with someone who’s been to that specific place before. Also, if you aren’t that well versed on wines it might be a waste to pay a lot. It really does take a while to develop your palate, and you should probably familiarize yourself with the regions and vintages or you really won’t get the full enjoyment for the cost.
The quality of the 1990 Bordeaux vintage is considered excellent across the board. That, coupled with the fact that there is an extremely limited amount of that vintage still around not only justifies the asking price (I’m going to guess somewhere between $150-$250 per person, depending on how many courses/pours there are) but practically guarantees that you’ll likely get no more than a 2oz pour of each.
Depending on the turnout though, you may get lucky. If its a small turnout, there will likely be leftover wine, and they’ll probably give you more if you ask. Wine that old fades before too terribly long and cannot be kept once the bottles have been opened. Sometimes they give the leftovers to the kitchen staff towards the end of the night. The chef will most certainly get a glass of something.
The restaurant will probably closely monitor how many bottles they open. They probably won’t open any beforehand and possibly may only pour exactly what they need for each diner. If that’s the case, you may need to order a glass or two of their normal offerings if you want to get your drink on.
These wine pairings are meant to be about the food and wine together for the most part. Hopefully you’ll get lucky and get an ounce or two of Chateau d’Yquem at the end!
Ah crud. Hard for me to justify the price point, though as suggested we could always order a bottle or two of $40 stuff to fill in the gaps.
I guess it’s back to my barmaid and her liberal interpretation of “well naturally I’m allowed to pour you just a splash more on the house.” Two of us managed to get through about half a bottle of Fernet Branca last night (I know, not wine, but she’s similarly heavy handed even with high end Italian reds) while being charged for two glasses.
I have had the Yquem only a couple of times, each at the end of a long and not illiquid meal, each preceded by our saying – are we really going to get another bottle?. Each time the decision seemed well worth it in retrospect (later that night, if not perhaps the next day).
That’s not too surprising. Is this a big city restaurant too? I didn’t check your location, if any. As I mentioned, not only is a vintage from 1990 going to be scarce due to the amount of time gone past, its also considered an excellent vintage, which ratchets up the scarcity levels because of collectors.
If you can afford it, I would definitely go and plan on buying a bottle or two (perhaps this restaurant has a corkage fee and you can bring one of your own?) to “fill in the gaps” as you say.
This is essentially almost a once-in-a-lifetime experience for most people.
If you go, report back on the wines and the food! For that kind of money, its got to be pretty amazing on both ends.
ETA: I like how we’re referring to buying extra wine as a means of “filling in the gaps” when in actuality, its more like “ensuring that there ARE gaps”
I have to question why you’re planning on dropping $300/head on a dinner and wine tasting if you are so concerned about drinking a lot. The whole idea of a dinner like that is to savor the wine with the food, not guzzle it, and certainly not order other types of wine “in-between” lest they don’t pair well with the food and screw up your palate.
Don’t get me wrong - I’m no teetotaler, and I certainly understand wanting to get a bit lit - but if I’m dropping $300 on a food/wine pairing, I want to be lucid enough throughout the meal to enjoy the pairings, all the way into dessert. Otherwise, I don’t want to drop that amount of cash.
That said, most wine dinners like this, I’m struggling to stay sober enough through the whole thing to enjoy/appreciate each pairing. They don’t always do huge pours, but any decent restaurant is going to pour enough to get you through the course, assuming you’re not making a point to drink it all the minute it shows up in front of you. And yes, most wine dinners I’ve gone to will refill your glass a bit if you run out before the end of a course. Beware: some places have also charged me for this service.
My advice: either don’t drop the money on this, or do it, with the idea that you’ll stay relatively sober through the meal THEN bring out the big guns. In fact, that’s how I’ve normally seen it done - stay in balance while there’s food on the table, THEN decide you need another bottle or two of that absolutely delicious St. Julien they served with the fish.