A Diner Accidentally Got Served A $5,700 Bottle Of Wine At An English Restaurant
A diner at an upscale Manchester restaurant got an unexpected surprise when he was mistakenly served a £4,500 ($5,700) bottle of wine, The Guardian reports. Fortunately, the restaurant’s manager is surprisingly cool with the staggering loss, telling the employee who made the error, “mistakes happen.”
Hawksmoor is a chain of high-end steak and seafood restaurants, with nine locations in major English cities. On Tuesday night, according to a tweet from the restaurant, it seems that a major mistake was made at the Manchester location.
The restaurant’s manager has pieced together what happened. It seems that a diner, whose name has not been revealed, ordered a less-expensive bottle of wine: a Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 2001, which, at £260 ($332) is still pretty pricey. But the server wrongly grabbed “another Bordeaux of the same vintage” and served it to the customer.
That “Bordeaux of the same vintage” was a bottle of Chateau le Pin Pomerol 2001, listed on the menu at £4,500 ($5,700).
The customer, for their part, didn’t know they were being served a bottle of wine that costs thousands more than the one they thought they were paying for. What’s more, they enjoyed it so much, they asked for a second bottle! That put the manager in the difficult position of having to “tactfully suggest” that they get a different one.
?Bonjour ! Chateau Le Pin 2001 #pomerol #wine #frenchwine #bordeaux pic.twitter.com/LN1VSkRdP5
— CMONVIN (@cmonvin) September 13, 2017
In case you’re wondering if a bottle of Chateau le Pin Pomerol 2001 is actually worth nearly six grand, here’s what wineinvestment.com had to say about it:
“Its deep ruby/plum/purple colour is accompanied by an extraordinary perfume of creme de cassis, cherry liqueur, plums, liquorice, caramel and sweet toast.”
As for the diners who wound up with the exceptionally expensive wine, so far the restaurant hasn’t been able to conclusively identify them. In a tweet, Hawksmoor management kept a positive attitude about the mistake.
“To the customer who accidentally got given a bottle of Chateau le Pin Pomerol 2001, which is £4500 on our menu, last night – hope you enjoyed your evening!”
And as for the employee who made the $5,000 mistake, he or she isn’t going to lose their job. At least, not over this.
“To the member of staff who accidentally gave it away, chin up! One-off mistakes happen and we love you anyway.”
So valued are ultra-expensive bottles of wine that, like rare musical instruments or rare coins, they’re treated as investments by some ultra-wealthy individuals. Some bottles have sold at auction for hundreds of thousands of dollars or more. But if you’re more interested in drinking wine, rather than investing in it, a quick search points to Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 as being the most expensive American wine, clocking in at about $4,300 per bottle.
