The range of wines available to restaurants across the country varies drastically from market to market. National accounts, and smaller chains, often see the most success with well-known wine brands present in all their markets.
Generally by-the-glass (BTG) pricing—as you probably know—is on par with the wholesale price for a bottle of wine, if not a dollar more. (i.e. if the consumer pays $10 a glass for a wine, the restaurant will have purchased it for between $9 and $10.) An ideal entry-level price would hover around $10 to $12 for a five-ounce pour.
The math has been lucrative for operators. The math has been lucrative for operators. The most important things that BTG lists can provide are value and unique offerings regardless of the size of your operation.
These two attributes can come from can come from everything from established brands—operating at high-production levels—or wineries that have relatively low operating costs. They may also be found via totally unique selections that other operators aren't offering.
What Diners Want
Consumers have long wanted bottles of wine to cost as much as a main course, which rarely tops $40 a pop. So, restaurants and bars really need to provide value. That might be through large pours or sourcing lesser-known wines.
Bringing in lesser-known gems—be they from newly trendy California regions or wines from lesser-known appellations—is also another way to provide value. Many restaurant guests will be willing to spend more if they can experience unique flavors and learn about new regions and grapes.
Other Ways to Provide Value
Employ some type of wine conservation system. Use the Coravin for more expensive wines and gassing or pumping the air out of an opened wine is also a good idea. Marking when the wines were opened, with a pen on the bottle, will also help to keep wines in their best condition.
If your operation is pouring more than a half dozen wines by the glass you are going to need a way to keep the wines fresh. In general, it is the lesser-known wines that are ordered less-frequently that will suffer the most without some kind of system in place. A handful of ambitious restaurants have opened serving more than 100 wines by the glass—in both New York and San Francisco—and few have managed to keep such an ambitious wine program going for many years.
Great pricing and unique offerings are key to a dynamic BTG program. Making an entry-level glass available at $10 to $12 in most markets would be ideal, while more complex wines—in more expensive locations—you could bump that up to $12 to $15.
Dynamic and expensive markets will even hit heights of $18 to $35 or $40 BTG for something special. However even in the priciest markets in the United States your guests will always welcome a unique wine btg that won’t break the bank.
