I think one of the single greatest challenges for the sommelier comes in maintaining the accuracy, and thereby the integrity, of the winelist. I'm sure the average restaurant goer doesn't give much thought to the fact that a cellar is an organic entity, constantly changing, growing, shrinking, changing its focus, etc., rather that a static thing that you can leave alone for days or weeks or months at a time.

We pros are accutely aware of this, however, as we confront the almost daily spectacle of vintage rollovers and label changes, and try and keep up with the furious pace of an ever-evolving market. And unless we happen to be equipped with a hand-held printing device to help us stay on track, it's almost impossible to ensure 100% accuracy on our lists. I'm the first to admit that I've never achieved that elusive goal, and I go through an extensive reprint of my winelists each and every week, and sometimes more than once a week! Consider this; each reprint of my more than 25 lists in circulation at Kinkead's in Washington takes approximately 6 hours from start to finish. That includes the word processing, the printing of pages, the point of sale computer entries, the unpacking, labelling and binning of wines, and finally, the installation of pages in wine books. Imagine trying to accomplish that job twice or thrice a week.
Still, nothing seems to arouse the ire and suspicion of the average customer than the presentation of a bottle with the wrong vintage on the label. (Hmmm, 2008 vintage sauvignon! Hey, what's this guy up to?! Must be trying to pull the wool over...) It's almost guaranteed that you're going to get a bottle rejected, in spite of the fact that you've briefed the staff on the change, you've informed the guest prior to opening and serving the bottle, and in many cases you're actually offering, you guessed it, a better vintage!
I guess it's a no win situation, really. We signed on to serve a discernible clientele, which might get, shall we say, a tad picky from time to time. I'm not advocating trying to slip by that 87 Haut Brion in place of the 89, heaven forbid. But just as we strive daily to check our attitudes at the door, so too might the consumer come to understand that to err is human, to forgive divine!