Restaurant wine service: what do you think?

A good post on the NY Times wine writer Eric Asimov's blog today about restaurant wine service that hit several chords, among them:
-Waiters who encourage you to order your wine before you've even had a chance to look at the list or menu or consult with your dining companion(s). Just a tad pushy, although it is my understanding this is one of the reasons martinis were invented.
-Wine that either comes to early or too late for your intended use, i.e. my glass of white I ordered some time ago that comes when I'm halfway through my crab appetizer, or the bottle of red that by the time the entrées arrive is halfway empty
-And my biggest pet peeve, waiters who insist on pouring your wine for you, much less without asking whether you're ready for more or not. Whether they are doing this as a service or a way to get the glass full and bottle empty as quickly as possible (in hopes you'll need more), I really find this annoying, and invariably tell them I'm quite capable of pouring my own, thanks. Asimov's post also links to this great essay on this very subject by Christopher Hitchens.
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one year ago today @ E.D.T.: dinner with mom at Caffé Mingo.

I'll ask what Asimov asked: any comments from you on this subject?

Props for Portland!

More words of praise for PDX from the New York Times* dining section this morning. For those of us who live here, and live to eat, tell us something we don't know. For those of you who read this, bet you're hungry and making travel plans when you're done!


*As I've said before, the registration feature that makes the NYT online edition available for free is a ridiculous opportunity to read the best paper in the U.S. No spam emails, nothing but info. And on Wednesdays, the best food section in the country!