Opening wines before reaching restaurant

Headed to a place in Napa and fortunately I remembered to call them to make sure they were OK with me opening the wine to breathe before arrival. Good thing I did, because they weren’t.

Had this problem before at Commis in Oakland–brought a 1999 Mugnier les Fuees and opened it so that it could get some air, and they refused to let it in. Well, my daughter was able to drink it later with my help, but…

There seems to be a CA law about this, but I wonder: does anyone actually enforce it? It seems very strange.

I have seen this both enforced and ignored in CA. I always stuff the cork back in deep for the trip to the restaurant.

I have never done it and if I owned a restaurant I wouldn’t allow it.

I have never done it and if I owned a restaurant I wouldn’t allow it.

If it is not legal in your state yes but wondering why you are against one letting their wine breath. Can’t image many people doing corkage at a restaurant in the first place.

THIS^^^^^

As Glenn does I’ll just stuff the cork back in. Also, opening with an ah-so helps keep the cork looking pristine. I’ve never had anyone say anything.

We’ve only had one place in all our years reject an already opened bottle.

I guess the waiter just wanted to mangle the cork themselves and make sure we got some particulates in the wine!

How do you put the cork all the way back in?

I have had one or two situations like this, and both times the restaurant let it slide “this one time”. Can’t say I’ve gone back to either place. For what it’s worth, I tried my best to look up and see whether this law exists and I can’t find it. There are lots of policies about people leaving with open bottles, but nothing about coming with one.

Shove really hard.

I even pull the foil off gently and replace the foil back on after… it’s almost impossible to tell.

There was a long thread on this 2-3 years ago (too lazy to look for It), but there is apparently a law that covers this in a general sense, at least in many states. I always check ahead. Many restaurants will say “fine”, a few will say “no”. Most offer to decant your wines ahead if you will drop them off, but I personally don’t trust most restaurants to do it properly, plus keep the wine at the proper temperature, plus I don’t want to make 2 trips to the venue. Biggest problem is if you want to slow ox any wines. also, leaving the cork out for several hours allows it to swell and tough to sneak it back in.

Here you go, it also contains a link to a still earlier thread on the same topic

I managed and worked in restaurants for years and always let that one slide with the restaurant’s corkage fee policy applied. It would be very rare and unusual for the ABC to see and overhear and enforce that. I’d probably arrive with the bottle in a bag and work it out with the server at the table, ask for glassware, pay corkage, offer a taste.

I’ve done it dozens and dozens of times, never had an issue (knock on wood). If a restaurant ever denied me drinking the bottle, I would laugh, walk out, and never ever go back.

you can basically use the ah-so in reverse to recork a wine if needed. not saying its easy but it should work

If it were a state law I think an exception would have to be made for winery reps who arrive with opened bottles.

Legal questions like this one are often debated from time to time on this listserv.
The answers vary from state to state, restaurant to restaurant, from manager to manager, from server to server, and from customer to customer. Of course, sone of those responses are correct, and some incorrect. Everyone seems to have an opinion on what the law is. Or should be.
Perhaps someone should call the state alcohol control people and ask to talk to someone who actually oversees restaurants. They ought to know. If that does not work, look at the state statutes. If that does not work, look at the regulations that the agency issues under the authority of the statutes. One way or the other, finding a real answer should not be too difficult. Sure beats speculation.
Phil Jones

I’ve heard this “there’s a law” thing many times. Has anyone researched this? Is there really a law, in CA or any other state?

Nate, there is a law everywhere, it’s called the open container law. As a rep, I used to put my wine bag with open samples in the trunk as you can be cited if it’s in the car “within reach.”

Just cut the foil all the way off. And be sure not to put the cork in with the side that was touching the wine, especially red, up.