I'd vote for another drink, an aperitif or something, for several reasons. As others have said, if they order a bottle it will be brought to the table, presented to them in its pristine condition, then opened. A small sample will be poured for one of them to taste, and I'd say in this case it would be the more experienced one - who really should be able to notice that the taste is somehow "off". Only after it's passed will the wine be poured into their glasses to drink. I think the only option for spiked wine would be that the place is one where you can order wine by the glass (dunno how common this is in Italy, sorry).
Another thing: I find it highly unlikely that the other one wouldn't have had ANY wine if the glasses have been sitting on the table for any length of time. Wine is not something to be gulped down all at once, it's something you sip while enjoying your meal, so they'd both be consuming it at pretty much the same rate unless only one of the glasses contains the drug.
So, my suggestion is to go for something with a stronger taste to cover up the drug. How about Campari??
Just about any Italian restaurant will have a house wine that you can order by the glass or carafe. Even a good restaurant - much very good wine made by small producers in Italy is sold straight to a local restaurant, and as the restaurant know it's good the producers don't need to waste time and money giving it fancy labels. The customers rely on the judgement of the restaurateur that it's worth drinking.
I agree that it's unlikely that they would drink at radically different rates. My idea that the wine waiter might pour the first glassfuls and then (while their attention is distracted by some pre-arranged ploy by an accomplice) spike them, allows for the possibility that they aren't distracted enough for him to manage to spike more than one of the glasses before their attention comes back to the table.
Just about any Italian restaurant will have a house wine that you can order by the glass or carafe
Duh. But of course they would! My only excuse is that it's over 20 years since I was in Italy, and didn't have the chance to experiment much back then... ˆ^
That second point is why I was hoping for some early symptoms, or an odd taste or texture that the novice might casually remark upon, thus making his partner aware that there might be a problem... Since that seems unlikely at this point, I'll be rethinking this part of the situation.
Thank you for all of the tips - I'm obviously not all that knowledgeable about wine, so I appreciate the help!
That second point is actually why I'd asked about more immediate symptoms or things that the novice might remark on that would warn his partner that something was up, but since that seems unlikely, I will be making some changes to the initial circumstance.
Another thing: I find it highly unlikely that the other one wouldn't have had ANY wine if the glasses have been sitting on the table for any length of time. Wine is not something to be gulped down all at once, it's something you sip while enjoying your meal, so they'd both be consuming it at pretty much the same rate unless only one of the glasses contains the drug.
So, my suggestion is to go for something with a stronger taste to cover up the drug. How about Campari??
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I agree that it's unlikely that they would drink at radically different rates. My idea that the wine waiter might pour the first glassfuls and then (while their attention is distracted by some pre-arranged ploy by an accomplice) spike them, allows for the possibility that they aren't distracted enough for him to manage to spike more than one of the glasses before their attention comes back to the table.
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Duh. But of course they would! My only excuse is that it's over 20 years since I was in Italy, and didn't have the chance to experiment much back then... ˆ^
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That second point is actually why I'd asked about more immediate symptoms or things that the novice might remark on that would warn his partner that something was up, but since that seems unlikely, I will be making some changes to the initial circumstance.
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