Dear Mr Cohen,
Saturday night last, a glass of Dolcetto di Dogliani I ordered and consumed turned out to leave a substantial, most unsightly deposit in the glass.
Your server was great, she offered me another glass of wine, or a dessert—both of which I declined.
Sommelier had introduced himself earlier, warned me that the Dolcetto was tannic.
Dolcetto can certainly be tannic, but the tannins are customarily the riper and softer sort, rather than astringent like Nebbiolo.
When I pointed out to him the latticework of solids adorning the side of my glass, he actually waved me off—a physical gesture—
saying that the wine was unfiltered.
I didn't bother to inform him that I sell wine in Manhattan to earn my living,
and that I know what unfiltered means, and how unfiltered wines behave.
I wasn't working, and my date was not a wine-person; she didn't need to listen to a lecture.
the amount of solids which had precipitated out of this wine led me to consider that perhaps the wine had suffered from too great a temperature fluctuation at some point,
—Mr Michel was not willing to listen to this.
the likelihood, now that I consider carefully, is that this came from a bottle that had been open for a few days, perhaps put under refrigeration to retard spoilage
and I had been poured the last glass out of the bottle.
so, two issues here:
has your staff been trained to take care with unfiltered bottlings?
of greater concern is Mr Michel's dismissive attitude, and unwillingness to engage.
I understand that he cherishes career aspirations that do not involve pouring wine at the Tabard Inn, but when he is on duty in your restaurant,
where I have been dining almost always with great pleasure since 1981, he needs to respond adequately to the concerns of a guest.
This foolish behaviour reflects poorly not only upon your restaurant, but on the wine profession as a whole—and this profession I care about greatly.
I attempted first to the address the issue on a collegial level with Mr Michel directly, in a tone that was no way unfriendly.
since the world is growing ever smaller, it was not difficult to leave him a message via Facebook, intending a couple words of advice for a younger colleague:
"even if the Dolcetto was unfiltered
why did the sludge have to end up in my glass?
xo
J"
to which he replied,
"please do not email me
Paul"
first dismissive then defensive. Perhaps he is having a bad week—I have no history with him.
I rather imagine this is not the face you wish to put on your restaurant.
best regards,
James Wright
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james wright
+1.646.413.5392
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5 comments:
Mr. Wright,
The Tabard has been importing Bruno Porro Dolcetto di Dogliani for consecutive vintages since
2000. There has always been some sediment in this wine. The staff has been trained not to pour off the entire bottle but that is not always full-proof. Every once in a while, a glop of what looks like hardened purple tartaric acid ends up on the side of the glass. When this happens we generally offer the customer a new glass of wine or, in your case, a dessert.
Sometimes the crystalized purple acid adheres to the side of the bottle and there is not much that we can do about it, except warn our customers. I was surprised to hear that as a wine professional who was enjoying an $8 glass of a wonderful Dolcetto di Dogliani, and who was then offered a complementary glass because of the goop, still wasn't satisfied. We love this wine as do the majority of our customers, and have developed a wonderful relationship with the wine maker, Bruno Porro. I am sorry that you found this an indignity to your wine senses. But this is an $8 glass of pure Dogliani heavan, albeit with a level of rusticity not for everyone, made by a guy who vinifies in ancient concrete casks lined with glass and barely does anything to the wine. We are sorry you couldn't enjoy it for what it was. But then again no wine suits every taste.
I found it slightly disturbing and irritating that you researched an employee of mine on the internet and then contacted him outside of his work.
I am going to side with Paul on this one. He is right when he says "please do not email me.".
Jeremiah
Dear Mr Cohen,
I appreciate you taking the time to answer my email, and your articulate if somewhat obfuscatory response.
But did you perhaps start writing before you had finished reading?
I think I made it clear early on that your server was great—and that any issue of the “value” I had or hadn’t received in my $8 glass of Dolcetto was resolved when she offered me a second glass or a dessert, which I declined solely on the grounds of calorie-consumption and the lateness of the hour. You will appreciate that I did not complain about the flavour of the wine, which I drank.
And I would not dispute for a moment the quality of Signore Porro’s Doletto di Dogliani. Goodness knows that I started with Piemonte when the 1978 and ‘79 vintages were current, and the wines far less reliable than they are nowadays.
My lesser question was how had your staff been trained—which you assure me they have been, and I understand an occasional lapse. I suffer them myself.
The greater question was that of your sommelier behaving in a dismissive manner toward a guest. Which you don’t seem to acknowledge.
And since it takes fewer than twenty keystrokes/mouse-clicks to end up at Mr Michel’s Facebook page (or yours for that matter—I would’ve left you a greeting but you might take it as a taunt, which I do not intend) I hardly think that qualifies as research. As long as the message is neither abusive nor unduly aggressive, social media offer appropriate conduits for communication—particularly among colleagues. And I did not email Mr Michel—I sent him a message via Facebook; evidently his personal settings provide for these messages to be forwarded to his email.
And I appreciate you showing loyalty to an employee. It is a very important skill in management.
Best regards,
James
Mr. Wright,
Your unsolicited Facebook query to our employee may not have been "abusive or unduly aggressive" as you say, but it does fit into the category of patronizing and bizarre. You say it was intended as a "couple of words of advice for a younger colleauge" and you signed it "xo", which I take to mean Love and Kisses. How am I supposed to take this?
dear Mr Cohen,
actually according to my most recent information,
xo connoted kiss and hug—
which means a variety of things, depending on the context and the relationship of the individuals involved.
I have not yet heard of it expressing ill intentions, but I suppose since the language is a living growing thing that all is indeed possible.
I assure you, dear sir, I meant nothing more severe by it than a lighthearted gotcha,
and to let the poor fellow know that he might run, but ultimately could not hide.
rather curious, your defensive tone and persistent obfuscation of the central issue.
perhaps, as my date of the evening informs me that Nigerian folk-wisdom has it,
"a fish rots from the head."
Your sommelier annoyed a diner;
evidently you aspire to greater accomplishments.
best regards
James
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