The sommelier may wax lyrical about the full body and subtle aromas of that
Old World red. But beware: while the wine will undoubtedly complement your
beef carpaccio, knowledge of the restaurant’s mark-up could make all but the
richest City traders balk. Even worse, the eatery around the corner is
selling the same wine at half the price.
Research has revealed the astonishing profits made by the country’s top
restaurants on bottles from their cellars and the wide variation in prices
between them.
While, at the top end of the market, a bottle of 1964 Petrus Pomerol Bordeaux
will cost diners at the Gordon Ramsay restaurant in Chelsea £2,100, at the
Dorchester Grill, only a short taxi ride away, the same vintage will set you
back £5,000.
The study also showed that a bottle of Special Cuvée champagne costs £90 at
the two Michelin star Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons in Oxford, but it would
only be £58 at the equally highly commended Gidleigh Park restaurant in
Devon. At the Majestic Wine Warehouse you can buy two bottles of this
nonvintage Bollinger for £53.98.
The price differential in all cases is enhanced by the often obligatory 12.5
per cent service charge.
Wine critics said it was only wines at the very top end of the market that
could justify such high mark-ups. Malcolm Gluck said there should be a £10
cap for most wines. Chris Losh, a former editor of Wine Magazine,
said: “The best restaurateurs are the ones that buy their wines early and
sit on them until they are ready to drink.”
Representatives of the Dorchester Hotel expressed astonishment when told of
the difference in price of the 1964 Petrus between it and Gordon Ramsay’s
restaurant. A spokesman said: “He must have bought it a long time ago: you
would not now be able to buy one on the open market for that price.”
Jason McAuliffe, the head of wine at the hotel, defended its policy, saying
they offered 30 wines priced under £30.
A spokesman at Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons restaurant said
that diners were paying for more than the wine.
The author of the research, Martin Isark, a food and drink taster, said: “It
discourages experimentation and dampens enthusiasm for trading-up.
“At the high-end it seems that some restaurateurs are of the arrogant
assumption that their customers are happy to pay thousands of pounds over
and above the retail price.
“There’s no doubt that great food enhances the pleasure of drinking wine but
it can sour when you realise that a restaurant down the road of similar
quality is selling it hundreds and sometimes thousands of pounds cheaper.”
The big spenders on big rounds
- Six City dealers at Barclays Capital spent £44,000 on a dinner at Gordon
Ramsay’s Petrus restaurant in London in October 2001. They ordered a 1982
Montrachet costing £1,400, and three bottles of Petrus Pomerol: the 1945 at
£11,600, the 1946 at £9,400, and the 1947 at £12,300. A dessert wine costing
£9,200 completed the refreshments. Mr Ramsay let them have their £400 meal
for nothing
- In February the world’s top chefs and wines were flown to Bangkok for a meal
described as the most expensive ever. The 30 people, who each paid £15,272
plus tax and service, were served a £5,000-a-bottle claret, a 1995 Krug and
a 1961 Chateau Palmer described as “one of the greatest red wines ever”
- At the Movida basement club off Oxford Street in Central London a “premium
customer” spent £89,000 on drinks in one night, including two rare
methuselahs of Cristal champagne costing £24,000 each. The unnamed customer
gave one to the former England rugby captain Lawrence Dallaglio, who was in
the club
- One night last year at the same venue London’s super-rich Russians and
Germans engaged in a battle for drinks supremacy with their English
counterparts. Eamonn Mulholland, the bar owner, described it as being “like
the World Cup” as the competing nations bought jeroboams of Cristal
champagne, costing £4,500 a bottle. Each bottle was brought out accompanied
with a ceremonial musical fanfare: Kalinka for the Russians, Rule Britannia
