Is it wrong to have a side bottle?

[Brian_G_r_a_f_s_t_r_o_m]

No, but be prepared to share if you’re caught red-handed.

That aside, I’m with Rick on this one: find some good-but-cheap wine for tomorrow. For example, I’m going to a gathering where there will be about 30 in attendance: many like wine, few of them geek out on it; I will be bringing a 2010 Vouvray and a 2008 Macon-Loche. Neither cost more than $20.

[Brian_Tuite]

Hell no it’s not wrong. I do it all the time.
For tomorrow I simply went into CT and picked 4 bottles from the top of my drinkability report for the masses and will have a couple side bottles for those of us who appreciate a good wine.

[Mel_Hill]

I’m bringing beer for the youngster so that they stay away from the good wine

[Jim_Anderson]

I don’t particularly like the T-Day food stylings. We’re either going dry aged rib-eye or endless lobster rolls. Of course, we don’t have any lobster at this point but maybe we get there.

[Randy_Bowman]

Put the 7up and ice near the bottles for the guests and your bottle by the refrigerator. That way you can fill up each time you have to get more 7up or ice.

[Craig_G]

I do this as well. In fact I even have a few friends on the side in another wing of the house in case the people we invited are boring.

[Ed_Murray]

@Craig Gleason

I do this as well. In fact I even have a few friends on the side in another wing of the house in case the people we invited are boring.

[Rick_Gregory]

@Craig Gleason

I do this as well. In fact I even have a few friends on the side in another wing of the house in case the people we invited are boring.

[Lee_Short]

I think it’s rude. Why not just open the Mollydooker, pass it off to be poured around while announcing that there’s more wine if that runs dry…wait 5 minutes and open a bottle of something else? Folks who like the Mollydooker will drink it happily, and you won’t have to.

Or just open 2 different bottles, and say “this one is fruitier, this one is drier” or something.

There are so many solutions to this problem that don’t involve any underhandedness, I can’t imagine the need to be sneaky about it.

[Guillaume_Deschamps]

What Lee said. Just provide some minimal info, people will go for what they like, and the adventurous minds will discover something new. Large parties are rarely the best occasion to open wines you’d actually rather drink in small committee. Or as the old adage goes: don’t serve your best to those who would rather have beer.

[Greg_Pierce]

I don’t find this to be a problem. My friends know I’m into wine. When they come, they know they’re going to get something good – whether a “wine-geek” wine or just a nice wine. They can choose which they want. Most are courteous enough to figure out that they should go for the non-geek wine if they aren’t wine geeks (or aren’t aspiring to see why there is a hub-bub for a wine-geek wine).

[Anthony_Hall]

Make sure everyone has a full glass and then open your side bottle to share !

[Scott_Brunson]

@Ed Murray

@Craig Gleason

I do this as well. In fact I even have a few friends on the side in another wing of the house in case the people we invited are boring.

I am now considering adding a new wing onto my house!

[Gerard_S]

@Rick Gregory

@Tom Lee

Several years ago my mother in law dropped ice cubes into the Rochioli SVD Chardonnay I served her and polished off half a bottle in about 20 minutes. +1 on the side bottle(s) in this household.

Tom
Twitter: @NWTomLee

I don’t get it… why do all of you serve wine geek wine with a meal that is damn hard to match and in a setting when most people won’t get the difference between a modest $15 bottle and something amazing? There’s a lot of nice wines that aren’t remotely plonk for under $20.

I’m curious as to how you know that his meal was damn hard to match and how you know that the setting was such that most people won’t “get the difference between a modest $15 bottle and something amazing”?

[Charlie_Carnes]

@Craig Gleason

I do this as well. In fact I even have a few friends on the side in another wing of the house in case the people we invited are boring.

Always have a BBD… that’s perfect.

[J_a_y_H_a_c_k]

@XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Several years ago my mother in law dropped ice cubes into the Rochioli SVD Chardonnay I served her and polished off half a bottle in about 20 minutes. +1 on the side bottle(s) in this household. . . .

