This work, probably titled by Antoine Guillemet, was rejected from the Salon (1867). A critic named Arnold Mortier wrote in Le Nain jaune (republished in the April 8, 1867 edition of Le Figaro) that the jury had turned down two paintings by the artist that were "worthy of exclusion." "These compositions are entitled: Le Grog au vin. One of them depicts a nude man to whom a very dressed-up woman has just brought a wine grog; the other portrays a nude woman and a man dressed as a lazzarone: in this one the grog is spilt." (quoted in Rewald, 1996, p. 105)
Emile Zola sent a protest to the newspaper: "M. Paul Césanne [sic], in excellent and numerous company [Bazille, Guillemet, Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley], has indeed had two canvases rejected this year.... I insist at least on saying that M. Arnold Mortier's descriptions are inaccurate." (Rewald, 1996, p. 105)