Restaurant Wine Lists: The People Know a Good Deal When They See It

One of the retailing come-ons that drives me out of my mind is the 80 percent off sale. Don't tell me the savings, just tell me the cost. I'll figure out if the price is a good price. The restaurant business, with huge competition, and an economy-driven loss of customers, is desperately trying to arrive at winning formulas. Half price night, re-theming restaurants to more modest venues, pre-fixe menus, restaurant week, restaurant month, restaurant year. ...Whatever makes them come in the door. The fact is there is a dwindling population of customers walking in the door, and a supply of more restaurants needing to make a living, than there is a demand of customers.

I work with restaurants to develop wine programs. The wine list, which is developed to be in harmony with the menu, is a reflection of pricing strategies, and business outlook. Wine programs take their direction from the menu. All factors -- kitchen design, décor, service, and service style, table settings, uniforms, pricing, and the beverage program -- are set in motion by the menu. So, in these economic times, what is the best outlook for a wine program? The simple and most direct answer is the same answer I would give at better economic times: great selections at fair prices. Great selections and fair pricing is relative, kind of like Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart's famous description of pornography, "I'll know it when I see it."

The wine magazines and blogs are packed with rightful indignation of customers and reviewers who feel ripped off by restaurants that mark up their wines three and four times the original cost. High end restaurants defend their pricing structure to speak of the cost of better glassware, larger staffs, and in most cases, a higher cost of real estate. The question is how much extra profit seems fair without alienating their clientele? While the high end restaurants wrestle with this dilemma, they have incorporated other strategies to continue to mark up wines at a rate that would upset their clientele, if their clientele were aware. Wines by the keg, private labels, exorbitant mark up on wines-by-the-glass, obscure labels that have limited access to retailers, are all part of their effort to continue to maximize profits.

A healthy restaurant does not want to advertise a fire sale on their menu or wine list. A consistent, long term approach toward respectful mark ups develops a respectful long term approach from their customers. I am always amazed by restaurateurs who use a formulaic approach to hit a food and beverage cost percentage, rather than make a fair dollar amount, item by item. I believe they either don't believe their customers can tell the difference, or they have made a business plan that is not realistic. Both ways, there is a groundswell of resentment at the industry for gouging on wine lists, and the people know it when they see it.

 

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Comments

[Brad Haskel - Huffpost Blogger]

Hi Jenny:
Thank you very much for your insight. Restaurant reviewers....I think it is truthful to say the majority of the writers who review restaurants don't bother to discuss wine lists at all. At best, they count the selections, divide them by color and type, and think they have done something to help the consumer.
Almost no reviewer that I can think of, talks of a good and thematically correct list. They don't speak of good values. Thay don't talk about a list that carries great deals on great wines that are new discoveries. They only praise large and voluminous lists, mostly because it is safe to say something good about lots of selections. Seems like a pretty good way to cover up for a subject you don't know.

[jennylefcourt]

Hi Brad,
indeed, an interesting topic! especially since so many restaurant critics often don't bother to talk about the wine, which is such a huge part of a restaurant experience. One thing: I do think oftentimes "obscure wines" can offer value to the customers of a restaurant... if a restaurant invests in someone who knows what they are doing (like you) to do their wine list, they can find good value wines in lesser known appellations or with lesser known brands (small vineyards) which are often better wines for less money.
Jenny
Jenny & Francois Selections

[Brad Haskel - Huffpost Blogger]

Thanks GIJaney13:
There are an awful lot of lists that seem as though they are an afterthought, when restauranteurs have often invested everything they own into a business. The wine list represents a very large chunk of profitability for them, and yet somehow in many cases it is not treated with the thought and care necessary to make it stand out.

[gijaney13]

Good information! Another issue is the amount of truly AWFUL wine lists out there. The writers of those lists should take some pointers from your article!

[Mitchel]

I couldn't agree more. Perhaps if the higher-ups in any given restaurant realized that their customer
understood what pricing structure was they wouldn't be so quick to live & die by such an obvious formula.
It is no secret that these are tough times, but trying to compensate by mugging the clientele is not a fix.

[alinicole]

Thank you for the great article. I always thought if resturants were more reasonable with pricing I would be willing to try more.

[RestaurantZoom]

Brad, I never realized just how much effort is invested into creating the perfect wine list to compliment a menu. You bring up some very important information that is good to know for those of us who enjoy a great wine with our meal. Thanks!

[Belina]

When I ask for a wine list, and I see that bottle prices are so high
I often buy by the glass...and usually they dont give you many options
and its always the same whites.... Chardonay,Pinot Grigio,Sauvignon Blanc.
Having limited choices lessens my dining experience. I really would like to see
this change.

[Brad Haskel - Huffpost Blogger]

Hi Belina:
I agree that many restaurants do not make the wines-by-the-glass selection interesting. So, with a choice of over inflated bottle prices, or ho-hum wines-by-the-glass, I choose something else. I know I'm not alone.
What's more, I think this speaks to the concern the restaurant has for me. Do they use the same mentality with their food & service?