The Times of London: Secrets of the wine waiter ...

• Don't ask for the house wine. You wouldn't go in and ask for a plate of the house food, would you? Sometimes people won't even specify if they want white or red. It's like saying: “I don't want to be involved.“
• Do send it back if you don't like it. If they've asked my advice, and told me what flavour or style they normally drink, and I find something that's way out, I think they've got the right to send it back.
• Don't ask for the best wine on the list. What does that mean? The most expensive? The most famous? I hate superlatives. You wouldn't say: “Chicken, ah yes, the best meat in the world“, so why try to apply the same logic to wine?
• Do ask for the second cheapest wine on the list. If that's what you want to drink, order it. I've never marked it up more. I'm not that clever with my pricings. Maybe it used to happen, but I think sommeliers are more honest now.
• Don't order the familar names. Lower-priced wines have a higher percentage mark-up than the more expensive ones to balance it out, but I do also mark up according to popularity. Things such as pinot grigio will sell themselves, so I use those to help out wines that I love but which don't sell so easily, such as grechetto.

Fazit: Bei meinem nächsten Besuch des Ritz werde ich mir dies zu Herzen nehmen.