The cheaper wine is
Still on the menu. It is
Bottle One Eight Four.

Having looked at the restaurant wine list, I don't see how one can confuse the two wines. Although both are from Piemonte, they are listed in different groups, and a Borolo is not to be confused with a Barbera. Just because they are both from the same winery (Giacosa), it's like comparing an entry level with a private reserve bottle from say Robert Mondavi.

If the server deliberately pointed to the higher priced wine, that is just wrong.

If I were the patron, I'd write or call the owner and tell them of the experience. No, I wouldn't expect a refund because we did drink that overpriced wine, but I'd let them know of my displeasure and would never again patronize the place, and tell everyone I knew about the deceptive practices of that restaurant.

We had an experience at the Oregon Grille years ago where the server brought us a very expensive red instead of the less expensive white from the same label. My husband just glanced at the bottle when it was presented as we were deep in conversation, but the server realized his mistake as soon as he poured out a taste. He looked stricken, but he immediately took the bottle away and returned with the correct one.

The most important part of the meal and "she didn't notice"?
Priorites people. Priorities!
Of course the right thing to do is to pay for it and let the devil take the hindmost. But for $315 I might have considered the old fake-a-seizure scam.

how many cocktails were had prior to dinner?

if one nodded acceptance when the waitoid brought the bottle, one should suck it up and pay the bill. if one was positive that the waiter made the mistake, the tip should be impacted appropriately.

I think all ordering should be done via a touch screen, like at Royal Farm Stores. No mix ups there.

I wonder why the server didn't SAY that the wine cost $315, especially since the woman was apparently distracted by their child. That would give the customer the opportunity to say, "No, the wine I wanted costs $36," and ask the server or her husband to find the correct bottle. In the case of such VASTLY different prices, it should be incumbent on the server to take a few seconds more to be absolutely sure should of the customer's choice.

perhaps for fear of socioeconomic profiling impacting one's tip?

I gotta agree with Dan D on this one. Not telling the difference between Barolo & Barbera d'Alba is like not telling the difference between Zinfandel & Pinot Noir.

Not that I'm a wine snob...I probably would've just ordered a carafe of the house red, rather than a bottle of anything.

the wine list may have been misleading but the label certainly wasn't. that kid must have been swinging from the chandelier to not notice that.

Next time they should order by the number - then there wouldn't have been an issue. Also, ordering by the number saves one the embarrasment of mispronounciation. :)

this is another example of why kids shouldnt be allowed at restaurants :) haha...j/k!

I think Barolo tastes like dishwater.

EEL, didn't you mention in a previous post that you can't tell heirloom tomatoes from dishwater?

I think I want to drink your dishwater...

I honestly don't know what I would have done if this happened to me. I simply wouldn't have the money to pay for it at all. What a nightmare. I guess my husband would be washing dishes that night.

I think Barolo tastes like dishwater.

Now EEL is just trying to disrupt my sweet nature and provoke me as well.

Perhaps you haven't had the benefit of drinking some lovely Barolos. Most need ten to twenty years of aging to show their best; drinking a fine one which is younger than that is tantamount to infanticide, according to my winemaker friends in Barolo, Monforte d'Alba and La Morra.

Whatever...opinions are like behinds: everyone has one.

^^^ comment of the week! ^^^

Yum, I was referring to unbelievaboh telling me I couldn't tell the difference between dishwater and Barolo. While I prefer either Barbera or Barbaresco I do enjoy Barolo.

Weaselbaby, I said I couldn't tell the difference between the heirloom tomatoes I have eaten and regular tomatoes. In response to that unbelievaboh told me I since I couldn't tell that difference I also couldn't tell the difference between dishwater and Barolo.

Perhaps the lady SAID Barolo, or was misheard to have said Barolo. Perhaps the server was new / untrained and didn't know one from the other. I think the chances very slim that he deliberately tried to pull a fast one. Also, a former server of mine was once raked over the coals when pointing out the price of Dom Perignon to a guest who ordered at bottle at a hosted wedding reception. Not wanting to lose the sale, but not wanting to infuriate the host, she made a light remark about the price, which he took to be an ethnic slur. Can't win for losing sometimes.

I prefer Barbaro. A nice straw-like flavour and a good strong finish.

barbaro was a horse

Got to get up pretty early in the afternoon to fool Anonymous.

I think a good compromise is for the customer to simply buy the bottle at the wholesale cost. Nothing lost, nothing gained, except, well, the obvious.

The 6:31 AM post appears to be spam.

Appears? That guy is a regular, serial spammer.

We don't need regular spammers.

I always liked Barbarella. Very spicy.