Not getting served? Help yourself to the wine.

Dear Wine Ladies,

A group of friends and I were out the other night at a restaurant (quite pricey) enjoying the food, but not so much the wine. It’s not that the wine wasn’t good, it was actually delicious, the problem was the server was less than attentive when it came to topping up our glasses. It was very frustrating! So, we were wondering, is it bad etiquette to take the wine and pour it ourselves?

Deb and Dry!

Dear Deb,

Great question. Given the circumstances, not at all! Obviously it sounds like you gave the server ample opportunity to do their job, which in this case includes ensuring the customer’s wine glasses, and water glasses for that matter, do not sit empty, or even close to empty for any length of time. Your having to wait impatiently for your wine most assuredly takes away from the enjoyment of the evening, besides the fact that you don’t have the wine to enjoy with the food together, a large part of the dining experience. Perhaps we could suggest a slight motion of the hand in an effort to summon the server once or twice, if still no response, self serve it is.