OpenTable Uncorks $22,000 Bottle of Wine For Unsuspecting Melburnians

OpenTable has turned a Melbourne street encounter into a $22,000 wine tasting, inviting passers-by inside The European to sample a rare bottle as part of its Experiences Month campaign.

Created with independent agency 2045, the activation was designed to demonstrate the kind of discovery and unexpected moments available through OpenTable’s restaurant experiences, and used one highly shareable moment to show what can happen when someone says yes to an invitation.

Melbourne sommelier and wine educator Jay Bessell began outside The European posing as an everyday street host, approaching passers-by with an offer of a complimentary wine tasting. Participants were not told what they would be drinking, how much it was worth, or that Jay was a sommelier.

Those who accepted were then invited inside, where Jay reappeared in full sommelier mode to guide them through a blind tasting. Only afterwards was the bottle revealed to be a Domaine Armand Rousseau Chambertin Grand Cru 2014, 1.5L (Magnum), valued at approximately $22,000 on a restaurant wine list.

Across the day, 42 people were approached and 18 accepted the invitation. Guests knew nothing about the wine's value, eliciting a series of genuine reactions when the $22,000 figure was revealed.

The creative was designed to work first as an entertaining piece of content, using the contrast between a seemingly casual street invitation and the high-value experience waiting inside.

“Experiences Month is about making it easier for diners to find the restaurant moments that feel genuinely worth showing up for,” said Jason Yeung, VP of international marketing at OpenTable.

“This activation turns that idea into something immediate and human: an ordinary walk down the street becomes a story someone will remember for years. The value of the wine gets attention, but the real point is discovery and the excitement of saying yes.”

While the $22,000 tasting itself is not an experience consumers can book through OpenTable, the bottle acts as a creative device to highlight the unexpected and memorable dining moments available across the platform.

"We wanted to make something that worked first as entertainment, not an advertisement wearing a tuxedo,” said Christopher McKee, executive creative director at 2045.

“Jay’s double act gave us the perfect mechanism. Pivoting from questionable street invitation to $22,000 moment in a matter of minutes. I won’t be refusing samples in the future.”

Running throughout August in Melbourne, OpenTable Experiences Month includes limited-seat One Night Only events at Melbourne restaurants alongside a month-long collection of exclusive menus, offers and dining formats priced at $100 per person or under.

The program is intended to help diners discover experiences that fall outside a restaurant’s usual service, including chef collaborations, menus created for a single night, after-hours concepts, curated set menus and other limited-time formats bookable through OpenTable.

OpenTable’s Experiences Month is presented in partnership with Square. To secure a booking, visit the website.