Archive-name: wine-faq/part6
Posting-Frequency: monthly
Copyright: (c) 1995 Bradford S. Brown (see Notices & Disclaimers in pt. 10)
Last-modified: 1996/07/26

*5.6.1 RESTAURANT WINE PRICING

For many years and in many places, the cost of wine has been a
standard mark-up of the retail cost, say two to three times
retail.  But in many cases a restaurant probably isn't paying
retail--in fact, the price to them is often less than what it
would cost you at the winery.  The huge mark-ups paid by the
customer are an incredible amount to pay for wine and often means
that there is more profit in the wine than in all the other food
combined.  Certainly if the restaurant can get customers to pay
such inflated prices (and perhaps by doing so subsidize their
otherwise perhaps fine cuisine), then so be it.

But personally I think that it is time to not give in.  There are
several ways to go about this:

--Learn the better buys.  For example, where I live, (Red)
Zinfandel is not nearly in as much demand as Cabernet Sauvignon.
The bargains are better (and I like it anyhow).  Lesser known
wines may be just as good or better than the more expensive
"name" brands.

--Some restaurants (as limited by local law) who are not allowed
to sell wine may allow you to bring your own.  It would be a good
idea to ask for details before showing up, however.

--Some restaurants (as limited by local law) will allow you to
bring your own (even if they have a wine list) and charge you a
"corkage" charge for the privilege.  If you have some special
wines at home, the corkage charge is rarely going to come close
to the cost of the same wine, were it on the wine list.  Note
that it is bad form to bring a wine that is on the wine list.  At
least one Internet poster claimed that there was not a "single
true gourmet restaurant in New York, Boston, or Washington" which
allows customers to bring their own wine.  While I'm willing to
doubt the statement, I know for a fact that this just plain not
true in Southern California.  In any event, it would be a good
idea to ask for details before showing up, however.

--Boycott the restaurant (or boycott buying wine in the
restaurant).  When doing this is probably will have a much better
effect if you let the restaurant know what you are doing.

Some restauranteurs are truly devoted to a fine evening at prices
that are not horrendous mark-ups.  The meal may not be
inexpensive for fine ingredients are expensive, but the mark-up
over cost is certainly not fixed.  There is something to be said
for the cost of cellaring the wine (and keeping good glassware--
which breaks--to serve it in).  Also, local laws may mean that
the restaurant isn't necessarily paying anything less than
retail.  However, there are enough fine restaurants in this world
that one should seek out and promote the ones who are willing to
present a fine meal without gouging.  In so doing, they will do
even more business and will "make up," at least to some degree,
profits "lost" from not over-charging on the wine.

Some will ask:  "how much is gouging?"  I don't have an answer
for that.  But I can tell you that one local restauranteur (in
one of the best restaurants in California) would rarely add more
than a fixed amount (say $8 for the more expensive wines) over
what he paid.  Not a fixed percentage, merely an amount that was
about the same as his corkage fee (and less for the less
expensive wines).  It seemed fair to me.

There are those that like to bring up the mark-up on carbonated
beverages (where it is oft stated that the cost of the container
is higher than the cost of the liquid itself--and in any event
can be measured in pennies).  It is said that if you don't
complain about that outrageous mark-up you have no right to
complain about wine mark-ups.  Personally, I won't order
carbonated drinks for that reason.  In any event, I don't buy the
argument, however.  $1 is a lot more affordable than $50.

While restaurants are in business (and it can be a very risky
business) to make money, some restaurants are willing to charge
less.  There are those who make cogent arguments that high prices
for wine are merely the way that a restaurant can stay in
business--and they are entitled to make as much as then can.  But
I am friendly with enough restauranteurs (and good ones, for that
matter) who feel that a more reasonably priced wine list is part
of the way that they want to do business.  For that reason, I
spend more in such places overall.  I'll usually leave the over-
priced places to those who are willing to pay.

Supply and demand is controlled by the buyer.  A restaurant which
puts emphasis on a good and fairly-priced wine list may find that
it will attract a great deal more customers.  We, the wine-buying
public, should seek out such establishments and prove it.

One interesting sidelight to this discussion:  It has nothing to
do with those restaurants who cater to people who have all the
money in the world--and act like it.  I doubt I would be
comfortable in such a place.   Well, I know I'm not, having tried
a few--and I don't think wanted me there, either.

[Reserved.  Much longer discussion of restaurant etiquette.]


*5.7 GLASSES

The size and shape of the glass can contribute to the enjoyment
of drinking wine.  Whether you need to spend a fortune on your
glasses (which I tend to break a lot of when cleaning up) is
another story altogether.

