Cabernet....Merlot, It's All The Same, Right?

So, I frequent a really good Tex-Mex restaurant while on the road here in Nashville. They do food, beer and margaritas really well. Wine, not so much. They have three varietals from Barefoot Cellars in 187 mL single serving bottles…Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Standard practice is the screw top is removed upon order being place and wine is poured into glass to be delivered to patron. Last night while at the bar, a customer in the main dining room orders a Cab. Bartender sees that no more Cab is in stock, so he cracks a Merlot and states that it’s all the same, right. Wine is delivered to the customer without issue.

At that level of wine quality and the audience, he probably wasn’t too far off the mark in there being very little if any difference. But, from an ethical standpoint, should he have made the effort to tell the server of he outage and also inform the customer. Even in this situation, I would have let the customer know so that he/she could make an informed decision.

What say you?

They must have the Wine Spectator Grand Award for their list.

Haha, Nolan. Being from Houston, I am sure you are familiar with the chain…Chuy’s.

Barefoot Reserve Merlot won a best of show award at the New Orleans Wine and Food Experience a few years ago. If I ever needed assurance of the meaninglessness of wine awards, this cinched the deal.

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Word. Chuy’s is not really good tex-mex. You need to hit Taqueria Mexicana in Mexia. That’s good tex-mex, sir.

Word. Chuy’s is not really good tex-mex. You need to hit Taqueria Mexicana in Mexia. That’s good tex-mex, sir.[/quote]

Here in Franklin, TN it qualifies.

In no way is it Tex-Mex, but I prefer the burrito franchises over Chuy’s.

Don’t like merlot. But at the screw cap level then all reds may actually be the same for that guy.

Wine at a Tex-Mex restaurant? WHY?

Simple. Because he’s Tex and it’s Mex.

And, he hath Landreth in TN.

Yes, of course, the server should have told the customer (and hopefully he did at the table), notwithstanding that the difference in that instance is probably minor and it’s highly doubtful the customer would notice. If the diner orders lamb and all you have left is beef, you don’t just bring him beef and hope he doesn’t notice the difference.

As a Texas Longhorn, I remember Chuy’s pretty well. It’s been 20+ since I’ve been there, but it was a fun spot with tasty food, if nothing remotely gourmet or exquisite. A lot of the thing with going to places like Chuy’s, El Arroyo and so forth is the experience of going there with a group of friends – they are fun, lively, spirited places to go. The food, viewed in isolation, is tasty enough without being anything special. But you hang out with your friends, have some chips and queso, drink some Shiner Bock and Margaritas (or Barefoot cabernet if that’s your thing), have some laughs, it’s not very expensive, and it’s a good time.

Having lived in Austin and in California, I think Mexican food in California is much better food, but I think the experience of going out for Tex Mex is generally a much happier and more fun one than going out for Mexican food in California. That’s a very general statement, and of course there are loads of exceptions.

Since I’m in sweeping generalizations mode, I’ll continue my roll. California is a much nicer place to live than Texas on paper – weather, geography, cultural events, fine dining, etc. Yet Texas is stronger in intangible things – what your neighbors are like, how much fun it is to go out on the town, the way people interact. I like both places, and I make no call on one being better than another, but it’s one of those “quantifiable versus unquantifiable” things that I find interesting.

Of course. There’s no excuse.

Touché!

If my sister was there, Tex would have drank a bottle of turpentine and not known the difference. He’s pressed for her.

I might have even taken her home if you let me drive your new sled.

No way, you’d be over the new 0.05 BAC plus you said you’re the only Texan who can’t drive stick.

Yes on one, no on two. I drove the hell out of my Honda S2000 when I had it.

+1 Mistake #1 - ordering any sort of wine at a TexMex restaurant when beer and margaritas are the order of the day!