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Buying Wine in a Restaurant
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Buying Wine in a Restaurant
by Scott HarkerThe more you learn about wine, the more painfully aware you become of the prices of wine in restaurants.
If you enjoy going to restaurants and want to enjoy wine when you are there, consider the following: Food is often marked up more than wine. Good restaurants usually mark up food 2 ½ times, in other words, a $20 entrée would cost the restaurant $8. While some restaurants mark up wine as much, most charge around double their cost for midrange wines. It is true that the restaurant adds expertise and convenience to the raw ingredients of your entrée. Insist on the same with your wine – proper temperature, sparkling clean and appropriate glassware, and proper, attentive service.
If nobody bought wine, there would be fewer restaurants. Most restaurants
need wine sales to survive. If you like a particular restaurant, your wine
purchases will help keep it there.
But, if you simply do not like a wine, step back a bit. Do others at your table agree? Have you tasted it without food? If so, taste it with a well-chewed piece of bread in your mouth. Wine is meant to be tasted with food. Might it need to breathe? If you are not sure, ask the waiter to pour some wine into a glass, and let it breathe for a few minutes. If you still just do not like it, a good restaurant will probably try to keep you happy, especially if you are a regular custormer. It is best not to make a habit of this practice though. By the way, most wines sent back in restaurants go back to the supplier, thus relieving the restaurant of the cost. The exception to this is older wine.
Older Wine - Let’s say you order a 20 year-old Bordeaux. This wine may have been in the restaurant’s cellar for fifteen years. For $100 a bottle you have a right to expect good, solid wine. However, can you send it back if, while showing no flaws, it fails to provide the expected religious experience? Probably, but you should consider that the price of older wine often reflects its scarcity rather than its intrinsic value. You pay a premium for the opportunity to enjoy wine on your 20th anniversary from say, the year of your marriage. So, be thoughtful about returning such wines – the restaurant will probably have to eat the cost of the bottle (which, when they bought it, might have been surprisingly little money)
How Wines Go Bad - Red wine. If the fruit vanishes and the color fades, it’s too old. A brown color or a vinegary taste indicates improper storage. White wine. If it is brown colored or tastes burnt, it is too old or was improperly stored. Either wine can be “corked” – when the cork is partially dissolved into the wine by biological activity. Sparkling wine. No Fizz indicates improper storage or a wine that is too old.
Wine by the Glass Is Usually a Rip-Off - The markup on bottles of wine is far less than the markup on mixed drinks. Many customers now order a glass of wine in place of that initial cocktail, so smart restaurant operators make sure that they make the same money on that drink and mark up wine by the glass accordingly. A better value is premium wine by the glass, a category in which the markup is more in line with the wine program than with the martini program. These premium wines by the glass are a convenient service for those who cannot agree on a bottle or do not want to drink that much.
The Magic Rule - In a good restaurant with fairly priced food and wine, wine as good as the food will cost about twice the price of the average entrée. Good restaurants often mark up more expensive wines at a lower percentage than their inexpensive choices. This encourages customers to “trade up” for better value.
Enjoying Wine with Your Dinner - Just as at home, in a restaurant you have some control over the enjoyment of your wine. Is this white too cold? Let it warm up on the table and in the glass, and taste the hidden flavors as they emerge. Is the red too warm? Your server should cool it for you in ice water for five minutes or so. You server should be pouring it for you – in proper glassware, never more than half full - though it is okay to pour it yourself. Do not drink it all before the food arrives (unless you are planning to buy another bottle, of course).
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