CORK IN THE ACT

We find High St chains charging THREE times price for SAME supermarket wine

Echo Falls Zinfandel white

Frankie & Benny’s, Widnes

Asda POPULAR restaurants and pubs are charging more than three times the supermarket price for a bottle of wine.

Our investigators checked prices at 10 leading chains including Cafe Rouge, Frankie & Benny’s, Harvester and Slug & Lettuce and discovered shocking results. We found a bottle of Echo Falls Zinfandel costing £17.95 at Italian-themed Frankie & Benny’s in Widnes, Cheshire. You can pick up the same bottle down the road at Asda for a fiver – that’s a mark-up of 259 per cent.

And at the Slug & Lettuce pubs, a bottle of Brancott Estate Sauvignon Blanc costs £21.50. In the supermarket it’s £6.99.

Consumer expert Martyn James of resolver.co.uk said: “We suspected the big chains have been ripping us off for years but the scale of this is shocking.”

It was a similar story at the Windsor Lad Harvester pub, Berks, where a Barefoot White Zinfandel cost £12.95 – more than double Morrisons’ £5.50.

TAxes

Cafe Rouge in Newcastle had a bottle of Joseph Mellot Sancerre for £29.95 – it’s £12.68 in Asda.

And a bottle of Baron Philippe de Rothschild Mouton Cadet is £28.25 – or a tenner in Morrisons.

A Slug & Lettuce in Manchester, has popular Jacob’s Creek Shiraz for £18.75 – yet it’s £6.48 in Asda.

The British Beer and Pub Association said: “The price in pubs is inevitably going to be higher than in the supermarket because of rising costs and skyhigh taxes.”

Our research comes after a separate survey by consumer group Which? last week found an average mark-up of 167 per cent across 15 top restaurants.

Industry bosses say the higher prices cover rent, rates, wages and other costs. Cafe Rouge said: “Taking into consideration these many costs, we’re confident that the guest experience and service we deliver represents good value.”

Others did not comment. Brancott Estate Sauvignon Blanc

Slug & Lettuce, Manchester

Waitrose Baron Philippe de Rothschild Mouton Cadet

Cafe Rouge, Newcastle

Morrisons Joseph Mellot Sancerre

Cafe Rouge, Newcastle

Asda Jacob’s Creek Shiraz

Slug & Lettuce, Manchester

Asda Waipara Hills Sauvignon Blanc

Frankie & Benny’s, Widnes

Sainsbury’s Barefoot White Zinfandel

The Windsor Lad Harvester

Morrisons