If someone is making you feel dumb about wine, that’s their problem, not yours.

As long as I’ve been writing about wine, there are a few mantras that I have tended to repeat. Among them:

*There is no wrong; there is only your palate, so don’t let anyone tell you you’re wrong or make you feel inferior.

*The best thing that you the wine customer can do is find a merchant (or three) who takes the time to help you find what you want.

Well, last weekend, the Wall Street Journal’s Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher penned a spot-on screed that touches on both topics. Referring to both restaurant and wine-store employees, they wrote:

“For too long, wine ‘professionals’ (and we put that in quotation marks because too many people in the industry are far from professional) have gotten away with being rude or dismissive. It’s time to stop giving them your money … Clearly, these establishments don’t want your business. Never question your worthiness to be treated well. As long as you are pleasant yourself, there is simply nom excuse for their callous and condescending behavior. Not a member of the club they respect? If your willingness to pay what they charge doesn’t qualify you for membership, you don’t want to join.”

Hear, hear (and cin, cin)!

Thankfully, that doesn’t happen here as often as most places. I would credit Minnesota Nice-ness for it, except that it actually is not uncommon to find oneself in stores where there is rudeness of a passive rather than aggressive nature.

In two Minneapolis wine stores, for example, I’ve gotten fabulous help from some employees and been treated as though I wasn’t there by others. (Actually, in the bigger of the two, I’ve gotten much more attentive service since my mug shot started appearing with a wine column. Hmmmm.)

I’ve heard the same complaints from more than a few others. Which is why I tell folks, “If they don’t treat you right, they must not want your business – so don’t give it to them.”

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 15th, 2008 at 11:45 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.