It varies, mostly depending on what end of the price range you're talking about. But the general rule of thumb is two to three times what the restaurant paid for it.
In other words, if the restaurant paid $10 for the bottle, they will list it for $20 to $30.
Maybe that seems like a pretty steep price to pay for the privilege of someone else popping open your favorite bottle of $15 Cab for you.
Time for some relief.
Grill 23 & Bar in the Back Bay offers a special list of wines that cost just $23. The list is always changing, and it's only available Sunday and Monday evenings.
But here's an example of some of the bottles (and some of the deals) on offer:
2007 Anne Amie Riesling from Oregon
Retail price: about $17
Typical restaurant range: $30-35
Grill 23 price: $23
Then there's the 2006 Domaine Contat-Grange Pinot Noir, which you'd be hard-pressed to find for $23 at retail, much less on a restaurant wine list.
Then there's the 2007 Giacomo Ascheri Barbera d'Alba from Piedmont, which you might find on a restaurant list for the low to mid-thirties. Grill 23 price: $23.
You get the idea.
Go on a Sunday or Monday night, and you'll get the deal too.
WHAT: The $23 List
WHERE: Grill 23 & Bar, 161 Berkeley Street, Boston
WHEN: Sunday and Monday evenings
Check out the full list here.
DAILY TIDBIT:
Wine, the most delightful of drinks, whether we owe it to Noah,
who planted the vine, or to Bacchus, who pressed juice from the
grape, goes back to the childhood of the world.
-- Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, The Physiology of Taste
