Sometimes it’s the little things that settle on your soul like that proverbial straw that breaks the camel’s back. Then comes the total crashout. For Angelica (@angelica55872), a server and bartender, that crashout occurred at the intersection of red and white wine.
She explains what happened in her recent TikTok.
Filming from the front seat of her car, she explains that she had just gotten off her bar shift. She shouts, “I literally have to ask … So I had a woman ask me for a cabernet sauvignon blanc.”
Pause for emphasis. Because if you know, you know.
Now at increased volume and with a hyper-articulated mouth—almost like she’s shouting across a busy bar—she says, “‘Yep. A. Cabernet. Sauvignon. Blanc.'”
Then she shoots the camera a look that encapsulates the video’s caption, “This industries a nightmare.”
What’s Wrong With Enjoying A Nice Glass Of Wine?
Angelica goes on to explain that she asked the guest, “‘I’m sorry, which one?'”
Because if you’re not a wine drinker, you might not know that cabernet sauvignon is a red wine, and anything with “blanc” in the name is a white. The guest was probably trying to order a nice, drinkable Sauvignon Blanc. A perfectly reasonable choice.
However, the guest didn’t pick up on Angelica’s cue. Instead, she reportedly responded with, “‘Oh, like the cabernet sauvignon blanc?'”
Then the bartender let loose the frustration. She screams, “WHAT THE FUCK?”
How Well Do You Know Your (Wine) Varietals?
While most users sympathize with the bartender, there’s always that one expert just waiting in the wings with a “well actually” in their back pocket. In this instance, viewer Jake Langhoff (@oxgbigredx) came in with a detailed explanation of why, actually, cabernet sauvignon blanc is a thing.
“It exists it’s a wine created from a cabernet blanc grape that you get from cross breeding a cabernet sauvignon grape with a white wine grape that is disease resistant most people drop the ‘sauvignon’ and just refer to it as the ‘cabernet blanc’ but it does exist,” he said.
Langhoff is right. There is a wine called a cabernet blanc.
Interestingly, almost the rest of the comments section is filled with support for the frustrated bartender. Other industry folks are quick to weigh in about problem guests they’ve had.
Bobulop (@bobulop) said that working in a nice Italian restaurant made them realize, “That even the more high end clientele often have no clue what they’re ordering … max most people know is red or white?”
The Unwritten Rules Of Dining Out
How much should a guest know about what they’re ordering, and how much is the bartender also a tutor? The site Backbar, a training resource for bartenders, says, “Bartenders act as a guide for their customers, helping them sort through the selections to find the perfect drink choice.”
But like any situation where the social and the alcoholic mix, there’s an awful lot of nuance. As one user, ninobem (@ninobemc), pointedly asks, “Would you check the wine list before trying to order an ultra-specific niche wine at a random bar?
Since Angelica’s TikTok has gotten over a million views, people are fascinated by the bartender crashout phenomenon. In fact, there are multiple Reddit threads dedicated to the crashouts and burnouts that working as a bartender can cause.
The site Tales of the Cocktail offers some insight: “Emotional labor is difficult on many levels.” Because bartenders (and servers, too) can “become frustrated with guests or bring personal emotional baggage to the bar.”
And that’s on top of them dealing with rude, condescending, or just plain overserved guests.
BroBible reached out to Angelica via TikTok direct message.
@angelica55872 This industries a nightmare #bartender #cabernet #restraunt #fyp #stupidity