Do you buy wine in restaurants?

WINE TALK
41

I often struggle with this issue, but a high caliber restaurant I buy off the menu and pay the marked up prices (and typically there is no option otherwise). My thought is if I am about to have an amazing meal I certainly am not going to ruin it with a subpar wine. I also have to take into consideration who I am dining with…

I do not limit myself to just BYO places as they are not as diverse as what many of you seem to have available (and I have looked at the BYO places in Chicago listed on this site as well…)

I find this thread highly thought provoking regarding my own habits (or the lack of…).

42

DB Bistro in NYC has an interesting twist to their wine list. They always have one wine on heir list for cost. It is not advertised as such and the somm calls it the “nugget”. When I ordered a Ken Wright Pinot for $59.99, he came to my table and congratulated me for finding the nugget. A neat twist on a restaurant list.

43

I think this is a much more American thing than it is elsewhere.

It has often been something we have noticed and remarked on when we have traveled ot the US, someplaces more so than others.

I don’t often see it here on OZ when we dine out, and certainly not in Europe…

44

I’ll buy from a restaurant if it’s reasonable. Some do it very well. But, I’m not going to buy something I don’t want to drink, be it grocery store mediocrity or a current release that needs age. I’d say I look at value more than mark-up, per se. That is, there are some excellent very low priced wines out there, especially in the ready-to-drink realm. If a restaurant does a great job at sorting through the chaff to find true gems that deliver a lot of pleasure for the price, I don’t care about the mark-up.

Some restaurants do a great job at by-the-glass. Good selections, service, maintenance of open bottles, etc.

The problem is the vast majority of restaurants fail at many levels. When a restaurant that’s supposed to be wine-centric, like what Galloni describes, has hardly anyone drinking wine, they are clearly failing. Something is wrong. They are not meeting their own goal for their program. What model/program suits what restaurant best can vary quite a bit.

One bistro here offers a small list (2 pages) of well selected ready to drink wines, including about 10 btg. Their wine service is excellent and they encourage byo, catering to a lot of wine geeks. (Both mark-ups and corkage are reasonable.) That offers something for everybody and most tables have wine. Even those who byo often buy a glass or half bottle, too.

There’s a big place (Los Altos Grill) that offers free corkage. They make their money off food, and recently upped their prices. The place is always at capacity, seven nights a week.

Both those places thrive on regular, loyal customers. They aren’t cheap, but offer great value for the dollar, so they see no effect in economic downturns.

45

Funny, was just recalling DB Bistro - had a similar experience with a Copain pinot a bit ago.

When we go out, I usually will order by the glass if the list is egregious. Where I am in CT there are a few local places with no corkage (Tutti’s) or limited corkage (Nicholas Roberts or Bon Appetite Cafe) we will head to when looking for something nice to open.

46

No

47

Only if your name is Bern’s

48

Ironically, I think that it was the restaurant markups that first made vintners think that they could get $150 for a bottle of their wine. Opus One probably thought…if they (consumers) pay $175 in a restaurant for our wine, why don’t we just charge $175? Now, it is completely out of control, where the restaurants are saying “if they will spend $300 on wine, why don’t we charge $300 for our tasting menu?” How do you expect sommeliers to afford their own vineyards? It is easy to put together a list of coche dury and DRC and call yourself a sommelier, and sit back and watch the bucks roll in from the big spenders. For me, better to have a great list of great reasonably priced wines with a reasonable markup. I think places like Bern’s Steakhouse have this model. I for one refuse to spend more than $150 on a special occasion wine either in a restaurant or retail. The insanity must stop…

49

Yep

50

I am really surprised by the reactions here.
I can remember another thread not so long ago on whether you should tip 20% on wine in restaurants and there was some passionate disagreement.

But on the subject of this thread - unless I’ve read too quickly - no one is standing up for the restaurant mark-ups.
Don’t count on me to do it. I’m just pointing out that the frustration of wine lovers seems pretty entrenched and serious.

Alex R.

51

[winner.gif]

That’s a pretty offensive markup. The place I’m going this weekend has Raveneau Tonnerre for $180 but they don’t list the vintage on the website. On their list, the more expensive the bottle, the lower the markup by percentage for the most part.
But since they don’t list the vintages I am considering taking a bottle just in case.

52

Let me point out a local restaurant that seems to do it better than most on our local scene. Now keep in mind that Orlando, Florida, is not a mecca for wine establishements, but Luma at Park has a very good structure.

They have a reserve list and a deep selection, but skip those - some nice finds but quite expensive. Their “normal” wine menu is quite decent though. They have 4 price structures: $20, $30, $40 and $50. In each level, they have 8 whites, 8 reds, a champagne and a dessert wine.

http://www.lumaonpark.com/p/wine.html

I typically go for the Baudry Chinon Domaine for $30. A very solid wine at a reasonable price. My wife and I also eat outside quite a bit late afternoons with our dog in tow, and order appetizers, their excellent pizza, and a simple NZ Sav Blanc for $20. I have never been dissapointed with their cheapy whites.

53

I go less and less to restaurants because of high wine prices. Except for the very best restaurants, I prefer to cook mytself and open a great bottle while I cnnot afford a great bottle in a restaurant.

Alex, I think that when great wines were cheap, a 3 times price was affordable in a restaurant, but nowadays, a great bottle can easily cost you 50-100 $…so a 3 times factor is just idiotic…

54

Almost always.

If it is a restaurant with a well thought out wine list, with interesting selections I’ve never had (that may even go with their food)- Absolutely. I might even go so far and ask the sommelier for a rec. :wink:

55

Almost always and by the glass as my wife doesnt drink that often. I really like it if I can do a small pour flight.

56

Never. The markup is just an utter and complete ripoff. $20 for a two ounce pour of 20 year old tawny? $10 for a two ounce pour of icewine? Forget it. For what it would cost the table for a round, I could buy a bottle and share it with everyone at home.

57

My general rule is 2x retail and not a penny more.

To be fair, margins tend to be the same on everything, but the starting costs are much lower, so the same margin looks a lot more reasonable on a beer or ice t than it will on a bottle of decent wine.

58

Never. The markup is just an utter and complete ripoff. $20 for a two ounce pour of 20 year old tawny? $10 for a two ounce pour of icewine? Forget it. For what it would cost the table for a round, I could buy a bottle and share it with everyone at home.

59

If I expect to need a bottle for the meal, I usually BYOB but I do buy a lot BTG.

60

I wouldn’t normally, but I have less than half of the vote when we got out to dinner, and I presume I’m not the only one [snort.gif]