Terra Restaurant
St Helena, CA 94574-1123
Phone: (707) 963-8931
10/31/2007 Posted by zigaboo28
I've been to Terra a number of times, and always enjoyed the food and ambiance. The wine list is diverse and thoughtfully chosen. The most recent time I and my girlfriend went, however, we had the rudest wine service experience we have ever had in any restaurant, anywhere. We ordered an $80 bottle of Pernand-Vergelesses, and upon opening it, realized that it was just slightly corked. Our waiter whisked the bottle away, only to return a minute later with the same bottle, saying that the manager said that the wine was definitely fine. We were told that we could enjoy that bottle, or a bottle of another wine, should we desire, but that we could not have another bottle of the same wine, since the manager was sure we just didn't like it. Never in many years of restaurant-going have either of us been told we couldn't have a replacement bottle of wine. When we spoke with the manager, he told us he was sure we were wrong, and that he didn't want to have to take a second bottle of the wine back. We tried to be gracious, saying that everyone has different thresholds of perception for TCA (the chemical responsible for corked wine), to which he snapped, "I know, and mine's very good," practically spitting in our faces. Only when we offered to keep the second bottle even if it was the same would he allow us to get the wine we had ordered. The second bottle was fantastic, completely different, and the food was lovely, but we had lost our taste for the meal. My girlfriend and I are both wine professionals, and in this case, the wine WAS corked -- but that shouldn't matter -- the customer should always be right. (The distributor usually pays for the sent-back bottles, anyway). It's sad, this is a restaurant we really liked, but we won't be going back.
Pros: Nice ambiance, excellent food, good wine list
Cons: Unbelievably rude customer treatment
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