I'm piggybacking on my last post about corkage fees to tell you about some amazing wine sales that occurred at my restaurant last weekend...
We certainly don't have the most extensive wine list out there, but we do happen to carry some very special bottles that rarely see the light of day due to their cost. Our most expensive wines, two 2006 burgundies from Chateau Latour in Pauillac, France, run $1,500 each. Since I've started working at the restaurant, my manager has been begging us to "push the juice," and to try to get someone to shell out over a thousand sheckels for these bottles. We were out of luck, until this weekend, when we sold them both to two different tables.
We saw the first guy coming. He was a wealthy businessman who flew in across the country to celebrate his anniversary at our restaurant. We figured that a man like that would have expensive tastes, and we were right. We finally moved one of the bottles of Latour, and our staff sommelier got his chance to shine. We figured the other bottle would continue collecting dust in our cellar. However, the following night an unassuming man came in and said he wanted to treat his best friend to a great birthday dinner. They started with a modestly-priced Chateauneuf-du-Pape before ordering the big kahuna. A quick decanting later, and the second Latour was out the door.
Years ago I worked at a bank, and my boss taught me one valuable lesson: Treat every customer that walks in exactly the same, because the mean old lady that is wearing her robe and smells like cat piss can have three million dollars with us. The clean-cut man in the business suit might be bouncing checks left and right. That advice served me well then, and it still does to this day. Sure, a billionaire who's flying across the country for one meal is probably going to drop some cash, but the low-key guy having dinner with his buddy might be a baller, too. It's not all about the money, either. Seeing lifelong friends share a once-in-a-lifetime bottle of wine is a sweet glimpse into the human condition and one of the reasons I keep putting on my apron every day.
Who knows what we'll get to replace those two 2006 vintages. Hopefully new big bottles will come in to take their place in our cellar, and two new guests will come in with the money and the occasion to purchase them.
Until then, I leave you with one last note about that second bottle of Latour: it's possible that there was a teensy bit of wine left after the customers had paid and gone home. It's possible that it was full of sediment and ready to be thrown away. It's also possible that it was an exceptionally balanced and delicious way to end a dinner shift.