I agree with this approach.
We often bring a white and a red 750 but usually bring home 1/2 bottle of each.
I expect to be charged for 2 bottles.
Totally agree on the tipping, and we now tip the sommelier separately in cash at the end of the meal. In this case, the wait staff will be fine, since the sommelier is providing the labor, and we still tip on corkage which depending on how they calculate it, will still be a decent amount.
Merrill, this is not adversarial, as I consider corkage in NY a privilege, and a restaurant such as Vaucluse a partner rather than an entity to take advantage of. We always give the wait staff wine, and at lunch time when there is less pressure, they will often join us at the table. I have no doubt we will be discussing this very issue, but I was curious how the people on this board feel.
Corkage should be whatever the establishment wants it to be. Their call. Our call whether to patronize the establishment. I’ve never taken a 375ml, but would have expected to be charged a full corkage and pleasantly surprised if not.
-Al
I believe we get caught up in ‘what should or shouldn’t be’ and are probably better asking the question…
“Would such and such a policy be more or less attractive to you as a diner/consumer” or “Would such and such a policy motivate you to dine at the restaurant more or less?”
In my mind, in a perfect world, one cork one price. And if a magnum is double, as restaurants often do, then I think a half should be half. But I’d call first because everyplace is different and it wouldn’t surprise me to find out that they won’t let you get by with half.
JD
Mark…I did not consider your question, nor my response, nor your response to be adversarial! I think the entire subject is worthy of discussion, opinion, and learning.
I can tend to be overly “direct” sometimes. Believe me, it is nothing I don’t know or haven’t heard. Honestly, thanks for the gentle reminder.
I…we…are so fortunate to have very loose corkage/wine policies here in Napa Valley. I was stunned last year in DC with Counselor Mollen at a dinner, and New York can be tough. Don’t venture to Massachusetts!
Merrill,
Thanks for the note, and sorry for any confusion.
None of it was intended to be adversarial; I was using the word in the context of my relationship with the restaurant, or for that matter any restaurant where I can BYO, not the discussion which I think is interesting.
My attitude to BYO has always been making it work for both parties, making sure that we are welcome to come back. I am not particularly concerned if they charge us the full amount for every bottle, in fact, without any prompting, I am curious what they end up doing.
Yes, trying to make sure we are welcome to come back is often my main motivation.
-Al
This logic gets used often, but they don’t charge you for bringing an extra plate to share food, or making a trip to the kitchen for condiment or any other request. There is only one good reason to charge corkage: to make up for the loss of alcohol purchase of some kind. In which case, they really shouldn’t charge any more for two half bottles than for a single 750.
So long as we’re indulging in pedantry on bottle size nomenclature I’ll point out that you mean it raises questions.
No, “begs the question” is an Anglicism which I have used all my life, and has been legitimized by a couple of centuries of general use in the UK.
However, if you were truly indulging your pedantry, you might point out that instead of a comma after “as well”, I should have used a semi colon, and I would be forced to agree.
Whoops, I just learned what “begs the question” actually means. I stand corrected.
Would it change your mind if 4 ppl sit at one table and bring a mag vs. 4 ppl at the next table who bring 4 375’s?
![[welldone.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/f/fc9709a841aa9379fd892a9cf0b535b05f473b86.gif "[welldone.gif]"){kind=small}
I learned the correct usage through being corrected on a wine board as well.
I sympathize with your position and have even pointed out this incorrect usage myself, but effectively we are already wrong about “begging the question.” The most common usage is Mark’s original one. Language is ultimately defined by usage, not by old grumpy guys.
In what sense? In that case, it would seem to make sense to charge the same corkage they do for a mag (which apparently is double a 750 in most cases, though I’ve never done it so not sure).
Alan,
a mag is 1500…2 750’s so 4 375’s is the same volume.
In what sense? In that case, it would seem to make sense to charge the same corkage they do for a mag (which apparently is double a 750 in most cases, though I’ve never done it so not sure).
If corkage is $20 for a 750 your comment was charge the same for 2 375’s and not 2 corkage fees $40
my question was posed to see if opening 4 bottles would give you a different perspective.
in any event both parties need to be content.
Add a factor like sometimes I will open my own bottles when I get impatient. what then?
Well, even if you think the actual time taken to open 4 bottles should be accounted for, a good waiter can open a bottle in 30 seconds (or less). And if we say the hourly cost of that employee is maybe $30/hr including overhead and benefits, we’re talking like a buck or two in actual cost. I could see putting a small premium on opening a half, but now we’re getting kind of silly. As Al says, it’s up to the restaurant to decide what they want to do, and the customer to either accept that and patronize the restaurant, or not. I don’t have a problem either way. But I’d probably not go back if a restaurant charged me twice the corkage for two halves.
A delicious meal at Vaucluse, and perfect wine service
One of the wines we brought was shot, so we bought a bottle from the list, and were charged $50 corkage for our three halves and a bottle.
I asked Richard, the sommelier, what they would have charged normally. He said it is rare to get halves, but when they do, they “of course” charge half price corkage.
Here are the notes for the lunch:
Well, I hope Richard is a contributor and not just a lurker.