The sommelier opened and presented the bottle. He poured a few drops in front of Tom, the broker picking up the check. Tom sipped it and then closed his eyes. We all watched in anticipation. Tom opened his eyes ad nodded yes. It was a good bottle.

As I took my first sip, the guy to my left leaned in really close.

“You know,” he said. “Only 0.1 percent of the population will ever taste a wine this good.”

“Really,” I said taking my second sip.

“That’s Bordeaux — a $10,000 bottle.”

“What???”

I whipped around to look at Tom and, in the process, my elbow and forearm took out my glass, his glass and the entire bottle. The $10,000 was soaked up by the tablecloth in a matter of seconds.

“I’m so sorry,” I said. “I-ah, um. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Tom gritted through his teeth. “Seriously, don’t worry about it.”

Two hours and $32,000 later, the check came. As I got my coat from the coat check I saw the sommelier look at me. No words, no smile, no expression — just looking. What was he thinking? I wondered if he was going home to say to his wife: You’ll never believe what this Wall Street clown did at work tonight.