Wine List from a local restaurant

Hi Bi!, MIles, Dee Dee and Pavane, we have very high taxation in England on wines and spirits (and tobacco). For example I would pay 6 euros for an ordinary bottle of wine in France and in England for the same thing I would pay around £12-15. For oridnary plonk in France, I would pay 2-3 euros a bottle and this would retail in England for £8-9.

Of course we are not a wine growing country and so we have to pay to import it. On the many times I have visited the USA and bought Californian wine, I have ben astonished that it is the same price or even a little more than in England!!!! It doesn't make sense.

Judith

gerald wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

I am aware of the Parker reviews and understand that not all the finos or manzanillas get distributed abroad. But really, many winelists out of Spain have Lustau as their Sherry. I have just read a Parker review of a Lustau wine and I read that Lustaus are in the portfolio of Christopher Cannan (Europvin), a really big negociant from Bordeaux, with interests in many countries, actually.

But, then, nothing comparable to Valdespino Inocente (or the outstanding "saca" that has been called "Fino Macharnudo Alto") or "Manzanilla Las Cañas" which are the real products, even if they are SO difficult to find.

S.

You are right, St Pourcain is the only wine that stands out, but not great.

Why would a winery sell a wine for $10 when they are selling out at $30? I find the better wines at the smaller wineries. They sell everything they make at rather high prices. Often they come close to selling out to wine club members who buy futures before the wine is even bottled.

looked up Costco (which sell a huge number of CA wines - even here on the east coast where I live in Virginia - to see if they sell in the U.K. One place:

United Kingdom Region

Regarding the Costco prices of CA wine, I often wonder how 'any goods' can be the same with Costco regardless whether it is in a high economy area, vs. a low economy area here in the U.S.

It would be interesting to know whether the cost of the same CA wine is the same in U.K.

miles wrote in news:GH7Sh.25016$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe07.phx:

In Spain, typical markup is 100% over wholesale price. Then add VAT. For example, today I had a nice lunch at a new restaurant with an interesting but small winelist (I hate huge winelists) and paid 12 euros + 7% VAT for a bottle of Baltasar Gracián Viñas Viejas 2004, which is a wine comparable to Las Rocas de San Alejandro Old Vines. Friday I had lunch at a One Michelin Starred restaurant and had a bottle of Ernst Burn Clos St. Imer La Chapelle

In both cases, margin is about 100% over estimated wholesale price (which is usually 15%-20% lower than retail). And they manage to use great wineglasses (Schott in the first case, for an inexpensive wine, Riedel in the second case).

S.

We have a Costco about 100 miles from us but it is a sort of warehouse where you have to be a member to shop and you have to buy in bulk and one also has to pay a hefy subscription annually to join!

Judith

Obviously it is as a poster said earlier, supply and demand. Now I am off to bed as I have an early flight in the morning.

Judith

In the USA restaurants sell wines at 200-300% over RETAIL prices!! Stores such as Costco sell well below the typical retail prices.

The USA typically has 8% sales tax on goods but it varies by city and state. Theres also a tax added to the price of a bottle of wine but I'm not sure what that amount is. It's based on volume and alcohol content.

It's $50 a year to be a member. Wine is sold by the bottle at far lower price than a typical wine or grocery store. Some things are bought in bulk such as having to buy two boxes of cereal or 2lbs of bacon rather than one, a package of 4 steaks rather than one but the cost savings more than makes up for it, often 30-60% cheaper. Things like cameras are often $100's less than most other stores and is equal to or cheaper than online once shipping is added. We buy a lot of our groceries there and it saves us a bunch.

Some goods are only sold in large packets, but I can assure you that if you so wish you could pop into a UK CostCo and buy a single bottle of wine. Whenever I have compared prices they are very competitive too. Hardly worth a 200mile round trip, but if you were closer I would recommend checking them out.

As far as I know, Costco's all the same. One does buy a lot of things bulk, but NOT TV's, computers, clothing, beding & linens, exercise equipment, furniture, wine, books, pots & pans (except in sets) prescriptions, optical (glasses) CD/DVD, clothing, etc. These things are by the item, not by bulk.

We pay $100 for a membership with which 2% back pays us back the membership + several hundred dollars in excess of that membership. There are two other large warehouse membership shopping, and we belong to another one also. We save thousands of dollars each year. Membership is a trifle; 100 miles is not a trifle for some.

And, back on topic, perhaps Costco doesn't sell California wines or any wines in your country. In our state (commonwealth), Virginia, they sell wine, but in the other states we travel through to visit family, none carry wine.

Dee Dee

And typically in VA, different Costco's will sell some different wines. Don't know why. Dee

That topic has arisen here before. It seems that each Costco's manager has a lot of discretion over what wines his store will stock. So, Costcos that serve more prosperous communities might have more expensive wines, but Costcos that have a manager who knows something about wine will probably have the most interesting deals.

Mark Lipton

Thats interesting. Every Costco I've been to in Arizona, California or Nevada has had a good selection of wines.

I believe gas in the UK is comparable to France.

About 1.30 EU/liter -> 4.90 EU/gallon -> $6.50 US/gallon.

That'll make you think twice before driving 200 miles for groceries!

-E

What do you mean by "good selection"? I think most people would interpret that term as rmeaning a *large* selection, but my experience has generally been that the selection has been small, but interesting and well-chosen.

I didn't say that they didn't have a good selection of wines. Dee