It feels a clever wine list was once one where a savvy somm gave the diner an embarrassment of riches that served the restaurant, too. More recently, it connotes a canny game of smoke and mirrors where the house always wins. As you say, Luke, there needs to be room in hospitality for guest and host to come away as winners. An open, reasonable corkage offer is a good solution. In Australia right now—where it’s often a well-deployed option—hospitality badly needs the custom and wine has arguably never needed a consumer’s care factor more.
The Indian restaurant in my village allowed bring your own bottle and there was no charge for corkage.
Some fancy London restaurants are charging a mark up of 800% on a bottle of wine.
A restaurateur friend charged a flat rate of £8 profit, on every bottle he sold.It encouraged customers to go up the wine list,have a better dining experience band increased returns and recommendations.
No one left feeling they had been ripped off.
Many of my friends do not order wines anymore,they just have a beer or tap water.
Yes I feel that many of my friends five years ago plus would have just accepted the price of the wines on a list. Now, they are so much more aware and it can often be the talking point of the evening instead of the overall experience.
Brilliant article Luke - and I completely agree that it works for both parties when done correctly. I don’t think corkage should be any more than £25/£30 - whatever the restaurant - and hopefully many will be at the £15/£20 level.
I get much more excited for a restaurant visit when I will be drinking wine that I’ve brought and I really love. It adds to the whole meal experience exponentially.
We were in Australia way back in 2002 and could not believe how many restaurants offered BYO and at very affordable corkage prices. They are way ahead of us as it is seen as a service offering by the restaurant.
Yes, I think especially if you have a real interest in wine to be able to bring your own can be the difference between going out or not. I don't think it would take too much for the venue to work out their average mark up and then put a percentage on top of that so everyone wins.
At a wine hotel here in Styria, Austria, the new employee accidentally charged me the table price for a bottle we were taking away—fourfold markup! Not the same situation as corkage, but one can see the differential.
We also have an inverted corkage concept here, where one can go to breweries or wineries and bring one’s own food. That way the producer can focus on what they’re good at without worrying about food.
I can only see diners becoming even more aware of the markup on wine in a restaurant over the next few years. Therefore it's crucial there are alternative options available.
I totally agree with this! Infuriating when you love the food but not the wine list. So many restaurants have a weird snobbery about it not realising it’s straight profit for them.
But let’s face it restaurants need this to operate.. as someone in property I have just shaken my head at the rent these guys have to pay.
All that said, corkage has its place. Blacklock being an outlier @ £10 and they treat your wine like there own.. decant etc..
My firm payed £30 p/b at our Christmas lunch at a prominent Portuguese west end Resto.. but we were drinking Quinta de Leda so still ‘value’ and hopefully everyone happy.
It feels a clever wine list was once one where a savvy somm gave the diner an embarrassment of riches that served the restaurant, too. More recently, it connotes a canny game of smoke and mirrors where the house always wins. As you say, Luke, there needs to be room in hospitality for guest and host to come away as winners. An open, reasonable corkage offer is a good solution. In Australia right now—where it’s often a well-deployed option—hospitality badly needs the custom and wine has arguably never needed a consumer’s care factor more.
💯💪
The Indian restaurant in my village allowed bring your own bottle and there was no charge for corkage.
Some fancy London restaurants are charging a mark up of 800% on a bottle of wine.
A restaurateur friend charged a flat rate of £8 profit, on every bottle he sold.It encouraged customers to go up the wine list,have a better dining experience band increased returns and recommendations.
No one left feeling they had been ripped off.
Many of my friends do not order wines anymore,they just have a beer or tap water.
Yes I feel that many of my friends five years ago plus would have just accepted the price of the wines on a list. Now, they are so much more aware and it can often be the talking point of the evening instead of the overall experience.
Brilliant article Luke - and I completely agree that it works for both parties when done correctly. I don’t think corkage should be any more than £25/£30 - whatever the restaurant - and hopefully many will be at the £15/£20 level.
I get much more excited for a restaurant visit when I will be drinking wine that I’ve brought and I really love. It adds to the whole meal experience exponentially.
We were in Australia way back in 2002 and could not believe how many restaurants offered BYO and at very affordable corkage prices. They are way ahead of us as it is seen as a service offering by the restaurant.
Keep up the great work.
Thanks for this Jan.
Yes, I think especially if you have a real interest in wine to be able to bring your own can be the difference between going out or not. I don't think it would take too much for the venue to work out their average mark up and then put a percentage on top of that so everyone wins.
At a wine hotel here in Styria, Austria, the new employee accidentally charged me the table price for a bottle we were taking away—fourfold markup! Not the same situation as corkage, but one can see the differential.
We also have an inverted corkage concept here, where one can go to breweries or wineries and bring one’s own food. That way the producer can focus on what they’re good at without worrying about food.
Love the inverted concept.
I can only see diners becoming even more aware of the markup on wine in a restaurant over the next few years. Therefore it's crucial there are alternative options available.
I totally agree with this! Infuriating when you love the food but not the wine list. So many restaurants have a weird snobbery about it not realising it’s straight profit for them.
400 percent in London is not unusual.
But let’s face it restaurants need this to operate.. as someone in property I have just shaken my head at the rent these guys have to pay.
All that said, corkage has its place. Blacklock being an outlier @ £10 and they treat your wine like there own.. decant etc..
My firm payed £30 p/b at our Christmas lunch at a prominent Portuguese west end Resto.. but we were drinking Quinta de Leda so still ‘value’ and hopefully everyone happy.