Diners mistakenly served nearly $6,000 bottle of rare French wine

In a nearly $6,000 mistake, a couple dining at a British restaurant drank the wrong bottle of wine when a manager meant to serve them a $300 red instead.

The mixup happened Wednesday night when a couple ordered a 2001 Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, listed at £260, a little more than $330, at Hawksmoor restaurant in Manchester, a spokesperson said.

“It was a very busy night at the restaurant and a very simple mistake. A member of staff picked up the wrong bottle, mistaking it for another Bordeaux of the same vintage,” restaurant spokesperson Irena Pogarcic wrote in an email to USA TODAY.

The bottle the staff grabbed: A 2001 Chateau Le Pin, Pomerol, which is listed in the “rarities” section of the restaurant’s wine list at £4,500, or around $5,800.

“The wine went out and was served to the customer. The customer didn’t know and it was only afterwards that one of the managers picked up what had happened,” Pogarcic added. The restaurant does not know the names of the two customers, who were served at the bar.

The Hawksmoor tweeted about the mistake Thursday, saying it hoped the diners had a nice night and telling the staff member who served them: “Chin up!”

In a reply showing the two bottles, the restaurant added: “THEY LOOK PRETTY SIMILAR OK?!”

THEY LOOK PRETTY SIMILAR OK?! 😉 pic.twitter.com/JWFW81cbe8

— Hawksmoor Manchester (@HawksmoorMCR) May 16, 2019

Speaking with the Guardian, co-founder Will Beckett said a waitress asked a manager to grab the wine after the couple ordered at the bar.

“Some time later another member of staff said: ‘Ooh, someone is drinking a very impressive wine, and at the bar!’ That’s when we realized. They ordered a second bottle and the manager tactfully suggested they order a different one, without letting them know what had happened,” he told the British news outlet.

“The manager who made the mistake is obviously mortified: I’m fairly sure she’s not gonna do it again,” Beckett added.

Wine critic Robert Parker Jr. wrote in 2004 that the 2001 Chateau Le Pin was “a tremendous effort.”

“Its deep ruby/plum/purple color is accompanied by an extraordinary perfume of creme de cassis, cherry liqueur, plums, licorice, caramel and sweet toast,” Parker wrote, according to Cult Wines, a fine wine investment company.

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