Last week four of us went out to a dinner with four bottles. Mid-level place, mediocre $25-$60 list, decent stems, $20 corkage.
One of the bottles was opened and poured by the server (without a taste) to all of us and upon my first sip I noticed that it was badly corked. We told the server and asked him to ditch the wine and give us some fresh glasses. Typically we might have used that same glass for the fourth and final bottle. The check had corkage for all four bottles.
Often I’ve been not charged corkage for corked bottles. But then again, they did have to open it and give us glasses. Maybe part of it is that I think the $20 per at this place is not too warranted based upon the list, wine sales, stems, and wine service. Eg. the server did not know what corked wine was. I thought of saying something anout the charge but didn’t.
They provided the service, and the risk of corked bottles is on you if you bring your own.
That said, given you had four bottles and paid the corkage fee for 3 of them anyway, it would have been nice for the restaurant not to charge you for the fourth corkage fee.
Interesting. I guess this is why people bring backup bottles, huh? The thing is, the corkage still pays for the labor of providing you a wine service, which they Did provide, so theoretically you ought to pay it. However, being corked, the service was useless to you. It’s too bad the server did not know about corked bottles. I would try to strike a happy medium, ask to take away the corkage charge if you order something off their list. Sound like a good compromise?
You got screwed. No way they should charge corkage on a corked bottle. The corkage charge isn’t to cover the “labor” of pouring the wine and providing the glasses, it’s to deter you from going BYO and to replace the revenue they lose when you don’t order off the list. If you ordered a bottle off the list, they poured the wine, and it was corked, you would rightly insist on not being charged, despite the fact that they still provided you with the equivalent service of pouring the wine and providing new glasses, and you would rightly be pissed if after not charging you for the bottle they added a $20 charge to your bill for “wine labor”. This is no different.
If you are being charged for wine service then a server should pour you a taste first to check for TCA. If you were offered a taste and reject the bottle you should not be charged. Once you give the OK to the server it is another story.
Really? They opened the bottle, poured the wine and cleaned all the glasses. I don’t work for free and I don’t expect a restaurant to either. Now, if the customer were to order a bottle off the wine list to replace the corked one the restaurant could waive the previous corkage. That has been done for me in the past. But still, if they still charged corkage I would understand. I wouldn’t be happy but at the same time I wouldn’t complain. It was my wine that was corked not theirs.
This was part of my conflict. I could have made sure to ask for a taste, but I didn’t, and the server did not ask pouring me last. We were in the heat of conversing over a fun dinner. So even on that note, part my fault, part theirs.
I’m not particularly pissed and it won’t stop me from going back by any means. It was just a curiosity to me, that left me a tad let down. They know us there, know we bring wine that’s better and more aged than their list, and know my wife works for one of their wine distributors.
When I worked in a high-end wine restaurant, this happened exactly once. Corkage wasn’t legal at that point in KC, but the guy had enough pull that he got an exception. His wine was a very sadly corked Grand Cru Burg. We commiserated and he ordered something off the list. Had he had a back-up, I never would have considered for a second charging him corkage twice.
I agree with Glenn’s point. Either the bringer of wine or the server pouring should catch a corked wine before it gets too far. Part of the corkage fee is competent service, and I can’t imagine a top restaurant pouring a corked wine and expecting to be rewarded for it. I checked every bottle I poured for two years, and can’t imagine charging a guest for my mistake.
As to the idea they shouldn’t work for free, the restaurant received $80 for labor of service and cleaning 16 glasses. I’ve watched competent servers clean 4 glasses - it takes a minute, perhaps two or three. The idea that the amount of time it took to ditch a corked bottle and polish four glasses is worth $20 and alienating a customer seems off the mark to me.
Usually they should pour you a taste, you reject the bottle, and if they are wine savvy they are likely to not charge you corkage for that bottle. However, sadly sometimes S**T happens, and, at least for me, it’s just not worth getting stressed about.
So it’s pretty clear what is right and desired here, but it’s a bit of a grey area with nothing to be gained (other than $20) for putting up a fuss. I guess if I were really steamed at some point in the evening (probably on my way out) I might find the GM or someone who seems to be in authority and very quietly and discretely mention the situation to her/him with no expectation of a fix but rather just trying to help them raise the bar in their establishment.
Yep. In the end, this cuts both ways. I would like a guest less if they decided to fight over $20, but I would like the restaurant less if they insisted on squeezing the $20 out of me for washing four glasses. I don’t think either side really “wins” much of anything by pushing the point - $20 and the risk of disproportionate bad will from the loser of the $20? But if it were my restaurant, I would tell staff to take it off the bill every time…
I think I would ask about it regardless of the situation for a point-of-fact explanation because I don’t feel I should be charged for corked wine. However, there is certainly a level of reason when you’re only talking an extra $5pp and whether it’s really worth the aggravation to make a stink about it.
better question, should a restaurant charge corkage on an unopened bottle? We had dinner at Church and State and they charged us corkage for an unopened bottle and refused to take it off
They are within their rights, but it’s not the best handling in my mind. I’d have asked “I was wondering whether corkage still applies when the bottle is spoiled and we didn’t drink it”.
I’d be disappointed but mellow if they declined to waive it.
John, Bestia is now at $30 corkage and their glasses still suck shit. All the hipsters are bringing in crap bottles and they are just upping that corkage charge
Two fold. They should not charge corkage on a corked bottle, but then again bringing four bottles into a restaurant is excessive. Unless you are doing a blending trial …