Sometimes one looks at the wine list and one cannot help but wonder why a bottle seen at the local drive-through bottle shop for $15.99 is now $45. Was it exhausting to schlep it from the shop to the back of the restaurant? Does the sommelier have a shoe habit that has to be paid for somehow? Is the restaurant ashamed of the $15.99 price tag?
In the Netherlands, Sterwijnenthuis decided that rather than pondering those questions to do something about it. Their online wine shop now sells around 350 bottles of wine that feature on the wine lists of the top 60 Dutch restaurants and lists the restaurant price next to their online price, as well as the name of the restaurant where it’s available. It also features wine advice and tasting notes.
With examples like a bottle of Collavini Il Grigio selling for for 50 € in a restaurant wine list, and only 15.40 € online, restaurateurs are not that thrilled at the opportunity for comparison. Yet founder, Gijs den Hollander says he’s just bringing transparency and that some sommeliers have welcomed the initiative. And really, what’s to hate about a cheaper, delicious pinot gris?
Published on 18 July 2011 by Esmerelda Clark