Ordering the "Wrong" Bottle of Wine: Whose Fault is It?

Filed in archive Wine News on February 15, 2008

Recently Vinography remarked on a story in the New York Times about a New York diner who intended to order a $110 bottle of wine, but mistakenly ordered a $2000 bottle instead. I suppose most of us have made a mistake ordering wine once or twice (those pesty bin numbers, pointing in a dimly-lit dining room...). However, thankfully, I've never made the kind of mistake that this diner claims...not even close.

The discussion centers around the restaurant's liability in all of this. Now, as a former fine dining server and restaurant manager, my initial reaction was "he ordered it; he drank it; he pays for it. Upon further reflection, though, the situation is to me less "black & white." How much effort would it have taken for the server to have subtly verified the order? or the sommelier (presumably the restaurant has one if it's serving $2000 bottles of wine)?

The moral, of course, is to pay attention when ordering wine and when it is brought to the table.

What are your thoughts? Is the restaurant at fault?

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