Despite the rotten growing year that hit most of the wine grape-growing countries and the magnificent year enjoyed by our West Coast, there will be little or no increase in the price of your favorite wine.
The current economic uncertainty has made price increases in the $20 to $29 class very doubtful, according to the Silicon Valley Bank, a major lender to the wine industry. The lower priced wines took a price jump during 2012, which had some effect on sales but not a major one.
Costs will jump in the higher priced wines - those $50 or more - where as much as a 10 percent increase may be seen.
An area where price is a significant consideration is at restaurants. We constantly receive letters and emails from readers complaining about the outrageous price of wine in restaurants. Very often, the price in a restaurant is higher than the shelf price at wine merchants. We are aware that some restaurants use wine as a profit-making tool; since the diner is "captured," if customers wish to enjoy a wine with their meal, the sky is the limit.
This, however, is not the case with most restaurants. One must consider all of the parameters involved with serving a wine to a diner. The restaurateur must first purchase the wine from the same distributor that supplies the wine stores, implying that he or she is paying a wholesale price. The wholesale price for the wine, however, does not take in to account all of the facets associated with serving wine to a diner.
The restaurateur must stock a supply of wine that compliments the style of food he or she presents. This supply must be more than one or two bottles of a variety but at least enough to cover any and all requests. It can take several days for a distributor to replenish the stock, so the owner must go by the Boy Scout motto, "Be prepared." Looking at the average wine list, that preparation could incur a considerable cash outlay.
Next, there must be a place to keep the wine; not too cold and not too warm, and if possible, in a commercial wine cooler. That costs money and takes room, which looses income in the space that could probably be better utilized.
But there is more - there is the cost of the glasses. Ordinary cheap wine glasses will not do. Restaurant wine glasses must have thin bowls that compliment most varieties of wine, and no rims because a rim deflects the wine to the wrong part of the mouth and breaks up the stream of wine. Wine glasses also cannot be cleaned along with the regular dishes and utensils, because they require special care, costing time, money and valuable storage space.
If you doubt any of these facts, call your favorite restaurant and ask them if you can bring your own wine. You will encounter the term corkage. Corkage is the charge from the restaurant for all of the items involved in serving a patron a glass of his or her own wine.
While dining in a restaurant, there are things to be wary of.
If you do not know what wine you want to order off of the wine list, guess. If you ask the sommelier for a suggestion, you may be directed to a wine the restaurant wants to get rid of. Restaurants are still a business, and it is not beyond the management or even a wholesaler to offer an inducement to the help to get rid of wines they are overstocked with; in fact, it is a common practice.
Just as a side note, the practice of inducements by wholesalers extends to the wine store also, so, as we always admonish, caveat emptor, let the buyer beware.
Nixa resident Bennet Bodenstein is a wine columnist and helps manage ArticlesOnWine.com with his wife, Sheila. He can be reached at frojhe@suddenlink.net.
