Readers Weigh in on Corkage Fees
Last week in the San Francisco Chronicle’s wine section, an article appeared discussing the issues regarding corkage fees at Restaurants. The popularity of people bringing their own bottles to dinner to avoid paying the markup on wine has caused many restaurants to raise their corkage fees per bottle, and put a limit on the number of bottles you can bring in. The restaurant owners complain about lost profit from wine sales, and patrons that abuse the system by bringing in several bottles at a time.
While I can’t side with the consumer that brings in a case and expects fees to be small, I do feel that the somewhat standard markup of 100% over retail on wine offered by the restaurant is ridiculous, and a flat fee of say $15-25 above retail should be used, regardless of the price of that bottle of wine. Why should I pay $200 for a bottle in a restaurant I can get for $100 from a retailer, then bring in and pay $20 for corkage? All you’re doing is opening and pouring it right?
Readers weighed in from both sides of the debate in this weeks issue. [sfgate.com]
