Bring Your Own Wine to Dinner or Not

If you missed it: here's a recap. British Columbians, perhaps the savviest wine drinkers in the country, are joining Ontario, Alberta, Quebec and citizens of six other provinces already allowed to Bring Your Own Wine (BYOW) out for dinner.

It's a welcomed, if not shocking development, from a bureaucracy that has more or less shackled restaurant business in the province for decades. Typically the announcement came with no warning to restaurants who must now decide if they want to opt in or out of the program - there is no law that says they must operate as a BYOW - and there is no main list for consumers to consult regarding which restaurants will or will not honour the BYOW concept.

I've maintained the current restaurant model has been broken for years, and drinkers, especially wine drinkers, have to be happy with any model where they no longer have to subsidize everybody else's dinner. That said there are many issues to be addressed.

I'm not going to get into the present restaurant wine list shell game, since it's been rendered obsolete by this law, but the days of ridiculous markups are over, unless your financial station requires that you over pay. Then again, if government really understood the hospitality business they would have consented to wholesale pricing long ago. It would still be the perfect accompaniment to BYOW, imagine the competition. Instead, we are heading toward a government sanction monopoly distribution system that will further pillage the consumer by limiting the access to distribution to one favoured player. But I digress.

Participating restaurants will be allowed to set their own corkage fee, even if the wine is under screw cap. I guess screw-age fee doesn't sound that good. Although a few mom and pop diners might not charge you anything to bring in your wine, expect a surcharge of anywhere from $10 to $25 and much more at the luxe restos. Keep in mind 95 per cent of all the wine sold in the country sells for less than $25, so the average charge you are already paying in restaurants is $10 to $25.

My guess is most people are paying $30-$50 per bottle in restaurants, so little will change for you unless you decide to dine out on Mondays or Tues-day when I'm guessing corkage will plummet or be eliminated over time as restaurateurs get creative to fill the place on slow nights.

I'm not sure how tipping will be addressed but it could sure use an overhaul. What should tips be based on: the price of the meal, or the wine, or the drinks? Or should it be based on the quality of service and the number of people served or how much time and space you take up? I'm not setting numbers, just asking questions.

I've seen some "rules" on BYOW such as don't bring a wine that is on the restaurant list. Forget it, how do we know what's on any list, and really, what difference does it make? Some are suggesting don't bring a cheap wine. Sorry again, the point is people should be able to drink what they want and what they can afford. If you are separating your customers by price, then raise your food prices by $25 that should keep the great unwashed out.

Let the server taste the wine? I'm not sure this will be popular with the public, but for people in the business I expect they will all do this. Speaking of people in the business, expect a lot more distributors and their principals to show up for lunch and dinner. Corkage will make up for the stupid no wholesale provisions that cause suppliers to pay full restaurant markup prices daily just to promote their product. Now they will only pay full retail plus corkage. This may encourage them to entertain more with clients and principals in city restaurants.

A quick look at a few cork-age fees published by Marquis Wine Cellars presumably for its customer base has Chambar, a crosstown favourite charging $25. Toney south Granville's West has settled on $38, Le Parisene $10, Petit Chavignol $20, Browns in Kits $15 a bottle and Cactus Club English Bay - not allowing you to BYOW.

"Corkage should not be feared. It will help the small 'cheap eats' restaurants with-out the best beverage programs attract dinners," says Gastown's L'Abattoir sommelier Jake Skakun. "At most places, once diners settle in and everyone forgets there was a time corkage was forbidden, it may only mean four or five bottles on a busy night. If you set your fee to a level that is appropriate for your style of restaurant, it shouldn't mean much, if any, of a revenue loss."

Thank you Mr. Skakun.

BYOW is part of an evolving wine and food culture in this city and it's simply one less barrier and one more step toward choice and civility. Picture a city with outstanding neighbourhood restaurants where citizens drink responsibly, walk to and from the restaurant and gather to talk life, politics, sports, religion, well, you name it, it's called community. The old model has failed on so many levels so I for one am happy to embrace a new approach.

This week I'm recommending six wines you should consider taking out for dinner this week-end. Take the cost, multiply it by a conservative 1.25 mark-up, or perhaps two to 2.5 in hotels. Now take your cost and add $10 to $25 corkage and I think you will find you come out way ahead.

Wild Goose Riesling 2011, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

Price: $17

UPC: 626990007272

Score: 88/100

Remarks: Take to a Chinese restaurant and your wine worries are over.

De Martino Legado Reserva Chardonnay 2011, Limari Valley, Chile

Price: $18

UPC: 07804395000323

Score: 89/100

Remarks: Order fresh halibut, and away you go.

Vistalba Corte C 2009, Vistalba District, Luján de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina

Price: $20

UPC: 007798121940031

Score: 90/100

Remarks: Pick your steak house and take this for the perfect match.

Kumeu River Estate Chardonnay 2007, Kumeu, North Island, New Zealand

Price: $35

UPC: 9416504004627

Score: 90/100

Remarks: Take this to your favourite French restaurant.

Stags' Leap Petite Syrah 2008, Napa Valley, California, United States

Price: $50

UPC: 00089819045853

Score: 92/100

Remarks: Think osso buco or lamb and you are done.

M. Chapoutier Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Bernardine 2009, Rhone Valley, France

Price: $52

UPC: 003391181010832

Score: 91/100

Remarks: A fabulous wine for West or any upscale menu.

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/life/BYOW+good+sippers/7005835/story.html#ixzz24am7ovPj