Generally speaking a glass with a long stem lets you swirl the
wine more easily (swirling helps bring out the smells of the
wine, which is very important to the tasting process).  The long
stem also keeps the heat of your hand away from the wine.  (Of
course, with the way I've been served some wines, you have to
grasp the bowl of the glass firmly and often just to warm it up!)
In order to capture the scents, its nice to have a glass that is
more narrow at the top than the area below (in other words, a
large bowl).  In this way there is a larger surface area of wine
in the bottom and the bouquet of the wine can get trapped by the
narrowing of the glass.  (Which reminds me how often I have to
stop restaurant servers from filling my glass of wine--even in
places where there is very nice stemware, many servers just don't
know how to pour.)

Riedel produces an expensive line of glasses, none of which I
own.  Supposedly each glass (and there are different shapes for
different types of wines) is designed to maximize taste and aroma
by delivering the wine to the right part of the mouth, as well as
being shaped properly to catch and concentrate the scents of the
wine.  How you may ask, can this be?

In terms of acidity, tannins, fruit flavors, aromatic components,
and the like, different types of wine have different palate
profiles.  These are sensed by different parts of the tongue,
nose and throat.  Supposedly, wine glasses can be designed to
channel the wine as you sip it to the parts of the mouth where
you will get the optimal tasting experience.  It is said that
there is a different place in the mouth for each wine, hence the
different shapes for the glasses.  This centuries-old concept in
wine glass design, but whether you really need five sets of wine
glasses (or for some even one set of really expensive glasses) is
left to your own sensibilities.  A non-statistical, admittedly
unscientific sample size of public postings tells me that some
swear that these Riedel glasses make a large difference,
especially after side-by-side tastings between Riedel and non-
Riedel glasses, and others don't.  Decide for yourself!

The International Standards Organization (ISO) in the United
Kingdom sets forth a design for a wine glass which can be
inexpensive but very useful.  They are smaller and less exciting
than the fancy, expensive glasses, but are a lot cheaper to
replace when smashed by host, guest or dishwasher.  Many people
find them to be perfectly adequate, however do admit to liking
glasses with somewhat larger bowls.  Personally, I like the
latter, but haven't found it necessary to get really expensive
stemware.

Wine drinking is an adventure.  Think about it.  If you had an
especially good wine experience, was it just the wine?  Or was it
also the events surrounding the drinking of the wine?  Two
IDENTICAL wines could seem different merely by the activities
that surround its consumption.  A romantic dinner?  While the
glass you use may or may not have an impact, I suggest that other
peripheral items may be much more significant.

Washing glasses somehow has gotten controversial.  Seems some
people object to the dishwasher.  Probably one should merely
watch out (whether washing by hand or machine) about using too
much soap or detergent which might leave a residue that will
affect the wine.

Storing glasses is also something to think about.  I tend to
break them (no, not drunk, just clumsy the next day).  The cost
of expensive wine glasses is going to add up if you are
ungraceful, so there may be the temptation to store them in the
cardboard box that they probably came in.  If you do this, wash
to glasses before use.  If the cardboard as gotten at all damp,
it may get moldy and contribute off flavors to the glass and to
the wine.


*5.8 STORING WINE AFTER IT'S OPENED

Wine deteriorates in the presence of oxygen.  The most practical
thing to do is finish the wine.  When this isn't sensible, the
idea of buying smaller bottles (or taking home unfinished bottles
when drunk in a restaurant--you don't HAVE to leave them--though
in California, make sure you take it home in the trunk of your
car), when available, can be a better solution.  You can cook
with leftover wine, or even turn it to vinegar (why buy when you
can have homemade?).

But, there is always the time when you want to try to preserve
the quality of the wine for as long as you can.  To do this, you
want to prevent as much oxygen as you can from getting to it.

One of the better ways is to fill the bottle with an inert gas.
There are several different systems which do this, but they tend
to be relatively to extremely expensive.  Nevertheless, for the
serious aficionado, this is probably the best solution.

Another product, the Vacu-vin (tm) is a small pump device that
comes with rubber stoppers and a small hole in the middle of the
stopper.  The idea is that you can suck a fair amount of air from
the bottle, thus reducing the effect of oxygen.  Some, but not
all, people feel that it might add 2 or 3 days to the life of the
bottle.

Other cheap and interesting ideas:  Get a bunch of glass marbles.
Clean them, then put them in the bottle until the liquid is to
the top, then cork.  Or, just transfer the wine to a smaller
bottle.  Or both.


*5.8.1 FREEZING WINE AFTER IT'S OPENED

Initially I wrote "one economical wine lover suggests freezing as
a means of longer term storage.  I haven't tried this and
probably won't; freezing should alter the character of the wine.
Cooking with leftovers is probably a better bet."

However, there have been a fair number of people who claim
positive results with the process--not only with freezing, but
even by nuking the wine (gently) in a microwave to thaw it (at
least part of the way).

