I don’t usually order a bottle off the list, but almost always do a cocktail to start.
Tipping is tricky. For one bottle we usually throw in an extra $20 or so.
Tip as if you’d ordered a bottle off the list, but no obligation to tip as though you’d paid a list price for the specific bottle you brought. Win-win for everyone.
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Y’all drinking in the wrong places! 
I BYOB a lot. I agree with most of the article except the tip amount. I generally increase my percentage of tipping based on the bill, but it’s ludicrous to tip based on some imaginary wine price that’s based on a markup of 300% of retail. If the restaurant doesn’t want BYOB, they should say that or make the corkage crazy.
But here’s the other thing. Generally, I don’t want the restaurant staff touching my wine. If it needs decanting, I will have done that before I showed up. I’ll do the pouring as well, as I know better than them how the people at the table drink wine and when they need a top-up and when they don’t. All I want from the restaurant is appropriate glassware, unless their glasses are junk in which case I’ll bring those too.
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Yeah that’s definitely becoming more and more common. Even places that do have a somm, I’m seeing them try to train their servers more and more to be quasi wine stewards and take orders and do the bottle service in many cases. They have varied interest in wine. But it makes sense, if you have a restaurant with 50 tables, you would need several somms to cover it properly. One somm just isn’t going to have enough time to make it around to check on every table.
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I dont go out to eat often as I love to cook and seem to enjoy my wine much more at home than at a restaurant. there are 3 places that I do go that I bring my own when I go. I have developed a nice relationship with the somm, 1 guy for over 10 years. I always give him a generous pour and he always waives the corkage fee for me, regardless of what I bring or how many bottles (a mag was the most bottles I brought). but I do tip him the same amount of the what the corkage fee would be. once I brought a bottle of Latour that they had on the wine list. it was not on the list when I looked it over the night before and I let him know. He had no issues with me bringing it, saying he had wanted to try the bottle out and was more than happy to have a nice pour from my bottle.
a good relationship with a somm at a place you visit often, that you treat well, with respect and give nice pours to is a win win for all involved, expect maybe the restaurant owner.
john
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Is the expectation ever different than some form of 'we don’t like getting ripped off '?
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I never understand the linking of giving a taste or extra tips with waived corkage? The fee is for the establishment and the extra tips it seems do not get to the sommelier possibly?
It absolutely does seem logical and maybe even policy if one orders another bottle.
For those that have seen behind the scenes is this an expected quid pro quo from the somm/server side as well. If the server just dropped one meal from the ticket every time we came in I’d imagine we wouldn’t be ok with that.
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My philosophy has always been
- Call ahead to make sure it is okay to BYOB
- Don’t complain about corkage
- Offer a taste to the somm/server
- If I/we brought several bottles, I find it polite to buy something off the list i.e. a white or champagne
The suggestion from the article to tip off the bottle price that you brought is a bit absurd, especially considering the same amount of work is required if I brought a $100 bottle or a $1000 bottle. I am already paying corkage and that is why I find it polite to still order a bottle or at least cocktails off the menu. I tip well as is. I don’t need to arbitrarily add an extra $200 to the tip just because the bottle I brought is worth $1000.
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“One anecdote features a guest who claimed he did not technically bring a wine that was on the restaurant’s list because even though it was the same producer, variety, and vintage, it was from a different vineyard site than the one on offer. Touché, but does anyone really want to be that guy?”
Unless the restaurant would like to go on record that site, terroir, etc is irrelevant, it’s absolutely not the same wine.
“Do bring a special bottle”
Usually I do. Sometimes I just bring what I’d ordinarily drink at home if the restaurant’s wine list stinks and I don’t want anything on it. I don’t drink liquor, so I have no interest in cocktails, and the alternative is me not coming. If the restaurant prefers that, as is their right, of course, they can say so by not allowing corkage at all.
“Do tip on the bottle amount”
You’re shitting me, right? It’s not the same at all. I’ve gone through the trouble of sourcing the “special bottle,” storing it, transporting it and am bearing the risk of a faulty bottle. That’s not the same at all. I do tip more than 20% on straight food cost, but I usually assume the purchase of an average bottle off their list.
Do order a bottle off the list as well
Eh, I can go either way on this. I might order a glass of white or bubbles if we bring red, but usually it’s just my wife and I drinking … how much should I be expected to drink in order to not offend a restaurant for engaging in a practice they allow?
“Don’t bring a bottle that’s on the list”
Publish your wine list online, and keep it up to date.
“Don’t forget your manners: Corkage is a courtesy, so be courteous”
Be courteous because you should be polite as you go about your life. But corkage is not a courtesy – it’s something the restaurant can either choose to allow or disallow. If they allow it, then it’s the same as allowing people to wear ball caps or jeans in a restaurant. If it’s allowed, people can do it. If not, then no. It’s not a “courtesy.”
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I have had servers say they cannot taste in the dining area, but they can take it to the kitchen to taste.
I am going to restaurant next month that charges corkage and I am bringing a bottle each of '12/'13 Cristal rosé, neither of which are on the list. However, they do have '12/13 Cristal brut on the list. Does this make me THAT guy?
you might also fall into the “Don’t bring a mass-market bottle” with Cristal. too many rules.
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I like this @J0hnEhrl1ng - my wife always waits for me to start muttering to myself about why I should tip more on the cost of a $500 bottle of wine vs. a $100 bottle of wine when it’s the same work. Then she waits for me to start in on the “Service Fees”. Sorry for the thread drift - I feel click baited… 
I don’t stand on a lot of ceremony so my protocol is pretty basic…
- Call ahead to confirm the corkage policy
- Tip based on the quality of service
I never make the wine the centerpiece of my dining experiences; my wife, my family, or my friends deserve my full attention. Sharing a fine wine with a nice meal is a celebration of how cherished they are rather than a commemoration of how precious the wine might be.
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Just to repeat some other opinions…
If a restaurant offers corkage but would also like you to order a bottle off the list, they should specify that; otherwise, I feel zero obligation to do so.
What percentage of BYOW customers do you think also always order off the list as a matter of course? I’m guessing single digits. I roll my eyes at this supposed unwritten rule.
Also, if I am bringing a bottle to a restaurant, I have probably spent a lot of time obsessing over the decision. It is special, or at least important, to me, even if it’s a $20 bottle.
i’m going to pull that (look for corkage charged plus any additional alcohol ordered). i’m interested as well. that said, given the extremely small % of corkage, that specific subset is much smaller still. maybe.
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And I would guess maybe 25%, which would be significant. Although, a significant percentage of an insignificant percentage is – well – insignificant. 
the entire world of corkage summed up perfectly!
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I know a lot of people who bring their wine to restaurants, and I’ve never heard it discussed that you should buy a bottle off the list if you bring a bottle. I know a few restaurants that will waive corkage on one bottle if you buy a bottle, or even a couple cocktails, and this is attractive to some people in our groups. But an unwritten rule that you should always buy a bottle off their list is bonkers.
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