for the British and the Star Wars theme for the Germans. Unusually, the
Germans lost
- Last year the Chelsea captain John Terry, left, ran up a £30,000 bar bill at
the Elysium nightclub in the West End after hosting a party for teammates
Source: Times database
The full list of restaurant wine mark-ups
Non-vintage Bollinger Special Cuvee champagne
Fat Duck at Bray, (3 star Michelin) £90
Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons (2 star Michelin), Great Milton Oxford, £90
Midsummer House, (2 star Michelin), Cambridgeshire, £90
Chewton Glen, Hampshire, £88
Lindsay House, Richard Corrigan (1 Michelin Star), Soho, £85
Savoy Grill, (1 star Michelin ), Strand, London, £80
Simpsons Restaurant (1 star Michelin) Birmingham, £77
Dorchester Hotel, Grill Menu, Park Lane, £75.50
Chez Bruce, (1 star Michelin) London, £68
Number One at the Balmoral Hotel (1 star Michelin), Edinburgh, £65
The Square Restaurant (2 star Michelin ), Mayfair, £65
Langan’s Brasserie, Mayfair, £62
Kettners Restaurant Soho, £59.50
Gidleigh Park, (2 star Michelin), Devon, £58
Ransomes Dock Restaurant, London £55
1995 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne
Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons (2 star Michelin), Milton, Oxford, £255
Midsummer House, (2 star Michelin), Cambridgeshire, £230
Simpsons Restaurant ( 1 star Michelin) Birmingham, £191
Savoy Grill, (1 star Michelin ), Strand, London, £185
The Square Restaurant (2 star Michelin ), Mayfair, (97 vintage), £185
Dorchester Hotel Grill Menu, (98 vintage) £169
Chez Bruce, ( 1 star Michelin), London, £155
Kettners Restaurant, Soho, £145
The Ivy, (98 vintage), London, £90
1987/89/91 Vega Sicilia, ‘Unico’, Ribero del Duero, Spain
Midsummer House, (2 star Michelin), Cambridgeshire, 1991 (to buy £122.20),
£310
The Ivy 1991 (to buy £122.20 today), £155
Sat Bains, (1 star Michelin), Nottingham, 1987, (to buy today £140) £568
Simpsons Restaurant (1 Michelin Star), Birmingham, 1987, (to buy today £140),
£290
Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons (2 star Michelin), Oxon, 1989 (to buy £164.50) ,
£455
Midsummer House, (2 star Michelin), Cambridgeshire, 1989 (to buy £164.50) ,
£450
Dorchester Grill Restaurant List, 1989, (to buy today £164.50) £354
Chez Bruce, 1989, (to buy £164.50 today) £205
1964 Petrus Pomerol Bordeaux
Gordon Ramsay, (3 Michelin Stars) Chelsea, (to buy today£2425), £2100
Dorchester Hotel Grill Restaurant, Park Lane, (to buy today £2425) £5000
I am delighted that the Times has joined the campaign to abolish ridiculous restaurant markups.
At a somewhat lower level than above, the Gaucho Grill is one of the worst offenders - frequently covered in my blog at www.alastairbathgate.com
Alastair Bathgate, Manchester,
Interesting comment from the Dorchester relating to the Petrus. I think it would have been even more interesting to get a comment from Marcus Waring's Petrus, in the Gordon Ramsay stable, who are also listing the same vintage at £5,750 .00.
Hamish McCulloch, Dumfries, Dumfries and Galloway
I think that it just doesnt make any sense.
Like my pal John Bee says "hey up Jimme"
Adam Clancey, peterbourgh parkways,
A case of 1961 Petrus sold for £52000 last week at Sotheby's. They are not making any more of these wines so why are you wasting your time suggesting price caps? No is suggesting capping prices of Monet or Van Gogh.
Derek, London,
At risk of stating the obvious it looks to me like the tendency is for the mark up to be greater with increasing number of Michelin stars (with the exception of the Dorchester Grill).
At risk of continuing to state the obvious, while 5000 quid for a bottle of Pomerol is a lot given that people continue to die from hunger, if you're stupid enough to pay that much for a *bottle of wine* then you're stupid enough to pay *5000 quid for a bottle of wine*.
For much less money you could have a holiday at an unstarred ferme-auberge in Gers/Lot/wherever, give yourself gout and cholesterol poisoning, and have a fantastic time doing so.
Mat, Mulhouse, France