To get a quick idea of restaurant markups, I look at two price points: White Zins (particularly Beringer, which seems to be the most widely stocked around here) and V. Cliquot gold label.
I call these my low and high price anchors. I am looking for a mid-point anchor.
The local supermarket (Publix) sells white zins for about $5 and the Cliquot for about $51.
I use those two prices to get a feel for how much I am getting killed on other wines whose retail price I don't recall (or ever knew).
I am looking for another wine to use as a mid-price anchor, something widely available, just like the VC and the Beringer (or its analogs) but which retails in the $12 to $25 range. I am inclined to use the Mondavi Coastal product line, but want to hear from you if you think there is a better indicator.
Thanks in advance for your suggestions.
P.S.: By the way, around here (South Florida), my very preliminary inquiries indicate that restaurant wine pricing is of the form: R mS + b where: R = restaurant price S = store price m = markup factor (around 1.2 to 1.5) b = base markup amount (somewhere between $15 and $25)
So, for example, the Beringer white zin and the VC gold go for, respectively:
R = 1.2 * $5 + $15 = $21 R = 1.2 * $51 + $15 = $76
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