Decorum in Mumbai

[Cole Kendall]

From the UK press

[account of horrific details at the Hotel Taj Mahal deleted]

Nick added: We all decided that even though we had alcohol within reach we wouldnt touch it because it seemed like a bad idea to get drunk.

But come 5am, we were fairly confident the police were going to get us out, so I marched over to the bar and found a bottle of vintage Cristal champagne and opened it and began pouring it into glasses.

Then the head waiter came rushing across to me and said, No, no, you cant do that! and I said, 'Well were going to' and he said, 'No sir, those are the wrong type of glasses. I shall find you champagne flutes.'

'And he did. The service was immaculate.

 

[Florida Jim]

"If you can keep your head when all those around you are losing there's . . ."
Best, Jim

 

[Scott Kraft]

They should have been drinking Pol Roger, no?

A single glass of champagne imparts a feeling of exhilaration. The nerves are braced, the imagination is agreeably stirred; the wits become more nimble. A bottle produces the contrary effect. Excess causes a comatose insensibility. So it is with war: and the quality of both is best discovered by sipping. ~ Winston Churchill

And of course:
You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else.

 

[Salil Benegal]

Class - but I've never experienced anything less at the Taj.

 

[Rahsaan]

Well, it does depend on what the 'other' glasses were. As many of us probably agree, champagne flutes are not necessarily the best glasses for champagne and dogged insistence on using them can point to a narrow mindset.

But nice touch given the circumstances.

(Is anyone else troubled that apparently Cole reads the Daily Mail!)

 

[Yixin]

They should have decanted first.

 

[Cole Kendall]

originally posted by Rahsaan:

(Is anyone else troubled that apparently Cole reads the Daily Mail!)

It's a refreshing change from the Telegraph.

 

[Oliver McCrum]

originally posted by Scott Kraft:
They should have been drinking Pol Roger, no?

A single glass of champagne imparts a feeling of exhilaration. The nerves are braced, the imagination is agreeably stirred; the wits become more nimble. A bottle produces the contrary effect. Excess causes a comatose insensibility. So it is with war: and the quality of both is best discovered by sipping. ~ Winston Churchill

And of course:
You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else.

I'm not sure Winston was a sipper.

Pol Roger used to bottle a special size for the English trade, the Imperial Pint, 20 ounces; the reason I was given was that Churchill maintained that a half-bottle was insufficient for lunch, but a bottle was excessive.