Tipping on Wine

While reading an article on the lost art of serving wine in the November Wine Enthusiast by Roger Voss, I was struck by his discussion of tipping on wine, which is apparently the subject of some disagreement. Opinions range from excluding the wine from tip calculation all together to applying the 15-20% rule to the wine as well (the option I was always under the impression was standard). Voss, while strongly advocating tipping for good wine service, does not feel that, even in the case of good service, 15-20% is required. After doing a small amount of informal Google research, it seemed that consensus was 10% was perfectly acceptable and considered something of the norm, especially if the wine is pricey. Maybe this was common knowledge, but I found it interesting and thought I'd pass it on in case it wasn't. Oh, and in case it doesn't go without saying, I believe the 10% tip on wine is assuming a bottle purchase, as opposed to wine by the glass.

On a related note, I came across some interesting etiquette for sending wine back. Of course, corked wines (and oxidized whites), can and should be sent back, but apparently there are even situations where it is appropriate to send back a wine you simply do not like. If you have received a wine recommendation, or if the sommelier/waiter has been instrumental in selecting the choice of wine, it is acceptable to send it back if you don't like it. If, however, you make the wine choice independently, etiquette is to suck it up and drink it.