The Smartest Way To Drink At Restaurants

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One of the most familiar complaints I hear from diners is about the “exorbitant” markups so many restaurants charge on their wine lists. While I can certainly understand that high overheads and taxes on alcohol make this inevitable, the often 200%+ markup on pretty ordinary bottles of wine can make a celebratory dinner out feel like a shake-down.Fortunately, the concept of BYOB is catching on. Wealthy customers have always brought bottles from their extensive collections to some high-end restaurants, but now the practice is finding its way into more casual restaurants, with the more savvy places offering diners the chance to bring their own wine in return for a small fee called a “corkage,” or even waiving the fee on more quiet nights to attract customers through the door.BYOB is a great idea, but deciding which bottle to bring and working your way through the social etiquette involved can be a bit of a minefield. So here are my top five tips for making the most out of bringing your own bottle. Don't go in blind

I recommend you do your research in just about every feature I write about dining out, but it is particularly important with BYOB. It is always worth checking out the website of the restaurant you are planning to visit. Not only will this tell you what corkage fee they charge under normal circumstances, but also if they offer evenings where that fee is waived. The site will also give you some indication of the sort of wines they believe complement their food the best, so you can make a similar selection when you’re wine shopping. Spend appropriately

How much you spend on a bottle of wine really depends on where you’re going. If I am just going to my favorite Mediterranean joint, where they add a $5 charge for opening the wine and leaving it on the table, then I usually grab a bottle that costs no more than $20-25, something that falls under my personal wine category known as “gluggable.” I may not save a huge amount of money, but the wine I bring is inevitably better than any a casual restaurant might have on its short list.However, if I am going somewhere upscale with a large wine list, I use this as an opportunity to raid my special selection of the wines I know would be out of my reach if I bought them in the restaurant. For a recent anniversary meal at L.A.’s most famous sushi restaurant, Urasawa, I purchased a bottle of 2002 Dom Perignon Champagne for $125 at Costco. Once I added the corkage charge of $50 and a tip, the cost of drinking the wine came close to $200. A lot of money, I grant you, but still a whacking great saving on the restaurant price of $300 per bottle. Treat your bottles with respect

Again, if I am taking a cheaper bottle to my neighborhood restaurant, this is not so important, but if I have made the effort and spent good money to buy a really great bottle of wine, I always think that it is worth making the same effort to look after the wine en route to the restaurant by investing in a decent wine holder.If I am taking Champagne to the restaurant, I always make sure that the bottle is pre-chilled and transported in a thermal holder that keeps it cool. That way it can be opened and served as soon as my table is seated.On the rare occasions that I bring a very expensive vintage red wine that will need to be decanted, I might even bring the wine into the restaurant earlier in the day so any sediment that has been disturbed will have a chance to settle before it is opened. Share a little with the house

Even though you are bringing your own wine to the restaurant, it is still important to follow the proper etiquette. You will still be dependent on the staff to make sure your wine gets from bottle to glass, and a great sommelier will always make sure that your wine is opened and served properly and in the correct stemware, even if you are not buying it from the restaurant. That being the case, it is always good form to offer the sommelier a taste of the wine in return, and, if you happen to know the chef, to offer to send a taste back to the kitchen.I also think it is important to realize that much of the restaurant’s income may come from it's sales of alcohol. I acknowledge that by starting my meal with a cocktail or finishing it with an after-dinner nightcap. Tip well

Finally, it is worth remembering that, if you BYOB, your servers will lose a portion of their gratuity from the final check because you have not purchased wine. I suggest supplementing any tip you might leave with a 10-15% addition based on the retail cost of the wine and the corkage fee. They will get their deserved tip and you will still save money while not looking like a cheapskate. Continue Reading

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