(Telegraph) - Sending back a faulty bottle of wine is a tricky social manoeuvre. Sometimes it’s fine. Sometimes you can simply smile a cheery, “I don’t think this wine’s quite right. Could you possibly open another bottle?” and the job is done with no fuss. At other times the merest hint that you believe the wine might not be quite up to scratch can have almost the same effect as squaring up to the waiter or sommelier and calling his manhood into question. Especially if he has tasted the wine first. This is why, when sending wine back, I rarely declare the fault. Doing so only creates potential grounds for debate or, to be more accurate, dispute, which may begin with a sentence such as: “It’s definitely not corked, madam,” (with tense neck tendons) “but if you don’t like it, I’m very happy to change the bottle. Would you like to choose something else from our list?” To which it is tempting to reply: “No, I’d like the wine I actually asked for because I couldn’t find anything else that wasn’t either overpriced or absolute rubbish and I’d quite like it not to be corked this time, that’s all.” You see how it begins to go horribly wrong.