Originally Posted by
Clint Bint
... waiters filling up my wine glass when I haven't asked them to REALLY gets my goat !!!
I've always found the simple line, "I'll take care of the wine service from here, thanks" to work perfectly in avoiding this problem, voiced right after the bottle is uncorked. A single repetition may be necessary if the wine is opened by a sommelier rather than the waiter, though in my experience the word is usually passed along.
I think I'm seeing a pattern here - clearly I'm much luckier than you in finding competent waitstaff!