Is this expensive? (restaurant drink pricing)

[Paul Drawmer]

I'm hosting a birthday party for my wife in a local hotel/pub. There will be 30-35 guests for lunch on Sat 29th December. I'm happy with the menu and the price per head.

However the latest communications have been about drinks. House wine will be £15 per bottle (would I be right in thinking that they will probably be paying £6 per bottle?) I know there's a huge mark-up on table wines and I can just about understand it.

I have asked about serving a 'not very alcoholic' mulled wine and their suggestion was yes, but at £4.30 per glass. Now at that price I feel I'm being ripped off. Surely mixed up mulled wine should cost less than wine on its own?

Anyone in the business who can tell me the facts please?

[Pothole]

It is what it is. Booze in restaurants is expensive. For £15 a bottle they'll e paying £3 or less. Suck it up or start the planning again!

[21TonyK]

It's impossible to know unless you can find the wine online and get a retail price, then knock off 10-15% for a trade price. Ask to try the wine, bottom line is if you think the wine is worth £15 then it's worth it. Personally I think most places get it wrong using cheap house wine, ours is <£15 and it costs us >£6.

They could be buying a premade mulled wine from the local cash and carry (around £14+VAT) for 6x75cl, that works out at a cost price of 65p for a 175ml glass. Or, they could be buying a case of cheap cab.sav at £24+VAT, adding a litre of 'French Spirit' (very cheap Brandy style stuff) at £8+VAT then fruit and spices for a couple of quid ending up with a cost price of about £1.30. Either way £4.30 is a bit steep. Our mulled wine is heralded as "the best in town" and we charge £3.50 for 175ml.

[Paul Drawmer]

Thank you Tony, that's the sort of info I wanted. It's the mulled wine price that has knocked me sideways. (It gets to be a big add-on for 30 plus)

[Pothole]

Don't bother with it, it's filth.

[21TonyK]

Have you asked about corkage? Not so easy on the mulled wine but might be an option of the house wine, expect about £7 a bottle.

[Puggit]

The problem with mulled wine is that alcohol boils at 79 degrees (water is 100 degrees, as you know!). So the fun has evaporated well before you've served the drinks.

[dazco]

Puggit said:

The problem with mulled wine is that alcohol boils at 79 degrees (water is 100 degrees, as you know!). So the fun has evaporated well before you've served the drinks.

try telling that to my wobbly legs on uncountable nights in Bavaria

[Paul Drawmer]

Which is why I chose mulled wine. It's a lunch and some of the guests will have a fair drive home.
I'll get back to the venue today and ask about corkage and the explanation of the cost of the mulled wine.

I'm happy for them to make a profit, but I don't want to feel ripped off when I'm bringing them 30+ guests on an otherwise very dead day.

[Alex L]

Sounds like Deddington Arms pricing

[Scantily]

£15 for a bottle of house wine and £4.30 a glass for watered down mulled wine is downright criminal.

[Paul Drawmer]

Alex L said:

Sounds like Deddington Arms pricing

Yep.

[dazco]

Paul Drawmer said:

Alex L said:

Sounds like Deddington Arms pricing

Yep.

Sounds like you need to go somewhere else

[Mobsta]

Scantily said:

£15 for a bottle of house wine and £4.30 a glass for watered down mulled wine is downright criminal.

I concur.

I will raise an army and fight for the OP, so long as we can have some mulled wine afterwards.

No one ever goes home and gripes that there was no mulled wine. Those driving will stick to their usual drinks, skip the mulled wine. IMHO, it is like paying £3 for a cherry on a £6 cake, by the prices you quote.

A nice £10 bottle of wine on a £5 Tesco offer and a 95p bottle of spice mix will make more than a dozen glasses of the stuff, and is best enjoyed in the privacy of your own home with a few friends.