Price of Wine in Restaurants

[Glassman]

I accept they have to make a profit, but how far can they go with it before it becomes silly?

Or does the venue/service have an influence on this?

For example, went to Pearl in Holborn and chose a John Duval Plexus (on recommendation of a friend who'd previously been). Never had it before and tbf, it was superb - we loved it. Didn't see the price (just ordered it) and swiftly got through two bottles of it. We ended up paying £62.00/bottle (gulp/surprised/shocked etc).

Out of curiosity, I checked it out with a view to buying some if the price was considerably lower. All the sellers I found, list the same bottle for less than £26.00 a bottle.

Or were we mugged?

[Anthony Micallef]

I agree with you. I went to a new Marco Pierre White bistro and had a lovely bottle of Beronia 2001 Reserve which they charged £40 for. Looking on line I could have bought it for £18!

[dmitry]

£26 get you a bottle of wine. For £62 you have a table to sit at in some nice place, (hopefully) polite waiter serving and you don't need to wash your glasses after

[Glassman]

dmitry said:

£26 get you a bottle of wine. For £62 you have a table to sit at in some nice place, (hopefully) polite waiter serving and you don't need to wash your glasses after

The bleedin' sommelier had a slurp of it too - at least a couple of quid's worth

[Anthony Micallef]

I agree with you. I went to a new Marco Pierre White bistro and had a lovely bottle of Beronia 2001 Reserve which they charged £40 for. Looking on line I could have bought it for £18!

[Zod]

Those are pretty low mark-ups. As a general rule, you'll pay 3x the shop price for a bottle of wine in a restaurant.

[anonymous-user]

Whilst in the states a couple of years ago I noticed that a few restaurants I visited had 'Oyster Bay' as one of their $50-ish range white wines, the exact same stuff I can buy from Asda in the UK for about a fiver!

[Iain328]

Zod said:

Those are pretty low mark-ups. As a general rule, you'll pay 3x the shop price for a bottle of wine in a restaurant.

At least....

Restaurant's make a lot of their money on the wine list. The most popular bottle (on which there are generally the fattest margins) is usually the second cheapest

[Simpo Two]

Recalls the friend of mine whose son-in-law was a fund manager in Geneva. They went to a restaurant and paid £1,000 for a bottle of wine.

Rich is one thing but that's just obscene.

[escargot]

At the higher end they have to take into account the cost of wasteage from corked bottles etc.

Admittedly, this doesn't justify charging £30 for a bottle of screw top £10 wine.

[Nobby Diesel]

Same question could be asked about the ingredients of your dinner.
Why is the steak 20 quid, when you can buy it at the butchers for £6.
You're not paying the mark up for the food or wine, you're paying for the location, staff, building etc.
Normal.

[Percy Flage]

If you don't like the prices, take your own and pay corkage if you prefer. Most restaurants will be happy for you to do this.

To avoid possible embarrassment ring beforehand and check it's OK (and establish what they charge!) Typically, expect to pay the price of the least expensive wine on their list for the privilege.

[Spleeble]

Nobby Diesel said:

Same question could be asked about the ingredients of your dinner.
Why is the steak 20 quid, when you can buy it at the butchers for £6.
You're not paying the mark up for the food or wine, you're paying for the location, staff, building etc.
Normal.

But with the steak they have to source the meat, prepare it, cook it to your preference and get a waiter to deliver it to you. With the drinks all they have to do is take the cork out and give it to you. There’s absolutely no reason why they should be charging £20 for a £5 Aldi special, especially when they have got the wine at wholesale prices.

[Hughesie]

Spleeble said:

With the drinks all they have to do is take the cork out and give it to you.

Thats why i'd have a special section for people with that attitude.

I'd charge you slightly more than it cost me to buy, but you'd have no Glass's to drink out of, No table to rest the bottle on, no chairs to sit on and i'd ignore you all evening.

Oh wait thats what a supermarkets for, silly me.

[Del 203]

Simpo Two said:

They went to a restaurant and paid £1,000 for a bottle of wine.

Is that all ??

[Bebs]

Del 203 said:

Simpo Two said:

They went to a restaurant and paid £1,000 for a bottle of wine.

Is that all ??

Cheap..

[Zod]

Many very good restaurants now charge lower mark-ups on more expensive wines, but we're talking £150+ per bottle here.

[Nobby Diesel]

Spleeble said:

Nobby Diesel said:

Same question could be asked about the ingredients of your dinner.
Why is the steak 20 quid, when you can buy it at the butchers for £6.
You're not paying the mark up for the food or wine, you're paying for the location, staff, building etc.
Normal.

But with the steak they have to source the meat, prepare it, cook it to your preference and get a waiter to deliver it to you. With the drinks all they have to do is take the cork out and give it to you. There’s absolutely no reason why they should be charging £20 for a £5 Aldi special, especially when they have got the wine at wholesale prices.

So, you don't think that there is any effort in sourcing, purchasing (at risk that someone will buy it), storing it properly (fridges ran on electricity last time I looked), and serving it? Ofcourse, the sommelier works for the fun of it and the glasses are all free and cost nothing to wash. None of them ever get broken, a bottle of wine is never corked and the rates, rent, heat and light in the building are all free. Oh, and the place you are frequenting is a drop in centre, run by a charity, so it doesn't need to make a profit.

[Jonathan27]

It's quite normal to pay a 300% mark up on a bottle, just remember that there is a huge difference between you picking up a bottle from the shop, and the restaurant storing, recommending and serving the bottle in addition to the facilities that you have access to whilst your there, also it is a business and they do need to make a profit.

[Silver993tt]

Nobby Diesel said:

Same question could be asked about the ingredients of your dinner.
Why is the steak 20 quid, when you can buy it at the butchers for £6.
You're not paying the mark up for the food or wine, you're paying for the location, staff, building etc.
Normal.

We run a business with staff, building etc and yet out margins are around 20%. That's also what I'd expect a restaurant to mark up a bottle of wine - there is no difference. Hence we never, ever drink any kind of alcohol in any restaurant we go to.