If it’s a chilled bottle of sparkling, it’s a yes. But for other bottles, it depends…
If your dinner guests bring a bottle of wine, are you obliged to open it?
— D.D., Surry Hills, NSW
The short answer is no. You are the host or hostess, so it’s expected that you’ll provide the drinks as well as the food. An old friend used to joke that if a guest turned up at his door with a bottle, he’d blast them with, “Did you bring your own dinner, too?”
The longer answer is, it depends. It depends on whether their wine fits the evening you’ve planned and whether they make it known, subtly or otherwise, that they’d like to drink it.
In the world of wine professionals and lay wine-enthusiasts, it’s common to bring a bottle; sometimes, arrangements have been made beforehand about what exactly will be brought.
In my opinion, though, a chilled bottle of sparkling wine signals that its bringer would like to taste it; it’s chilled, which means that it’s ready to rock and roll.
But I’d certainly never take a rare or expensive bottle to a dinner party without being prepared for it not to be opened – unless, of course, I’d made a prior arrangement with the host.
Unlike my old friend above, I’m never offended when dinner guests show up with a bottle of wine, although they often opt for a box of chocolates or bunch of flowers instead, which they invariably offer with the words, “I figured bringing you wine would be like taking coals to Newcastle.”
It’s not unknown for a guest to be served the wine they brought on a previous occasion. That can be a nice surprise, too, especially if they’d forgotten about it. To really rub it in, you can serve their wine “blind” and conduct an options game on it. Final question: “Was this wine brought here by you five years ago – or was it not?”
Never take a rare or expensive bottle to a dinner party without being prepared for it not to be opened.
If the bottle in question is an anonymous cheapie from some wine club or other, maybe discreetly put it in the laundry; if it’s a special wine, you really do need to be sensitive to the guest and the circumstances.
If in doubt, simply ask, “Shall we open this tonight?” If the wine doesn’t look promising, however, you might regret giving them the option.
Got a drinks question for Huon Hooke? thefullbottle@goodweekend.com.au
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