I was on the bus last Thursday, scrolling through Twitter on my iPhone when I found out.
Many colleagues, sommeliers and restaurant owners were just rolling out of bed, heading to the gym or beginning lunch service when they heard the news.
The Walls of Jericho of prohibition-era BC liquor laws continue to crumble: the provincial government announced that BYO wine was going to be allowed in BC restaurants, leaving it to restaurateurs to decide if theyd adopt the policy and how much corkage theyd charge per bottle.
Couple that with the fact that restaurants were given absolutely no notice about this change coming into effect, the hows and whys of corkage charges have been muddled and confusing to many seeking to hit their favourite spot with a bottle tucked under their arm.
This week, a little background on the BYO philosophy of various restaurants around town who have adopted the policy:
First off, there will almost always be a charge for bringing your wine to a restaurant. In quite-casual spots (joints like Maxs Burgers, Verace Pizza, Browns) the costs weve been seeing rolled out are around the $10-15 mark for a 750ml bottle.
A bargain, particularly because any bottle you bring in that costs over $15 will come out less than the standard 100 per cent mark-up at most restaurants. In a lot of these places youll be able to bring in something a little more interesting than what they may have on hand, and save yourself a few bucks in the process. This is particularly great for tiny, ethnic hole-in-the-walls that may have killer curries, but only a couple of dusty 16-litre boxes of red sitting atop their fridge. That $10 for bringing your own Gewürztraminer will certainly elevate your meal.
Now, in the higher-end, wine-focused places (LAbattoir, Chambar, etc.) youre looking at upwards of $20-25 per bottle a price thats on par with similar BYO-offering restaurants in Calgary, San Francisco, Montreal and Melbourne.
Theres been a little grumbling on social media that these corkage fees seem prohibitively high. To counter that, lets refresh ourselves with the knowledge that BYO is a privilege, not a right, when dining out.
Its meant to give more options to diners, not to render well-respected wine programs and sommeliers obsolete, or solely in existence to cheapen your night out.
In high-end places, the restaurants have to cover much higher costs, food, labour, storage, glassware, rent and so on these costs that are mostly covered by wine and booze sales in the first place.
Also, it adds so much more to your dinner when well-thought out wines are skillfully paired to enhance your meal by capable staff, ensuring a complete, well-rounded experience; much of the reason of why we dine out.
The added bonus with BYO is that if you have an exceptional bottle youve been saving for a special occasion, how wonderful to have the option to enjoy it with food prepared by some of the best in the city. This is the relevance of BYO in high-end restaurants, an additional option, not as a way for them to lose income or take away creativity or overall focus.
We have many great wine professionals in Vancouver composing dynamic wine lists, some of the best in the country, so its important for us to support them and sustain our strong wine culture.
In my attempt to share these thoughts 140 characters at a time on Twitter, a couple of people pointed out that if they could order in restaurants more inexpensively, they wouldnt have issues with the costs of corkage. To that, Id like to remind the unfortunate fact that were pretty much the only place in North America where restaurateurs do not get a wholesale discount on wine (or any alcohol) paying shelf-price the same as you. We would love nothing more than to be offered a discount so we can pass those savings your way, allowing even more wine-oriented options during your dining experience. We would absolutely welcome that policy change to come our way without notice, thats for sure.
Its a bumpy road as long-overdue changes are made to liquor laws in BC, sometimes we dont see these bumps coming and dont have the opportunity to give you a heads-up. Lets hope this road takes us to a place thats enjoyable, and fair, for all.