These people very happy with the results.  A few have noted that
in some wines there are radically increased precipitates, mostly
potassium tartrate.  (Increased precipitates result because the
water freezes at higher temperatures, therefore the concentration
of alcohol and soluble items--such as potassium tartrate--are
higher in the liquid portion [the water turning to ice].  Things
which will precipitate out easily, will do so, and probably won't
dissolve back into the wine so quickly.  Now, one possible effect
of this is that a wine will taste less acidic--which may or may
not be a desirable effect.  Another effect is that the
constituents of the wine which make up taste and color can be
affected.  But then, if it works for you  . . . .

I think I'll still stand by my original statement that "generally
speaking, most stored wine, no matter what you do to it, won't be
as good as when you opened it."  Nevertheless, those who like the
idea of freezing wine seem to think it works better than most of
the other storage methods.



----------------
*6. BUYING WINE
----------------

*6.1 WHAT WINE DO I BUY?

Nobody can tell you that, since what YOU like is the best test.
The more you taste different wines, the more you will come to
know what you like, etc.

But . . .   If you are just starting out, here's some hints that
we and others seem to ignore completely a lot of the time:  Don't
buy too much of a wine you haven't tasted (just because it got a
good rating or is something you liked in earlier vintages).
Don't buy a bunch of wine that you won't drink until after it
goes bad.  (I don't want to tell you how much white wine I have
aged to extinction from my earlier days in buying wine.)


*6.2 WHERE TO BUY WINE
Depends on what you're drinking.  Fortified wines to be carried
and drunk while wrapped in a brown bag can be gotten pretty
cheaply at the local market or liquor store.  And, in SOME of the
United States, wine can only be purchased in state run
establishments (often closed on Sundays).

If you are drinking a wine that is meant to be drunk young, you
can pretty much buy your wine at the best price you can find.
When it comes to wines to cellar, more care should be exercised.
You want to learn a bit about your wine merchant.  Since wines
can be stored improperly or may have been subjected to heat and
other improper handling, you could find that after keeping an
expensive red wine for 10 years, what you have to drink is
worthless.

Wines can often be purchased at wineries (what an odd place to
find wine).  The good news here is that you may get wines that
are never available anywhere else (you don't mass market 20 cases
of wine).  The sort of bad news is that you might find that the
wine you bought could have been found less expensively elsewhere
(though one hopes that the storage conditions at the winery are
better?).

Wineries will shipp wine, depending on where they are and where
you are.  Various laws come into play about the shipping of wine
from one place to another (though I heard that one wine merchant-
-I wasn't told who--merely labels the box "guns" and has no
trouble at all; there ARE ways).  Some wineries sell virtually
all of their wine by mail.  (You have to make awfully good wine
to get away with that type of business [right, Burt & Ed?])

Other wine merchants (sometimes calling themselves wine "clubs")
will ship wine.  Several people have positively mentioned the
following (but I don' have any independent knowledge and
guarantee nothing!):

  Geerlings & Wade  (Boston, Massachusetts, USA)  1-800-782-WINE.


*6.3 WHAT'S ITS WORTH?

A correspondent sent me this quote:  "I think that the best way
to learn about wine is to drink the cheapest wine you can find.
If you can't find any cheap wine you like, then spend a few more
dollars. And then a few more, and more, and more . . . . "
Depending on what you can afford to pay for wine, the unfortunate
truth is that generally, better wine costs more, however it isn't
necessarily true that wine that costs more is better.

The real fact is that you shouldn't be swayed by the opinions of
others.  If you like it, fine, if you don't, don't buy it.  If it
is inexpensive and suits your taste, great!  I once bought a
couple of bottles of wine for a couple of dollars each because
the name of the winery was the same as the street I lived on.  It
wasn't wonderful (so far as we remember) and we stuck it away in
a closet.  Five years later the stuff was absolutely great.

For wholesale wine (and other liquor) prices, you might find a
copy of "Beverage Media", (from Beverage Media Ltd., 161 Avenue
of the Americas, New York, New York 10013) which calls itself
"The largest compilation of alcoholic beverage price brand
information in America."


*6.3.1 OPUS ONE
Why does this get asked about so often?  Perhaps there is a
certain snob appeal in buying/ordering this wine.  Recently while
dining out I overheard another table (clearly owners of a wine
shop) being asked by the restaurant manager whether the
establishment should purchase some Opus One.  They hemmed and
hawed and politely noted that it was a "high end" item and
perhaps there were other wines that would be just as good for
lesser price.  That sums up a lot of what I have heard of this
wine, a joint production between Robert Mondavi and the late
Baron Philippe de Rothschild of Bordeaux attempting to produce
French style wine with California grapes.

The consensus of posts we have seen were that Opus One is a
generally well made wine that is overpriced but will be reliable
to people ordering in restaurants who don't know much about
better (or just as good) less expensive wines.  I've never tasted
it, so try some, if you can (and want to make up your own mind).


-- 
 
