Le Pomerol

A table booked for eight. They arrive later and are eventually ten.

One of them orders a small beer. Then a Pomerol. Sold out.

On lui redonne la carte des vins. A few seconds. “That one.”

What surprised me was the speed. Prestigious wines are usually where people slow down: they compare, hesitate, return to the previous page. Lui, non.

He ordered great bottles the way other people order a soft drink. The beer had been the misleading part.