SECRETS UNCORKED
Seven insider tips for ordering wine at restaurants
It's no secret that wine has always cost more in restaurant dining rooms than at supermarkets. But wine lists still deliver sticker shock. The cabernet you paid $20 for at the grocery store can be 60 bucks in the land of white tablecloths, where bottles are typically marked up two to three times the wholesale price. Wake up and sniff the vino: Food gets sold at very slim margins, and restaurants count on alcohol sales to survive — especially now in these times of soaring costs for meat, seafood and other items. Here's the insider info on why wines get marked up and how to get the best deals when ordering.
1
The highest priced bottles have the lowest markups.
If you dig in your heels, determined not to pay more than $25 for a bottle of wine, you might be missing a great deal on something pricier, says Mark McDonald, chef and co-owner of Old Vine Kitchen + Bar in Costa Mesa. “It can take a year or more to sell 12 bottles of $150 wine. If I did a standard markup on that, it would be harder to sell. We want people to experience some of these wines that are a little more special and that are a higher price point. So we take less of a margin on those.”
2
Wine by the glass has the highest markups.
The “I'm going to save money by having just one glass” plan doesn't really pencil out. The common restaurant pricing formula calls for the wholesale price of the bottle plus $2 for a glass of wine. (That's because wine quality declines once a bottle has been opened. If they serve one glass, and the rest of the bottle doesn't sell in a week, the bottle should be dumped down the drain.)
Buy a glass of wine from a bottle that runs $10 wholesale — so the markup price is $20 to $30 — and you'll likely be charged $12. Buy two glasses for your table, and you're spending $24. Better to buy the bottle, which will fill four to five glasses.
“If I'm gonna have a glass and a half, two glasses, as is my dining companion, then definitely get the bottle,” says Laura Ratner, director of service and training for Southern California's Lawry's Restaurants. “You're more assured of a higher quality product. You know exactly how long it's been open. It just makes more financial sense.”
3
It's useless to look for that Costco bargain at a restaurant.
As one of the biggest wine retailers in the country, Costco can afford to lose money on some bottles. “Guests say, `We have this Caymus, we just got it at Costco, and their price was this.' They don't understand what Costco does,” says William Lewis, managing partner and sommelier of The Winery Restaurant & Wine Bar in Newport Beach. “They undercut prices to get you to come in — and they know you're gonna buy something else. You're gonna get food. You're gonna get this. You're gonna get that. You're not gonna just go and get one bottle of wine.”
4
The wine service you get at a restaurant can't be replicated at home.
Most restaurant wines come directly from wineries or a trusted distributor. Bottles don't sit around at room temperature in a grocery store or worse, out in the sun on a loading dock. They're stored at the restaurant, often in temperature-controlled rooms, which is part of the restaurant's footprint and therefore part of the rent they pay.
With a wine list that may include hundreds of bottles, a restaurant's selection is far broader than the average person could own or store. That's why restaurants have servers or general managers on hand to answer questions about the wine and discuss what kinds of wines you like best before making a recommendation. Only a few fine dining establishments have a sommelier on staff, but top restaurants pay servers to attend wine tastings led by experts from distribution companies or wineries.
Stemware — which typically costs $3 to $9 wholesale — has to be sturdy, yet crystal clear to show off the wine, and the restaurant picks up the cost of any breakage. They might only break one a week, but sometimes a whole tray or dishwasher rack hits the floor. When fine dining rooms use fancy, fragile glasses, they can lose a dozen a week.
5
The most popular wines are sold at the lowest prices.
General managers know you're no fool. They won't excessively mark up a wellknown wine. “People have their iPhones when they're going to a restaurant,” says Tony Maalouf, restaurant manager at the Mission Inn Hotel & Spa in Riverside. “They have an idea what they're buying, and they know what the market price is for that wine.”
6
Corkage fees: the rules of engagement.
Bringing your own wine has become more common, especially since the pandemic began. But consider that wine is the only thing on the restaurant menu for which you can name your price. Tell the sommelier, server or general manager exactly what you're willing to spend so they can select the best bottle in that range. If you do bring your own wine it's only courteous to tote something that's not already on the wine list, such as a bottle you've been saving for a special occasion. It's a nice gesture to offer the sommelier or server a taste.
“It's OK to bring your own bottle,” says Eric Stenta, an industry veteran who has worked in fine dining rooms for Patina Group, including Catal at Downtown Disney in Anaheim. “But I think you have to be careful of what that corkage is. I mean, there's a going rate in some places of $50 to $60 a bottle. But there is a tradition with corkage fees, and it's typically $20 to $30.”
7
Rather than whine, show interest in wine.
“If (diners) really like the restaurant, they should have a relationship with myself or one of my other managers or maître d's, because that goes a long way,” Lewis says. “When people actually spend time reaching out, asking me questions, I'll talk to them on the phone — when they come in, I'll put notes on their reservation, saying `Waive the corkage fee per William.' When they're really nice, I'll go out of my way to go meet them. Sometimes when they bring a special bottle that's hard to procure, we get to taste some things that are unique, and that's really fun. When they do that, we're really blessed.”