In India, wine is not easy to come by and is relatively expensive in restaurants/bars (the least expensive bottle costs the same as a moderately priced bottle in the US and it's rarely sold by the glass)
We thought a bottle of wine would be lovely while watching bollywood movies in our hotel room, so we asked our driver if we could stop by a bottle shop before returning to the hotel. The driver got on the phone and call his people and get a bottle for us. He handed the phone to Shelly to give further instruction to our wine-wallah. He requested a "red wine" in a specified price range. And then I shopped!
While shopping, our wine-wallah called through the shop keeper for further instruction as to what sort of wine. Shelly went with merlot (something commonly found and east to spell). I continued to shop.
About 15 minutes later, the wine wallah called again. He find a bottle of "Merrrrrr- LOTTT" (pronounced by rolling the r and emphasizing the last syllable and the final t). He wanted to know if the brand he found was appropriate: (pronounced as) jak-oh-BEEE crrrrr-ACK. Shelly (who is communicating on the phone wi the wine wallah in Hindi - not his proffered language) asked if I had heard of it. I looked up from the cocktail rings I was looking at and said I had no idea...
Ten minutes later, the wine- wallah showed up wi the wine. He places a black plastic bag on the table and pulled out a box of whiskey - not even close to what we asked for. Then he opened the box, and pulled out a cabernet Sauvignon - merrrrrrloTTT blend from Jacobs Creek. This, I was familiar with - Mission Accomplished! The wine wallah was particulaly impressed with himself because he had bargained down the price!
I admit, I was nervous about what we would end up with, but pleasantly surprised! In India, there is always a man who can get you what you want (for a price).
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