I guess I am a minority of one on this issue. Were you the host? Did she like it? If the answer to both questions is yes, then you did your job as a host, which is different from your job as a wine geek. I would never, and have never, had a side bottle that I kept for myself. If I want something special, I offer it to my guests. As a matter of fact, this past summer I had a birthday party for my wife out on the deck. I started with whites and then moved on to the red wine. I open a few good bottles and when they were finished off quickly, I pulled a really good bottle of red out of the cellar (I do not remember what it was), brought it upstairs, and decanted it in front of everyone. I poured the first glass for my self, looked around, and said loudly, "If I was at a wine collector’s house and I saw him take out a bottle and pour a big glass for himself, I would immediately ask, ‘hey, can I have some of that?’ " The bottle was gone in minutes and that’s how hosts should act. The holiday is called Thanksgiving, not ME, ME, ME.

[Charlie_Carnes]

Well, I certainly don’t mind a '“side” bottle, but I will always leave the bottle just as available as any others. I don’t like the idea of having ‘secrets’ from my guests, at least in terms of the activity we are sharing. I also don’t like the idea of sharing surreptitious glances with a partner in crime, heading back to the secret vault, and stealing a glass of the ‘good stuff’. What I usually do is open a few of the bottles of wine that I think they will like along with the wine(s) that I will be drinking, describe my wines a little or a lot- at this point I might throw in a little Jedi mind trick…“This isn’t the wine you’re looking for.”-and tell them to have at it. I am pretty safe, seriously, who’s going to drink “sugary” Riesling, “tart” Burgundy, or “sweet” Chenin Blanc, when he can have a big, ripe, oaky, alcoholic, _______________(fill in the blank).

[Charlie_Carnes]

@J a y H a c k

@XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Several years ago my mother in law dropped ice cubes into the Rochioli SVD Chardonnay I served her and polished off half a bottle in about 20 minutes. +1 on the side bottle(s) in this household. . . .

I guess I am a minority of one on this issue. Were you the host? Did she like it? If the answer to both questions is yes, then you did your job as a host, which is different from your job as a wine geek. I would never, and have never, had a side bottle that I kept for myself. If I want something special, I offer it to my guests. As a matter of fact, this past summer I had a birthday party for my wife out on the deck. I started with whites and then moved on to the red wine. I open a few good bottles and when they were finished off quickly, I pulled a really good bottle of red out of the cellar (I do not remember what it was), brought it upstairs, and decanted it in front of everyone. I poured the first glass for my self, looked around, and said loudly, "If I was at a wine collector’s house and I saw him take out a bottle and pour a big glass for himself, I would immediately ask, ‘hey, can I have some of that?’ " The bottle was gone in minutes and that’s how hosts should act. The holiday is called Thanksgiving, not ME, ME, ME.

Nice post Jay.

[Tom_Moore]

Its simple in my house. I charge by the glass. I charge 25% of the cost of bottle per glass and get 5 - 6 glasses per bottle this way I make a little profit. I do make a little more on the Charles Shaw, since it does say Napa on the label. Usually get $5 per glass.

[Tom_Lee]

@J a y H a c k

@XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Several years ago my mother in law dropped ice cubes into the Rochioli SVD Chardonnay I served her and polished off half a bottle in about 20 minutes. +1 on the side bottle(s) in this household. . . .

I guess I am a minority of one on this issue. Were you the host? Did she like it? If the answer to both questions is yes, then you did your job as a host, which is different from your job as a wine geek. I would never, and have never, had a side bottle that I kept for myself. If I want something special, I offer it to my guests. As a matter of fact, this past summer I had a birthday party for my wife out on the deck. I started with whites and then moved on to the red wine. I open a few good bottles and when they were finished off quickly, I pulled a really good bottle of red out of the cellar (I do not remember what it was), brought it upstairs, and decanted it in front of everyone. I poured the first glass for my self, looked around, and said loudly, "If I was at a wine collector’s house and I saw him take out a bottle and pour a big glass for himself, I would immediately ask, ‘hey, can I have some of that?’ " The bottle was gone in minutes and that’s how hosts should act. The holiday is called Thanksgiving, not ME, ME, ME.

Jay, we have never met…but when I host at my house the wine cellar is fair game. I love to introduce wine “newbies” to some of my favorite bottles. I guess my point was that if I know someone is going to drop some fruit into their red wine because they love sangria then I am more inclined to serve them something like the aforementioned Bogle rather than an expensive wine that they obviously would not appreciate. Cheers!

Tom