Ask Adam: How Often Should Your Server Be Topping Up Your Wine Glass?

Great wine service is an art. If the sommelier or server is performing their job well, you should never be looking to have your glass refilled, but you should also not feel as if you are being rushed to finish your current bottle of wine so that you can hurry up and order another one. It’s a very delicate dance.

Ideally, when your glass is getting low, the server should appear to refill it. But as we all know, servers can become overwhelmed with other things that are happening in the restaurant, and they may not always be nearby when your glass is in need of refilling. If the bottle you’re drinking is a red and it’s already on the table, that shouldn’t be an issue, as you can refill the glass yourself — but don’t only refill your glass, you should always pour wine into at least one other person’s glass that is low first, so as not to be seen as rude and hogging all the vino.

If you’re instead drinking a white or bubbly, and the wine is being kept on ice away from the table, the only solution you have here is to ask the server to take the bottle out of the ice and leave it with you. This allows you control of the wine during a busy night at a restaurant and ensures everyone at the table consistently has wine in their glass.