Corking Fee and Tipping

Well, There are a couple of things going on here -- and this is strictly my opinion. First, I make it a practice not to bring a bottle that a restaurant has on their wine list. I just feel funny about doing that. Second, I always ask the person opening the wine for their opinion -- "bring a glass over and try this". In many cases, the corkage fee will disappear......

Then the tip gets calculated on the bill amount -- being generous for excellent service. And adjusted accordingly for the case where a large pour goes into the back for all to share and the corkage still appears 8-)

M

I totally agree with your plan and have followed it for years.

We just went the other night to one of our favorites where no corkage is imposed, providing you give the chef/owner a taste. For a wine lover, it is exciting to share. At the end, instead of having a corkage charge on the bill and thinking about the final tip, the waiter gets his normal tip consistent with the level of service and as a final gesture, I shake his hand with a cash renumeration.

The majority of restaurants that charge outrageous corkage fees don't get much of our business and the tips are adjusted accordingly, if we even go there.

We seldom go to any restaurant that doesn't allow us to bring our own wine or that charges huge corkage fees. The only time we go to those kinds of restaurants is when we are guests and someone else with an expense account is picking up the check.

Actually, in some of the smaller neighborhood places we frequent, they not only don't charge or perhaps impose a token minimal charge and don't get insulted when we bring our own opener and know that we want to pour the wine ourselves.

Are we considered wine snobs? Why not....life is too short....

burris wrote in news:l snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:

I was recently accused of this on a cruise. We were being offered free wine from the cruise line by the District rep on board. He was not sitting at our table, and I had brought a very nice bottle for the evening. I figured since it was just free wine from the Company that I was under no obligation to drink it. (Had a taste and it was well not truly awful but Dale would have been generous and given it a C) Had this been a hosted table with the host there I certainly would have been gracious and left my bottle inthe room, but as I already had it with me . . .

Long and short I became the wine snob.(Funny, because we had a "I wouldn't drink anything in a screw top' guy at the table and a guy who made his own wines but at subsequent dinners brought $10-$12 wines while I was drinking from the mid range (30-40US per bottle that week)

I am with burris, life is too short and who really cares if one is remembered as a snob by people that one will never see (or in one case want to see) again.

We do travel quite a bit and I can't tell you how many times we have experienced exactly what you have....as a result, we virtually always start out with a table for two....and only if/when we meet some people that we think might be interesting, we will up to a table for 4 or maybe

1. Larger than that almost precludes any meaningful conversation.

It does cause me to reflect how many times I have brought good wine, as I won't drink sludge, and the other couple(s) would have been happy with Ripple. When it came their turn to buy, the classy ones asked me to select...sometimes difficult until you I evaluated their pocketbooks so as to not traumatize them, but when they selected or asked the wine steward UGH! to select, we had trouble in River City Junction.... :-)

Even on the many cruises we have been on in the last 35 years, I always bring my own wine, with the exception of Radisson, where they do include wines with dinner. Generally ok and if I don't care for the selection of grapes offered in a particular venue, they graciously go to one of the others and bring what I might prefer.

burris wrote in news:Zr6dnWIhN snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:

I have found the Radisson wines stewards to be very gracious in digging into their availability to come up with a good and acceptable wine. they tend to remember the choice and offer it again or say something like "the wine tonight is X but you might prefer Y"

in article MUdie.866$ snipped-for-privacy@typhoon.sonic.net, Mike P at snipped-for-privacy@SPAMFREEturboware.com wrote on 5/16/05 8:53 PM:

To try to get back to your original topic........... it's really a subject on which people seem to have a broad divergence of strong opinions. It comes up frequently on a 'foodie' board I frequent, as well as here.

The prevailing etiquette on corkage does seem to say that you should never bring in a bottle that is on the house's wine list. That obviously comes down on the point of view that bringing your own wine is all about enjoying the wine and not, as is easy to conclude, about saving money by not paying the house's marked-up price. I know that's the proper thing to do, but it does sound a bit arcane and pretentious somehow..... not exactly sure why.... although I think I would feel awkward not doing it if the restaurant were owned by someone I had come to know well..... so there's my answer on that, I think.

