Wine at �27.50 per bottle

[Wee Kaz]

Last night I was out for dinner with my folks and my dad bought a bottle of wine at �27.50. I'm no wine expert but what is the difference between a �6.00 and nearly �30.00? It did taste a lot richer but I still wouldn't pay nearly �30.00 for something that is going to be over in 4 decent sized glasses, what do you think?

[Pinotage]

The mark up in wines in restaurant can be enormous and it is possible the wine that cost your dad �27.50 in that restaurant only cost the restaurant �6.

 

The question you ask is complex. Forget restaurants - you can find �30 bottles of wine in shops alongside �6 bottles. What is the difference?

 

At the simplest level - people are prepared to pay the price.

 

Look at your friends, I'll bet some of them wear 'designer' stuff. T-shirts that cost �30, yet you can buy 2 t-shirts for �5 in the market, trainers for �100, yet you can buy trainers for �10. And they were probably made in the same far east sweat shop. People buy Rolex watches, yet you can buy a good looking watch in petrol stations for a tenner.

 

Back to wine. It may be the equivalent of a 'designer' wine. It may have received very good reviews by experts and now everyone wants to taste it and the price goes up. It may be rare, it may be old.

 

You don't name the wine or vintage, but I think its great that your dad should treat you to a good expensive wine. I hope you take a second to let him know you appreciate him (even if you didn't appreciate the wine.)

 

Next time, why not ask your dad why he chose the wine, and what he likes about it?

 

By the by, its normally calculated that you'll get 6 glasses from a bottle. So that works out at about �4.60 a glass. Think how mucg you pay for a glass of terrible tired old wine in pubs and winebars.

 

PS:- next time, can I be invited to dinner when your dads buying?

[LynneMcF]

So, Wee Kaz, you couldn't taste the difference between �6 wine and �27 wine - had you been eating too many Spangles?

[Leg of lamb]

From someone who names themselves after a South African grape - Pinotage is correct as he should be. Although the mark up in restaurant wine does seem exorbitant, this is mainly due to the tax and duty imposed in this country every year by every successive government. Hence restaurants do not make as much from alcohol as from food. Try as many different wines from as many different countries as possible and you'll soon be able to tell good wine from rubbish. Saying that, drink what YOU enjoy with whatever you eat. I have worked in the catering industry for well over ten years and the amount of snobbery some people have regarding wine is staggering, especially when you know that they have no clue what they are talking about. Be honest and courageous to admit you do not know about wine and you are far more likely to be treated better. You may even be pleasantly surprised.

[Wee Kaz]

Oh really Ned or should I say Ned??!

[Wee Kaz]

I meant to say or should I say Iain?!! Too much wine last night!