Misleading wine bottle turns into expensive Valentine's Day mistake

A man broke the bank on Valentine's Day after a misread wine list left him with a hefty bill.

Not usually one to splurge on grand gestures, he'd booked a romantic meal to spoil his partner.

However, after accidentally ordering a vintage bottle of wine, he turned a new leaf in his otherwise thrifty dating habits.

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Recalling his costly celebrations on Reddit, the man said he took his partner of six months out for dinner.

"Today being Valentine's Day, I made reservations for a two-course meal at a hotel restaurant," he explained in his post.

"Admittedly, it's not my usual style; I'm perfectly happy going to cheap izakayas and that kind of thing, but variety is the spice of life and we both decided it would be nice to dress up a little and have a fancy meal."

The man, who had been living in Japan for the past two years, said the meal set him back a "pretty penny", but ordering a bottle of wine was his most expensive mistake.

"As befits a romantic dinner, we decided on a bottle of wine," he said.

Revealing he has long since decided to not "pretend to be a wine expert", he made the fateful mistake of asking the waiter for their recommendation.

After the waiter offered their options, mainly suggesting wines that were well above the $150 mark, the man opted for what he thought was an "$80 alternative".

"Of course I tried not to let it show, but I thought that was a bit on the expensive side and swiped to an $80 alternative. I asked him if it's a good wine."

Pointing to a 2013 bottle of Amuse Bouche, the waiter enthusiastically agreed it was a "very good wine."

"I told him we'd go with that one, and he politely took the order and left."

What the man thought was an $80 bottle turned out to be closer to $800.

As the couple downed the wine, enjoying the rich notes and smooth texture, the man's girlfriend girlfriend joked about his "wine ordering process."

"She kept going with the joking, and it was when she said that she hoped that it was 80,000 yen and not 80,000 dollars that it finally hit me," he said.

"Somehow, even after living here for as long as I have, my brain misfired and I equated 80,000 yen with $80 when it's actually more like $800."

By the time he realised, the couple were well into the bottle and "there was no going back."

"Needless to say, that was a shocker, but I did my best to take it in stride and just enjoy it," he said.

"She was pretty cool about it too, laughing about it but also showing concern about the (for us) outrageous price."

While his bank account "took a hit", the couple continued to laugh off the mistake.

"I had to mentally prepare myself for when the bill arrived," the man noted, informing his girlfriend they'd be "drinking tap water for the next 10 Valentine's Days."

Bottoms up!

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