The issue of how much to tip, which was the original question, can run a wide, somewhat emotional gamut of responses. First, I believe the corkage fee goes to the house, not to the server. Then, having several 'professional' (college job and "What am I going to do with my life now") servers in the family, I think I see this from the server's side, more than anything. I tend to base my tip on what the server brings to the experience.

If he/she provides all the service that I'd get had I bought the bottle there, I tip based on a fair value for the wine. It's not the server's fault that I brought it in. [Now, this is admittedly a function of the primarily US custom of diners 'supporting' a wage for wait staff, so based on your background and geography YMMV -"your mileage may vary"] Personally, I tip (for the wine) about the same % as I do on the meal, up to an approximate amount equal value to one diner's tab. I, unfortunately, am not well-heeled enough to be able to feel comfortable beyond that, though many suggest that, if you can afford a $300 bottle of wine, you can afford a 'standard' tip on it. Then again, I don't often spend more on a botle than one one diner's tab. I do offer a taste, if the wine is special, and the server seems interested. But I do that regardless of the source of the wine.

Just my own point of view on this.

"Midlife" in news:BEAF789D.CC8A% snipped-for-privacy@cox.net...

I agree, this has been common in the US for many years, I've seen it as I travel around. Also, many US restaurants that serve wine are gracious about charging a nominal "corkage" fee, or none (especially in congenial circumstances). Extra demands on their glassware and service arise when customers bring _multiple_ bottles, so even where a restaurant accommodates this, all will benefit when it's discussed in advance. (And tipped accordingly.)

I saw a discussion on a "board" months ago where some people assembled arguments to support bringing in wine that's also on the restaurant's list, just to save a few dollars. And contrived to take offense at restaurants resisting this, or charging any fee for it. I posted about a brash and loud group of six that brought in six bottles, without warning. (The restaurant was in California and the wines were all California wines, by the way.) The group didn't order any wine from the restaurant (another gracious-diner opportunity missed). The group were young, loud, confident, a nuisance to the staff and other diners, and could, no doubt, have rationalized their behavior with the greatest of ease. It seems marvelously to evade some diners how restaurant dining is a mutual transaction. Not only the restaurant is subject to expectations; not only the restaurant gets noticed.

-- "Man is not a rational animal, but a rationalizing one." (Robert Heinlein,

1949)

I usually only bring a bottle on special occasions, with wines that I could never afford off the wine list. The restaurant where my wife and a go for our anniversary is very accomodating ($5 corkage fee). We bring a bottle of Insignia and I usually tip $20 for the wine, and my usual amount for the rest of the meal.

One thing I have not done is share the wine with the staff. I am sure that's a good idea (except then I might have to bring 2 bottles ;-)

Often, I have no idea if the wine I bring is on the wine list or not. Therefore, I usually bring a few bottles and consciously choose wines which are not on the list. I will sometimes also buy a bottle from the restaurant as well, or at least a couple of glasses of champagne or dessert wine.

However, I do not tip a full 15-20% on the cost of a bottle of wine - whether I bring in my own wine or not. I might if it is a cheaper bottle (e.g. $5 on a $30 bottle) but I think tipping $50 on a $300 bottle of wine is ridiculous. I tip based on what a 'reasonable' bottle of wine would have cost, something like $5-10 per bottle. It is not more difficult to pop open and serve a $300 bottle than a $20 bottle. I have no idea if this causes problems for the servers with respect to tax withholdings. Sometimes (often) the restaurant will waive the corkage fee for me and if they do I will tip some of that back to the server as well.

Dimitri

$20 tip for a bottle of wine that wholesales at $38 is pretty good. :)

Usually not the staff, but the sommelier. You will find that if you share with him them he will usually share with you. Many times we will discuss wine and that leads to "You've got to try this xyz that I have open..."

Dimitri

whoops,

I think it's a bit more than $38.

INSIGNIA 2000 Joseph Phelps U.S.A VINTAGES 710400 750 mL $ 249.00

7 INSIGNIA 2001 Prod. & Btld. Joseph Phelps Vineyards U.S.A VINTAGES 671172 750 mL $ 199.95

• all cdn.

Larry

You are right. I went back and looked. It's $44 USD (wholesale).

Dimitri