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The Old Topic One More Time

Posted by: Trudy and Rob

Monday, November 3, 2008 4:01 PM

I've got to beat the dead horse one more time because I'd probably be arrested if I beat the person who came up with the pricing for this wine list. Paul Simpson, If you're reading this, can you feel my pain? I was strolling past a McCormick & Schmick restaurant the other day. They had their wine list posted in the window and, of course, I stoppped to peruse their prices and offerings. They had a fairly varied list but the pricing...yegads, who put that thing together!? For instance. Ridge Geyserville, always a very nice zinfandel blend available locally in the low $30 dollar range (which means the restaurant cost was probably around $20 or so) was on the list for a mere $80 or so. A Ravenswood Sonoma county 04 zin that probably wholesales in the $20 range was listed was listed for an unbelievable $99. An 05 Kenwood Sonoma zin was listed for $86 (way too much). A Beringer Knight's Valley 05 cabernet, favorably rated in the Wine Spectator this month and retailing at around $20, was on the restaurant list for $70. Sadly, it went on and on like this.

There were a few relatively good buys. An Alexander Valley bottling of Silver Oak was on the list for $100 (oddly, the same price of that Ravenswood zinfandel). The release price of the Silver Oak was about $60 so this one was actually a relatively good deal wine list wise. I've seen Silver Oak on lists in town for notably more. There were a few other bottles that were somewhat reasonably priced, but preciously few.

This kind of wine list experience is unfortunately not unique to McCormick & Schmick. It can be found at many, many establishments. I tend not to patronize restaurants that I feel have extortionate pricing, wines as well as food. I hope that you might do the same, that is, express your sentiments with your wallet. Locally there are several places, such as Farren's and Radio Maria, that have good food and reasonable wine pricing. Lately, if I end up in some other establishment with pirate wine pricing, I end up just saying gimme a beer. At least I won't feel as if I've been robbed!

Just an additional note. If you can get a look at the November 15th edition of the Wine Spectator, read Matt Kramer's column on wine pricing. Kramer is an excellent writer and he comments on the relationship betwen wine price and quality (he argues that more and more lately, there isn't any). He also makes some comments on wine aging and the state of the wine industry as a whole. It's very interesting reading. Give it a try.

Comments

Hey Rob,

I feel your pain indeed! We are very fortunate here in C-U to have many restaurants with fair wine pricing. Not to mention a breadth of selection that rivals any large metropolis in the country.

Paul

Posted by PaulSimpson on November 4, 2008 at 10:53 AM

Hey Rob & Trudy:

This might be a good time to explore the relationship (and there should be one) between wine by the glass and by the bottle (of the same wine).

Posted by jmartjohn on December 3, 2008 at 2:26 PM