Wednesday, 27 May 2009

• WTF on corkage fees

  I just read this article and all I have to say is, “HOW much is corkage?!"

  BYOB: Toronto restaurants drop corkage fees

  I rarely ever participate in BYOB because I usually order wines from restaurants that I cannot get at the LCBO. It just makes sense to me to try something that I can’t easily get myself. That’s why I’m immensely annoyed when the only thing they have is Wolf Blass or Peller. It’s not that they aren’t good wineries, but I can buy the same bottle for $12-$20 and drink it at home. So if you’re going to charge me $30-$50, then it better be because I can’t get it myself.

  I know the article is toting the fact that some restaurants are waiving corking fees but I can’t believe how much some places are charging regularly.

  I think the highest one I saw in the article was $45, but there were a lot of $30s and $40s. With those fees, who the heck participates in BYOB? I could buy a more than decent (re: excellent) bottle of wine for $45. I guess it’s for those froo-froo highfalutin folks who can’t imagine drinking a $15 bottle of chardonnay with their $95 sea bass, but serious, is opening and serving my wine, and taking a cut for the liquor licence really going to cost the restaurant $45?! No. I know they add in a cut because they’re not making a profit off the booze (because I brought my own), but I’m pretty sure that even at $15, they’re still going to turn decent coin. I guess they could charge that when they assumed everyone was expensing it and corporations were covering it, but if I’m taking out clients for dinner, I wouldn’t be bringing my own bottle unless I was trying to impress someone who was a wine connoisseur. If it’s on the company nickel, I’d just order off the list.

  Anyways, the short of it is, in principle, I’m glad that they’re reducing the fee. But in actuality, it has no impact on me.

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