Take advantage of restaurants’ corkage option
There’s a trick to drinking crazy good wine at restaurants without it costing a fortune. Find a place that lets you bring your own bottle and go to town. They’ll usually charge you a corkage fee of about $15 to $30 but it’s well worth it. Here’s why:
Most restaurants prefer to list wines that are not available at the LCBO to hide the markup, which can easily rise to 300 per cent. So dropping serious coin on a bottle you’ve never even tasted is a bit of a risk, don’t you think?
Even when you know the bottles listed, the markup can be shockingly high. A random search online of wine lists reveals Toronto’s Rodney’s Oyster House lists 13th Street Winery Gamay Noir for $50 ($19.95 at the LCBO). Barbarian’s Steak House lists Catena Malbec for $60 ($19.95 at the LCBO) and Masi Costasera Amarone for $98 ($23.25 at the LCBO). And these are not unusual markups.
Obviously bringing your own bottle is smart but is not a wellknown option. But since Ontario legislation first allowed restaurants to offer this courtesy to patrons back in 2005, uptake has grown. Now, most restaurants offer it, though few advertise the option. Best way to find out if your favourite spot lets you BYOB is to call; there’s not a complete listing online. The way to phrase the question is: “Do you offer corkage?”
The corkage fee covers the privilege of drinking your own wine on the premises and helps offset the restaurant’s costs of doing so. Not only does the establishment not pocket the markup on a bottle you would otherwise be paying, but it still opens and serves the wine for you — incurring of course all the costs that entails. So a token fee is more than reasonable. Some establishments even waive or reduce the corkage fee on slower nights.
Taking advantage of corkage is a no-brainer when you’ve got a special bottle to enjoy such as that treasured wine you brought back from Tuscany, Burgundy or Prince Edward County. But it’s also a smart way to uncork a deeply undervalued drop you nabbed at your local LCBO. That $30 bottle that drinks like a $60 gem? Bring it. Of course, you would not be allowed to bring a bottle listed on the establishment’s wine list.
It’s fun to dine out. And having a nice bottle with your meal is one of the pleasures of doing so, but the price can be steep. Bringing your own bottle offsets that cost and ensures you’re drinking something you know you like.
To set you up, here are five deeply undervalued bottles to bring to restaurants. Carolyn Evans Hammond is a Torontobased wine writer. She is also a Londontrained sommelier and two-time bestselling wine book author. Reach her at carolyn@carolynevanshammond.com.