Bringing Wine to a Restaurant

[Idnar7]

Have you ever brought your own wine to a restaurant? What wine and what did they charge you to serve? We brought a bottle of Beringer Private Reserve Cabernet to an Italian restaurant and the server said he would wave the corkage if we gave him a decent sample. They did not have anything similar on their wine list.

 

[Blueskies123]

I have some wine connoisseur friends with literally a house full of expensive wind. They always bring a very nice bottle and pay the corkage fee. They pay $60-$80 their cost from their worldwide trips. If we were to buy it at the restaurant it would $300 so paying the corkage fee is negligible

 

[Souschef]

I have done it on occasion, and invited the maitre d' to have a taste

 

[nwsteve]

It is my understanding, that when paying corkage, leaving a reasonable taste for waiter is considered proper etiquette. One our favorite dining places, allows corkage for any wine they do not carry on their menu.

 

[HFWR]

I have some wine connoisseur friends with literally a house full of expensive wind.

Yeah, I’ve gotten more gassy with age, but for the same low price...

A local fav hole-in-the-wall Italian place is BYOW. Corkage fee is $5, plus I leave a pretty generous tip to compensate a bit for the lower overall ticket. Saves a ton when your table consumes five bottles.

 

[Rustward]

Not too much into wine here, but someone who is into wine once told me (20 years ago) that if you offer a pour to the waitperson they will almost always waive the corkage fee. Then they showed me how it works.

 

[COcheesehead]

It varies by state. In Colorado it’s illegal.

 

[marko]

It varies by state. In Colorado it’s illegal.

Same in Mass. If they serve wine/beer/liquor already you cannot bring in your own bottle.

 

[dr watson]

Very common in NJ. BYOB. Many restaurants don’t have a liquor license and will uncork at nc. Those with a bar will charge an uncorking fee. They’d rather you buy their booze.

 

[nash031]

Have you ever brought your own wine to a restaurant? What wine and what did they charge you to serve? We brought a bottle of Beringer Private Reserve Cabernet to an Italian restaurant and the server said he would wave the corkage if we gave him a decent sample. They did not have anything similar on their wine list.

A bunch of times. Usually $15-25 corkage, though we like to hunt for free corkage nights during off-peak times. We've taken stuff from our go-to wineries every time, ranging from $20 bottles to $100 bottles depending on the occasion.

 

[Floridatennisplayer]

I would never.

 

[Winemaker]

It all depends on local law and custom., as mentioned above. The corkage fee compensates the restaurant for the inability to make some money from selling you a bottle of wine.

As always, it is always about the money.

 

[HFWR]

Some restaurants choose to avoid the hassle of getting a license.

 

[Sunset]

I noticed a local restaurant has a sign in window, "Bring your own wine".
I guess they don't have a license.

 

[Idnar7]

Here in MN there is an unwritten rule that you can bring a wine that they do not offer on their wine list. I don't have a problem with corkage as they open the wine for you, provide glasses, pour your wine, and offer to refill your glass. Restaurant wines are generally marked up 3 or 4 times what you could buy them at retail. Also it seems the higher the price of the wine the lower the markup.

 

[jebmke]

Not often but only if it is something unusual that would not appear on a list. Typically, it would be two couples and we would order something off their list like a proseco or champagne and then have the bottle we bought with the meal.

 

[Kelor]

Of all the places I’ve been, Minnesota appears to have the largest markup on wine. 4X markup or more isn’t uncommon. They are now starting to have the highest corkage fees. Fogo jacked theirs to $35/$70 mag. It’s still cheaper to bring your own bottle, and it’s nice to not have to stare at the wine list.

 

[athena53]

Some restaurants choose to avoid the hassle of getting a license.

I lived in NJ and they had some antiquated law that limited the number of liquor licenses in each town based on the population as it was decades ago. Most places in my area (Bergen County) were BYOB. I was really steamed when, after one liquor store burned down, the license went to the son of the local state senator. Wonder how that happened.

But to get back to the OP- have never seen it in KS/MO so it may be illegal here. We did it all the time in NJ.

 

[Corporateburnout]

Same in Mass. If they serve wine/beer/liquor already you cannot bring in your own bottle.

That's correct but there are numerous restaurants in or around Boston without a full liquor license that have a BYOB licenses where you can bring your own wine or beer.

 

[Drake3287]

Living here in the Sonoma/Napa area, my daughter works for a higher-end winery and brings home an undrinkable amount of wine, so much we have cases and cases of it stored everywhere and most are $50. to $200. bottles. Yes, spoiled.

It wasn't until she started working for a winery (and getting free wine) that we started bringing bottles of wine to restaurants. I think the average corkage fee we pay around here is between $10. and $15. and of course in this area restaurants are use to people (mostly tourists) bringing in bottles.

For us, paying a $10. corkage fee is still a great deal compared to what we would typically pay for drinks. As for leaving a reasonable taste for a waiter being considered proper etiquette, I've never heard or seen that before. And I would assume not legal, at least here in California.

 

[cathy63]

As for leaving a reasonable taste for a waiter being considered proper etiquette, I've never heard or seen that before. And I would assume not legal, at least here in California.

If the waiter is over 21, why would it be illegal to share wine with him or her? I don't see any such law in the online CA code, though of course a restaurant is free to create a policy that says their waiters may not drink alcohol while on the clock.

It is illegal in California for a restaurant that is not licensed to sell wine to let you BYOB.

 

[Drake3287]

It is illegal in California for a restaurant that is not licensed to sell wine to let you BYOB.

Certainly not an expert on California alcohol laws but I know bringing in outside alcohol has it's own complete set of rules. For example a bottle has to be unopened and yes you can only drink alcohol at a establishment that has a license. And technically you can't walk out of a restaurant with a bottle that's not empty. It's treated the same as if your sitting at a bar and want to walk out with a drink.

Even most Napa County wineries don't allow you to buy a bottle of wine and drink it on the property. Sonoma County on the other hand has different rules. Most wineries also won't sell you a glass of wine, only a tasting.

Here's another weird one, wineries in Sonoma County allow weddings to take place onsite but Napa County doesn't. Weird rules!

 

[cathy63]

And technically you can't walk out of a restaurant with a bottle that's not empty. It's treated the same as if your sitting at a bar and want to walk out with a drink.

Yes you can! We've done this many times. The open container laws apply if you are driving though, so keep it in the trunk. Here's the actual law permitting it:

23396.5.
Notwithstanding any other law, any on-sale licensee that maintains a bona fide eating place in conjunction with such license, any on-sale beer and wine public premises licensee, or any winegrower that is exercising a privilege pursuant to Section 23358 or 23390 may allow any person who has purchased and partially consumed a bottle of wine to remove the partially consumed bottle from the premises upon departure.
​

Law section

 

[Fedup]

I saw people bring wine in to this Italian place that I go to, not sure if there’s a charge. I don’t think it’s a problem.

 

[Drake3287]

Like I said, I'm certainly not an expert on CA laws and I'm sure I lot happens that probably shouldn't. As for corkage fees, the restaurant can charge or not although most do charge simply because your using there glasses.

I've been to a couple of places that had such a high corkage fee we didn't bother. Obviously restaurants make a lot of money off selling alcohol so they need to recoup loss revenue.