Just as a little background, I have written almost as many wine lists as blogs I've posted so far. I'm no expert, but I do have a multitude of experience with this medium. Unfortunately, having put so much time, effort, and passion into these lists creates an insider's dynamic that leaves me biased against most wine programs.
My issues lie in not only pricing, but variety, character, accuracy, accessibility, and originality. The cost of a bottle of wine does play a big role however. Wine lists are expensive because they have to be. For example, the most reasonably priced list that I ever wrote still often got critiqued for the markup; sometimes just out of frustration for restaurant markups in general. For every comment I received in this context, I wish I could have also impressed on that person that no matter how hard we were working and no matter what they bought, the restaurant would still be losing money.
This was my eternal compromise as a wine list author. If 95% of the people who order from my wine list are not sensitive to the quality they can find on my list relative to other restaurants, then why should I not increase the prices? Am I cheating the profitability of the restaurant by trying too hard to allow for really good, inexpensive wines? Are those other 5% really connecting with my ideals as much as I hoped?
And on the other side, I will go into a popular downtown restaurant and see a wine that was $43 on my list and is $64 on theirs. But the place is bustling and more people are paying the price than thinking twice. This is offensive to me because I know what it costs ($16). Maybe just the knowledge is damning and I need to better understand their financial pressures (or relax my expectations).
My overall evaluation of a wine list is whether or not it is accessible. I would define this as a wine list that offers a variety of wine from $30 and up that is interesting, creative, and provides various options at many price points. I'm not saying the $30 wine has to be the best, but it should be well selected and rewarding for those who order it. The variety should include expensive wines for those who want them; the most expensive wines being well kept, unique, memorable, and special wines. Additionally, if your clientele spend $40-$60 on average, those wines better be abundant and rockstars.
Inaccessible Wine List Example #1: Offensive Downtown List
I am a fancy downtown restaurant. You're lucky to be here. I am trendy. My wines are marked up 400% because we pay an unfathomable rent. There are forty selections for red wine, and forty selections for white. However, there is an introductory wine at $48, which costs us $9. The next least expensive wine is $75. And it is just not that good. My clients want to spend $60 on a great bottle of wine, but I want nothing to do with that. I'm hoping that they will be forced to spend over $100 to get a good bottle.
Inaccessible Wine List Example #2: Bipolar List
I am a neighborhood restaurant. We're in a wealthy area and may or may not have an ethnic theme. I have a great variety of brand name, everyday wines that everybody sees stacked in their liquor stores. These wines are pretty cheap, as they are largely between $25 and $35. If you're familiar with these wines, then you will have no idea what these expensive wines are all about. That's why our $65 to $100 selections are all from off-vintages of second and third tier producers. And, if none of that suits you, we have one wine at $45.
Inaccessible Wine List Example #3: Sparse Obscurity
I am a French restaurant. Our food is really good. The service is cordial and professional. You will never know whether or not the wine list is expensive because you will never hear of these wines again. We're not talking about only low production, but grapes that are extinct since they were pressed for this bottling. The sommelier tried so hard to be eccentric that there are five selections, and they all taste like earth and barnyard. You might as well just pick the wine by the price you want to spend.
Inaccessible Wine List Example #4: We're Out of That
I am a nice, small, charming restaurant. You love my menu. The table is cozy and romantic. The wine list has one really carefully selected, exemplary wine at every price point. You're going to discover a new wine that you love, and it will be priced well. Only one problem. We're out of that. But the wine $12 more expensive is good as well.
The other thing that always gets me with restaurant wine pricing is what people will relatively spend. For example, the people that will spend $30 on a bottle of wine at a restaurant will often never spend $30 on a bottle of wine at retail. Of course, you don't get the food, service, or atmosphere at home that you would get at the restaurant. But it is still provocative to me that it would be unreasonable to value experiencing a wine at home that would be inaccessible at a restaurant.
Perhaps, just like working at a restaurant never allows me to see it in the same way ever again, writing wine lists probably has doomed me to over-analyze every wine program and convinced me that I need to stay at home to find a good bottle of wine. Fortunately, I can't make food like those restaurants, so I keep coming back for more.
Here are the basics about wine lists and prices:
- A glass of wine will normally be the cost that a restaurant pays for the entire bottle
- Ideal is to get 4 to 4.5 glasses per bottle
- That's around 5 to 6 ounces per glass
- There is waste in the form of spillage, tasting samples, and spoilage
- A bottle of wine is marked up normally around three times the price
- That should be somewhere around double retail prices (150%)
- More expensive wines are generally marked up at a lesser percentage
- Inexpensive wines are marked up at a greater percentage
- Neighborhood restaurants may offer less of a markup (250%)
- Downtown restaurants may be in the 350% to 400% range.
- These markups are for recently purchased wine, cellared wines are valued differently
- Most suppliers will provide replacements or credit to restaurants for corked bottles or customer refusals.
- Do not feel like you're putting a burden on the restaurant by sending back a wine
- If you do feel like you're causing trouble, then maybe you need to think twice about that restaurant
- When a bottle is sent back and is still in good condition, the restaurant may sell the remainder of the bottle, glass by glass, and in certain circumstances still get the credit/replacement
- The only gray area in this case is very expensive wine, which is an unfortunate exception and I will discuss it in a later blog
- Restaurants only get wine deliveries during the weekdays
- Orders are placed the day before
- Runs on certain product on a Friday or Saturday can only be fixed by reprinting the list
- Vintage changes are rarely reported by distributors
- Order minimums force restocking decisions
- Most buyers work with around a dozen different distributors
- Prices are higher in some places than they are in other parts of the country
- Some retail stores in California sell items at the price that they are sold at wholesale in Massachusetts
- Shipping laws, transportation costs, and taxes help maintain this inequity
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