Wine Metropolis

We all know that restaurants make a substantial proportion of their profit from the mark-up on wine, don't we? We resent this to such an extent that a huge section of the wine trade is devoted exclusively to supplying wines to the "on-trade" market that are not readily available in the off-trade, where we could compare prices and calculate those mark-ups. These are typically between 200% and 400%. In essence, nobody wants to pay £15-20 for a bottle of Jacob's Creek, do they?

 

So let us sing the praises of the small but growing number of restaurateurs experimenting with different practices, much to the benefit of customers. Some - step forward Le Gavroche, Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester, Angelus, and Roussillon to name just a few - are offering wine-inclusive, fixed-price menus. The wines are generally very good, as there is no advantage to the restaurateur if such a plan backfires.

 

Some, especially those also having wine retail operations, have fixed mark-ups, making their more expensive wines a much better proposition. A round of applause for Vinoteca and Planet of the Grapes. There are not many things that you can buy for £275 that you would pay over a grand for - this is what Mrs. G., being a Yank, might call "reverse sticker-shock". Bob Bob Ricard in Upper James Street has capped its mark-up at £50 per bottle and the above anomaly is their price for a bottle of '95 Cheval Blanc compared to the price for the same at Gordon Ramsay's restaurant in Claridge's. They offer similar value on their short list of "Reserve Wines" if you're planning to push the boat out.

 

Some restaurants - Chez Bruce, for example - have greatly - and riskily - extended their offerings of wines by-the-glass (sometimes using new inert gas storage systems to retard deterioration of the wine in the opened bottles). Still others are offering the flexibility of 250ml carafes - take a bow Arbutus and Wild Honey - at the pro-rata price of any full bottle. They presumably then sell the remainder by the glass. The Galvin brothers offer sensible 475ml "pots Lyonnaises" carafes at their restaurants, because sometimes a poor-value half-bottle is too little, and a whole bottle is too much - two-thirds of a bottle can be just right for a thirsty bear.