Bob Ross wrote:"That makes sense, and maybe that's the problem with not having their policy spelled out somewhere for newbs like me to read. Like I said, I am new to this whole notion of corkage, and my first understanding of it was simply, "if you pay a surcharge, you can bring your own wine". But based on some of the comments that you guys have made it sounds more like it should be phrased "if we don't offer the wine and you wish to bring it, we will allow it with a small surcharge"."
Jeff, it's tough to generalize because local custom and local laws impact corkage policies. I totally agree with Cynthia; I always phone ahead if I plan to bring wine to a restaurant. Managment is almost invariably willing, even eager, to describe their corkage policy.
Conceptually, it's best to compare wine with food: you don't have the
right to bring your own steak to a steak house no matter how beautifully aged it is; a restaurant might permit you to do so in special circumstances, but you would certainly call ahead to discuss your reasons and what the conditions the restaurant might impose. The same principle applies to wine.
Here's a small sample of how corkage varies from place to place.
In some places it's unlawful to BYOB, sometimes because the restaurant is in a dry jurisdiction, and sometimes because it's simply unlawful in a licensed restaurant in the jurisdiction.
In this area of northern New Jersey, there are many BYOB restaurants -- it is very expensive and difficult get licenses, there are many unlicensed restaurants, and a very large number of restaurants encourage patrons to BYOB. [Even here though, a good number of unlicensed restaurant refuse to permit BYOB, usually for insurance reasons.] As a result, licensed restaurants almost invariably permit BYOB -- they may have a stated corkage policy, but almost invariably waive the corkage.
As a matter of courtesy, we've come up with the following checklist when taking wine to a licensed restaurant in this area:
1. Call ahead, discuss their list and pricing, and if we want to bring our own, give our reasons for our decision and discuss the restaurant's corkage policy.
2. Offer a taste of the wine to the owner or sommelier.
3. Bring only wines that are more expensive than the cheapest wine on their list -- sommeliers are usually complimented if you bring better wines. [One White Plains restaurants established their corkage charge equal to the cheapest wine on their list.
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4. *Usually, buy a bottle from the list -- usually a sparkler or a dessert wine, or both.
In Manhattan, BYOB is generally not permitted at all. It's essential to call ahead and make arrangements. If permitted, the corkage runs around $20 to $30 a bottle, but I've seen $50 and even $75 at posh joints. Montrachet is a restaurant with a great wine list, a no BYOB policy, EXCEPT for Monday nights -- a very successful innovation for the restaurant on what used to be one of its slowest nights. And there are a few, vanishingly few, restaurants that encourage BYOB. Sommeliers sometimes tell you BYOB is illegal in NYC -- that's not true, but you cannot insist that be permitted to BYOB either. It's up to the restaurant, and you have no recourse if the restaurant refuses. (Except walk out, I suppose.)
I'm not sure what the current customs are in Napa -- a couple of years ago, one restaurant waived corkage if you brought a Napa wine; at the French Laundry, corkage was $75, and only if the wine wasn't on the list -- it was essential to call in advance and make arrangements, since the French Laundry has a very good list.
My impression is that restaurants in San Francisco and in Los Angeles are quite open to BYOB even if they have good lists of their own, and that corkage is rarely charged.
I did a Google search of corkage in Omaha restaurants -- $10 to $20 seems quite common -- a pretty wine friendly town based on that superficial search. I can understand why you thought "if you pay a surcharge, you can bring your own wine" -- many of the Omaha restaurant websites put almost exactly that way. There are many cities that are much less friendly to BYOB.
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Restaurant markups on wine, and tipping policies on BYOB, when permited, are vast subjects, and I'll pass on those fascinating subjects. For this post at least.
Welcome to WLDG -- You posed some excellent, thought provoking questions.
Regards, Bob