You are always welcome to do as you see fit. My comment is just my own choice in course of action and not telling anyone else how to act. Nor did I suggest that I would never send a bottle back.
Restaurants charge higher multipliers for many reasons. They carry expensive insurance policies for wine service that consumers and retailers do not. They cover broken glass costs well beyond anyone else’s investments in glassware, along with the wages for service, inventory, and cleaning.
And they charge more to cover breakage and returns.
Before judging their pricing on wines though, you might consider the typical profit margin for restaurants (5-15% for profitable restaurantd) rather than the one area where they charge a significant margin. As high as costs are on a wine list, the restaurant isn’t getting rich off that mark up, and as many restaurants go out of business as make any money at all.
Or that non-chef kitchen staff are routinely horribly underpaid.
It would also be reasonable to look at mark ups in other industries, to see if wine list costs are that egregious. A friend recently bought a sensor for their forklift that could be found online with 3 weeks average to delivery for $32.50, but the same sensor from a local heavy equipment supplier was $350.
Hospitals also routinely mark up many items by far more than 300%.
Perhaps restaurants would see more business if the mark ups on wine were lower and the volume would make up the difference, but I don’t wonder that enough to invest my own money in one to find out.
That is exactly correct. Regardless of the profit margin of my friends winery, they couldn’t go 3 weeks without a forklift. So 1000% mark up is something you eat. Whereas the majority of restaurants do allow a BYOB option, giving people the opportunity to circumvent the 300% mark up.
I don’t begrudge any restaurant for what it charges for food or wine. Full stop. Prices are transparent and no patron should be surprised by food/wine prices.
My expectation is that the food and wine will be correct. Objectively. Not preference; if I order food or wine that is correct but not to my taste, that is on me. If the food or wine is flawed, that is on the restaurant.
I recently upgraded my fleet of forklifts and the factory charged me $50 on each one to bring my own sensor. To make matters worse, they would only allow me to do that on two forklifts, so I had to buy their $350 sensors for the rest of the fleet.
We had family visiting so we have been pouring magnums of Champagne the past few nights finally reaching a crescendo with an '06 Comtes last night. This shows a bit more depth in magnum with chalk, toast, baked apples, cinnamon, red peach, lemon curd and spicy acidity. I will be the first to admit this is not the most complex Champagne, but it is damn tasty.
John, I made the mistake of opening many different 2008 way too soon, but the one that was most approachable and ready was the LP and it still is showing beautifully. For me, it had a lot more body and weight and energy than the 2012 which, as stated above, is really about elegance. Both are fine bubbly, just in different ways.
Went into work this AM only to find my position staffed. I guess the office gave me vacation and forgot to tell me. Can you be Happy and Mad at the same time?
Well, might as well pop one Ive been looking forward to trying.
Extracted from a thread just posted regarding a recent dinner featuring 18 wines including 9 fabulous red Burgundies that were preempted by these 3 champagnes:
2004 BOLLINGER LA GRANDE ANNEE BRUT- 66% Pinot Noir and 34% Chardonnay, 88% of which is sourced from Grand Crus with the remainder from 1er Crus; this is aged in older barrels and then for more than 6 years on the lees in its bottle on cork instead of crown cap.; disgorged December, 2013; I thought it only appropriate to take this bubbly as it was purchased a few years ago from our top local wine shop, Renegade Wines, and the principles and dear friends were attending; this was the last of 6 bottles and it was as good as any; following its medium yellow gold color came aromas of lightly toasted and honeyed yellow apple, later on to be joined by hazelnut, grapefruit and fresh citrus fruit while being delivered in a creamy, feel good mousse; it had the typical Bollie full on body and weight and super richness along with tons of acidity to ensure longevity. This vintage is showing really good now.
1996 PHILIPPONNAT CLOS des GOISSES BRUT- disgorged December, 2006; what a treat and maybe my first time to experience this vintage of this stellar release; its gold color denoted some oxidative influence as did the advanced notes of caramel, orange marmalade and butterscotch; though advanced, there was some really nice nuances including its viscous texture and lingering buttered, honeyed coat deposited on the palate.
2012 VEUVE FOURNY & FILS CUVEE du CLOS NOTRE DAME BLANC de BLANC EXTRA BRUT- the 1er Cru fruit for this domaine, circa 1856, is sourced from a walled plot in Vertus featuring 40+ year old vines and is one of the few remaining clos parcels in the region; it is sustainably farmed, organically fertilized and harvested by hand; this release was aged for 9 years in the bottle, disgorged April, 2022 and dosed at 3 gpl; it is only made in exceptional vintages and only 300 bottles were produced for this vintage; sporting a youthful straw yellow color, the nose had super inviting citrus notes than on the palate translated into lemon, lime and some apple and pear with a touch of brioche; it had lots of elegance and yet enough stuffing and richness to provide overall excellence.
I emailed the retailer and had an ITB friend ask his Skurnik person and still don’t know any more about why two bottles of ostensibly exact same Champagne show different cepage and bottling info on the back label. I am reposting in the hope someone can educate me.
Had a good coupon, so I went back for a few more of these. Another excellent bottle. Really opulent and extroverted expression; full-bodied and creamy. Upfront flavors of pineapple milkshake, lemon chiffon, orange pith, and jellied fruit slice candies. This somehow manages to pull off some subtle complexity underneath the somewhat in your face extroversion with a secondary layer of coffee, toasted croissant, and even a hint of pencil lead. Finishes long with chalk and graham cracker. The bottle I had a week or two ago didn’t appear to have this level of nuance. I am not sure if this bottle was superior or if I was just paying more attention. Glad I have multiples.
It’s been a year since I’ve had one, and it needed quite a bit of air, but there’s a new CT note from “Vancouver” you might want to check out. Matches my experience after 90 mins of breathing.
De Sousa Cuvée 3A Grand Cru
50% Chard (Avize), 50% PN (Aÿ & Ambonnay). Dosage: 7g/L.
I purchased 2 bottles from WiredforWine in Nov 2022. Unfortunately, I just noticed that the two bottles were disgorged 10/2014, and in my opinion, this is not a long-term wine. Also, I prefer a fresher style, so longer bottle-aging for champagne is generally not my preference (esp. not knowing the storage conditions). Medium golden color that put me on guard. Teeny tiny bead, vivid for about 30 minutes. Smells of oxydized brown apple. Tastes of oxydized apple, hazelnut, and has a finish reminiscent of over-toasted stale almond/apple croissant. For me, this is over the hill and a wake-up-call to be more careful buying champagne online. I’m pretty confident a fresher bottle would be up my alley; note that newer releases have a lower dosage.
Blake, I recently bought two bottles of this at different price points from a reputable broker. One was supposed to be an original release, like this one, and the other the recent disgorgement LV (like their P2 or something, I guess). Both ended up being the recent disgorgement. I’ll be drinking at least one of them with good wine geeks in September. Hoping they’re fun and fresh!
