Americans like their wine. Enter any restaurant in the USA and you are likely to see diners enjoying a glass of red with dinner. Or lunch. Unfortunately for one diner, he got a little more than he bargained for when ordering a bottle for dinner with friends recently.
The diner was at a Bobby Flay restaurant in Atlantic City when he decided to order a bottle of wine with dinner. What we don’t know, are the exact details. The management and diner disagree on whether he requested “the best” or “a decent bottle” before being pointed to a wine with a cult-like following. The winery produces very limited batches at high prices.
According to the diner he inquired as to the price and was told “thirty seven fifty”. He took that to mean thirty seven dollars and fifty cents. Unfortunately for him, the bottle actually cost a hundred times that. Whether or not he had his glasses or was distracted by conversation, two claims he has made, we’ll never know. The restaurant did negotiate a lower price of $2,200 but this was still quite a hit to the diners.
An important lesson to us all to pay attention and check prices when we’re ordering. Even unassuming restaurants can have impressive bottles in their collection. A restaurant in tiny North Bennington, Vermont carries a 100-rated vertical that when ordered has three bottles. The price? $15,000. Be sure to ask and be clear before that cork comes out of the bottle!