Bollinger’s Vieilles Vignes Francaises, Blanc de Noirs – some of the most terroir-driven Champagne available – negociant or otherwise.

I may get empty wine bottles hurled at me from my fellow sommeliers the next time I walk past their eateries, but I’m about to make a case for corkage, a poignant issue of sorts. For anyone unfamiliar, corkage refers to the act of a diner bringing his or her own wine into a restaurant, which then may be subject to a fee. This post is inspired by an article Glen Korstrom ran in Business in Vancouver highlighting possible changes to the liquor system with Christie Clark as our new Premier. While I feel that there are a dozen laws perhaps more démodé than corkage, Glen chose this as one to feature to his readers and it’s one worth exploring. I was laconically quoted as supporting a change and mentioned that from a business point of view, the profit margins are great for not having to invest in any inventory. I wanted to expand my stance a little further. Your subscription is required to read the original article, but you can view a scanned version here.

This may be a good time for a disclaimer… The thoughts expressed in this post are those completely of the author and not of any fine establishment he may work at. Basically, If you show up at my restaurant on Friday night with a bottle of Yellow Tail in your hand, I’ll feign ever having met you. You get the point.

The fact of the matter is, corkage in BC is a common practice. I’ve brought bottles of wine into some of the finest restaurants in the city and will continue to do so in the future. Obviously, these are arrangements done beforehand and I would never show up unannounced with bottles in tow. What is the government gaining by keeping it illegal? They have a monopoly on all wine sold in the province as it is, and therefore shouldn’t be concerned about not getting their tax somewhere (the tax I technically paid at the shop will be the same that the restaurant would have paid). I’m sure there isn’t a conscious government effort to keep corkage illegal, but it’s rather a bureaucratic vestige, like many of our wine laws are, from a time long ago. I’m supportive of any reform that reduces the control our government has in the sale of wine and I’m supportive of restaurants having the right to choose whether they allow or forbid their clients to bring in their own wine.

Where I feel this would benefit diners the most, is in the instance of places that have affordable, high quality cuisine, but don’t have a strong wine program; for instance, Asian spots that likely sell very little wine as it is. I’d love to take a good bottle of Vouvray into Phnom Penh in Chinatown or a Fino Sherry or Champagne into my favourite sushi restaurants like Toshi. This is enhancing the experience for the guest while the restaurant pads their sales with pure gross profit from the $10 or $20 they choose to charge. If the restaurants have strong wine programs, chances are less likely that guests will feel the need to bring in wine. My experience in San Francisco is that the restaurants which charge minimal corkage (like $5) or decide to waive it altogether, gain media exposure and positive sentiment from the public and presumably increase business; Taylor’s Automatic Refresher (renamed to Gott’s Roadside) in the Ferry Building is a good example – besides having great fast food and affordable wine prices, they are renowned for their $1 corkage fee. Isn’t ’61 Cheval Blanc supposed to be the best pairing for fast food burgers?

Many people fear that if it is made legal, restaurants will be inundated with pro-corkage diners and the sommelier’s wine list will be forgotten. I find the idea of a mass frenzy of BYOers to upper scale restaurants unrealistic; most diners will remain in the dark about the fact that this practice even exists and the rest will see it as too much of a hassle or will feel too uncomfortable showing up with a bottle. At one very busy, upper-scale-casual San Franciscan restaurant that I spent time at, it was uncommon to see more than 5 bottles of corkage per night. I’m talking about a place that does well over 200 covers daily, filled with diners who grew up in a culture of corkage. I could be completely naive, but I really don’t feel like it will change how the vast majority of people dine.

There are ways to control the volume of BYO bottles coming through the restaurant – the most omnipotent being, that if you don’t want people to bring in their own bottles, then don’t allow it. Restaurants that do practice it typically have rules that forbid bringing in labels that are already on the wine list, which prevent things getting a little weird. At places with successful wine programs, your corkage charge should dissuade people from bringing in bottles for the sole sake of being thrifty. Unless the restaurant offers terrible value, thriftiness shouldn’t be the point of bringing in wine. It should be to try exciting, old or rare bottles that the restaurant doesn’t stock and the guest thinks will compliment the cuisine. If you charge $30+ per bottle, the guest will likely recognize that they can get much better value by ordering off your list, and probably won’t bring anything that cost them less than $30. No one is going to bring in a bottle of Sawmill Creek for an additional $35 when they can get a much better bottle off the list for $45 – it really doesn’t make sense. Another way to encourage ordering from the restaurant list is to lower or waive corkage fees if the guest’s party also orders a bottle from the restaurant’s cellar.

My next point is a somewhat selfish one. Over the last couple years of working in places where corkage happens from time to time, I can’t remember an instance where the guest didn’t at least offer me a taste of the wine they brought. While this doesn’t do much for the bottom line of the business, it’s a great enabler of sommelier education.

A summary… I don’t think corkage should be illegal (we have enough laws that are impossible to enforce and are already ignored). The main reason is so my friends and I could drink good wine with our sushi (I’m getting sick of the cheap Gekkeinkan sake, which is actually made in California, by the way). Plus, I’ll get to try all the special bottles you bring into my restaurant (things like Bollinger Vieilles Vignes Francaises, perhaps?) You’ll probably only bring special bottles into my restaurant, because my fees will make it discouraging to use corkage as a means to be thrifty (if you’re really on a budget, ask me what I have for bin-ends and I will likely be able to set you up with a good value bottle). Corkage – perhaps I’m not taking it entirely seriously, but I really don’t think it’d be a big deal if we slackened things a little.

I’m looking forward to hearing what you think…