I just got off the phone with the reservation clerk at Le Cirque in NY, and asked about corkage. Apparently there is a $75 basic fee, but if the wines are expensive, then the fee goes up. She told me that a $2000 bottle would have a $500 corkage fee. I didn’t ask if it were $2000 at restaurant mark-up cost or secondary market value. Either way, it’s the most expensive corkage I have ever come across, and a truly frightening concept.
that is a good reason NOT to dine there. That is really crazy policy
“We want to encourage you to drink cheap wine with our food. Special discount if you bring Yellowtail.”
I have no problem with paying corkage. I have no problem buying a wine off the list.
However, I have zero fracking interest in having an appraisal discussion over a bottle that I would like to open. If it isn’t on their list, they should have a flat fee to open it. Or they should just refuse corkage. Either is their right. Paper or plastic. Pick.
What they are proposing is obnoxious, intrusive, in poor taste and just plain gouging.
Wait, so they check on winesearcher or something to find the current value? Jeez. That is just dumb.
Bring Yellowtail and Three Buck Chuck to spite them.
Refuse to patronize the restaurant, and tell them the reason why.
I got off the phone having told them politely what I thought of the policy. Probably won’t go any further.
So how quickly will the newest rendition of the Le Cirq comet flame out?
I certainly think it silly and I doubt I’d dine there. But I see little need for outrage.
Corkage is a privilege, and NY has it better than most.
This is stupid. If I were running the restaurant, I might do exactly the opposite.
The cost of serving wine is same regardless of its value. The client has the means or taste to bring a expensive bottle of wine is more likely to be a regular client (assuming food is decent).
Is it what you paid or current value, I know the answer .
That is NUTS !
You can show them the receipt for your purchased-on-release '82 Bordeaux and '90 grand cru Burgs and argue that the bottle cost is about the same as the “basic fee” 
.
#WineValueTogether
I understand, and I agree that corkage is a privilege. So they should charge a flat fee. That could be $50 or $150. However, opening the door into a creepy, subjective discussion about how much my wine is worth will NOT enhance the dining experience.
Like I said. Pick. Have corkage. Or don’t. But this new idea to surcharge based on the worth of the bottle is stupid and rude.
You’re just saying that because Mosel wines are undervalued 
The outrage is not over a corkage fee, it’s over setting a policy that makes the process incredibly uncomfortable for everyone involved. And if you think that isn’t the reaction of anyone hearing this policy then you aren’t reading the rest of the thread.
This is simply crazy, stupid, silly …
I would never ever call there for a reservation again.
Last friday I dined in a very nice restaurant in Graz, called before for corkage … and was told:
9 €/bottle. OK!
I decanted the bottle myself - having opened it a few hours before - it was a 1964 …
needed only a decanter and 2 glasses.
Sure I ordered a white from the list as a starter.
The people who set the policy most likely aren’t the people who are going to be involved in the uncomfortable situations with the customers on a daily basis. it’s the reservationist on the phone, and the sommeliers working the floor. All it’s going to take is a few angry diners blowing up in the middle of service when their '78 Romanee Conti or '47 Cheval Blanc costs them an extra $5,000 in corkage for the policy to be adjusted.
I don’t really see why the process would have to be uncomfortable.
“Which wine do you want to bring”
“Château X 2012”
“That will be $100”
“Ok never mind I’ll go somewhere that charges less”
“Ok bye”
There was a place in the UK that tried to do this, it attracted quite a bit of ridicule but little outrage as far as i recall, maybe a NY thing…
Sounds like an opportunity for a “Reverse Rudy”. Pour your 1990 DRC La Tache into a 2012 Kendall Jackson Pinot bottle.
Ben