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My Article: Madonna’s BYOB Seems Reasonable to Me

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

I don’t understand why some people are lambasting the entertainer Madonna for going to an Upper West Side trattoria – Osteria Cotta – in New York City the other night and bringing her own two crystal glasses. She brought her own wine as well.

People were saying she must be a germaphobe. Maybe the wine bar didn’t have the wine or glasses she liked?

I think she just has good taste in glasses and in wine. I know that her father is a home winemaker and that she grew up drinking Italian wines. I was once given a bottle of wine that she was supposedly personally behind.

I travel all over the world with my wine glasses: Riedel Sommelier Chardonnay. Granted, I transport them in their leather case for professional tastings. I like to keep the element of my tasting glass consistent, even through such variables as weather, environment, wine condition, and personal temperament, among others.

However, those glasses have come in handy in restaurants on occasion, from an amazing fish taco stand in Ensenada, Mexico, to a spicy food street resto in Singapore.

I was just in Australia and the glasses came in handy at a Margaret River beach shack serving wonderful grilled shrimp and deep-fried white bait. I didn’t want to drink my delicious 2009 Sons of Eden Riesling in paper cups.

I don’t know what glasses or what wine Osteria Cotta has, but I guess they weren’t up to scratch for Madonna – so why can’t she take her own?

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5 thoughts on “My Article: Madonna’s BYOB Seems Reasonable to Me”

  1. Caleurogal says:
    Wednesday, December 21, 2011 at 6:56 am
    I don't care for Madonna, but, I agree she should take her own glasses to a restaurant if she prefers. I get very frustrated when I am not served wine in decent glasses or those that are too small or of the wrong shape to allow the wine to open up properly.
  2. PChang says:
    Wednesday, December 21, 2011 at 10:20 am
    many restos in HK and Taiwan - esp those serving more traditional fare - don't have decent glasses. We always bring our own glasses and wine when dining at these types of restos. Often the resto owners understand it and are happy that we're there for the food, since only discerning diners would care enough to bring their own glasses!
  3. mscott says:
    Wednesday, December 21, 2011 at 11:34 pm
    I support Madonna 100%. Not just because I'm a fan, but I also bring my own stemware and wine to most restaurants. I'm always amazed at the lack of decent glasses in restaurants and wine lists that are not only WAY over-the-top in terms of price, they also don't always have what I want. Good for her. I know more and more people who live by that ethic.
  4. Grapist says:
    Thursday, December 22, 2011 at 12:47 am
    I frequently choose a restaurant based on it's BYO corkage charge. Further, I've been to many, particularly Italian, that seve wine in juice glasses, rather than stemware. The strongest example I can think of is the highly acclaimed Schwa in Chicago. Not only is it BYO, but there is no stemware. There is also no decor, but you can expect to pony up 100 bucks a head for food.
  5. Sedimentblog says:
    Thursday, December 22, 2011 at 6:04 pm
    Perhaps the restaurant uses the wretched little Paris goblet, that hideous little tennis ball of a glass condemned by George Reidel himself as “the enemy of wine”. As we explained in our (somewhat idiosyncratic) article <a href="http://sedimentblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/le-fontegnac-vin-de-bordeaux.html">here</a> the Paris goblet is a glass too thick and too small to enhance the flavour, too shallow and open to enhance the bouquet, and too mimsy to suggest generosity.